|
At 2,717,300 square kilometres (1,063,200 square miles) in area, it was the second largest constituent republic in the USSR, after the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Alma-Ata (today known as Almaty). Today it is the independent state of Kazakhstan in Central Asia. During its existence it was led by the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR. The country is named after the Kazakh people, Turkic-speaking former nomads who sustained a powerful khanate in the region before Russian and then Soviet domination. The Soviet Union's spaceport, now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome was located in this republic at Tyuratam, and the secret town of Baikonur was constructed to accommodate its personnel. |