Introducing Northern Kazakhstan

This is the most Russified part of Kazakhstan but it’s also the location of the new capital Astana, chief crucible of the prosperous, multiethnic Kazakhstan of the future, an extravagant exercise in capital-city creation and the pole around which the north of the country is being revived.

Though known for their bitter winters and Soviet-created industrial cities, the northern steppes also harbour surprising areas of natural beauty: the flamingo-filled lakes of Korgalzhyn; the rocky hills, forests and lakes near Burabay; and the verdant countryside and tranquil villages southwest of Kokshetau.

Until the 19th century, this region was largely untouched except by Kazakh nomads and their herds. As Russia’s hand stretched southwards, Russian and Ukrainian settlers came in growing numbers to farm the steppe – a million or more by 1900. Kazakh resistance was largely futile. In Soviet times, the Kazakhs were forced into collective farms and industrial cities such as Karaganda and Kostanay, which sprouted to exploit coal, iron ore and other minerals. Then in the 1950s huge areas of steppe were turned over to wheat in Khrushchev’s Virgin Lands scheme. A new influx of settlers, deportees and prisoners arrived from other parts of the USSR to work all the new projects.

In the 1950s most of the labour camps were closed, but a lot of the survivors stayed. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union many ethnic Germans, Russian and Ukrainians have left, but Kazakhs still number less than one-third in several areas.

Astana apart, northern Kazakhstan sees more Westerners here to adopt children than Western tourists. Weatherwise, the best months to come are May, June, August and September. Winters are severe, with howling blizzards and temperatures down to -30°C in January.