Almaty has several nicknames: South Capital, Apple City, and Big Apple. Almaty is located in south-eastern Kazakhstan, almost 1000 km from the capital Astana. Almaty dates back to 1000–801 BC. The city was founded in 1854.
Almaty is the major commercial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan, as well as its most populous and most cosmopolitan city with a population of 2 million.