Almaty also known by its former names Verny (Russian: Верный, "Faithful," prior to 1921) and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

 and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500 (as of September 1, 2008). This represents approximately 9% of the population of the country.

Almaty was the capital of the Kazakh SSR

Kazakh SSR

The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Kazakh SSR for short, was one of republics that made up the Soviet Union.At in area, it was the second largest constituent republic in the USSR, after the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Alma-Ata . Today it is the independent state of...

 and its successor Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1997.