Almaty

     Now that we've hooked you with interesting facts about the Republic of Kazakhstan, let's look at Kazakhstan's largest city (where we will call home for the next two years), Almaty. 

 Almaty:

• Was historically named Verny, which translates as "faithful" in Kazakh. After 1921, the name changed to Almaty, which means "Full of Apples". The Russian version of the name is Alma-Ata, which means "Father Apple". 
• Has a population of around 1.5 million.
• Hosted the 7th Annual 2011 Asian Winter Games, the largest world sports competition outside of the Olympics.
• Is situated from 2,300 ft-3,000 ft (headed towards the mountains) in elevation.
• Has two ski resorts just outside of the city as well as a large, outdoor speed-skating rink.
• Has dozens of parks, fountains and outdoor markets. 

     That's all we're going to give you for now...partially because there's just not too much to say about the city (at least from what we've researched), but primarily because we want to give you the complete inside scoop once we have arrived. 

     One last thing we will share, however, is the city flag. Probably one of the coolest city flags out there. Well done, Almaty.