Kazakhstan to rename country’s capital Astana as Nursultan

Kazakhstan’s parliament today voted to rename the country’s capital Astana as Nursultan in honour of longtime ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev, a day after he resigned as president.

The state-owned Kazinform news agency said after a parliamentary vote Astana is now officially renamed Nursultan. Kazakhstan’s new interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed renaming the capital.

Astana replaced Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty as the capital in 1997.