Editing Almaty (section)

==Status==
{{refimprove section|date=July 2024}}
From 1929 to 1936, the city, then known as Alma-Ata, was the capital of the [[Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic|Kazakh ASSR]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=70 YEARS TO BE THE MAIN |url=https://e-history.kz/en/news/show/7005 |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=e-history.kz |date=24 March 2017 |language=en |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607025531/https://e-history.kz/en/news/show/7005 |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1936 to 1991, Alma-Ata was the capital of the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]]. After Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, the city was renamed Almaty in 1993 and continued as the capital until 1997, when the capital was moved to Akmola (renamed Astana in 1998,<ref>{{cite web |title=Kazakhstan: President suggests renaming the country |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-26082740 |website=BBC |date=7 February 2014 |access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref> Nur-Sultan in 2019, and again [[Astana]] in 2022). Since then Almaty has been referred to as the "southern capital" of Kazakhstan.

Almaty remains the largest, most developed, and most ethnically and culturally diverse city in [[Kazakhstan]]. Due to development by the Soviet Union and relocation of workers and industries from European areas of the Soviet Union during [[World War II]], the city has a high proportion of [[Russians|ethnic Russians]] and [[Uyghurs]]. The city lies in the foothills of [[Trans-Ili Alatau]] (or Zailiysky Alatau) in the extreme south-east.

It has a relatively mild climate with warm and dry summers and quite cold winters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Almaty Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Kazakhstan) - Weather Spark |url=https://weatherspark.com/y/108859/Average-Weather-in-Almaty-Kazakhstan-Year-Round |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=weatherspark.com |language=en |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607025530/https://weatherspark.com/y/108859/Average-Weather-in-Almaty-Kazakhstan-Year-Round |url-status=live }}</ref> Since the city is in a tectonically active area, it has an endemic risk of [[earthquake]]s. Although most tremors do not cause any significant damage, Almaty has suffered some large destructive earthquakes.