Almaty - The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Torch Relay

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Sacred flame blazes way through the "city of apples"

The Olympic torch arrived in Almaty's Astana Square on Wednesday afternoon, the last site of the first stopover in the global torch relay. This is the first time that an Olympic Torch has passed through this Kazakhstani city. [Full story] [Photos] [Relay map]

Quick facts
Standard time zone: UTC/GMT + 6;
Languages: Kazakh (state), Russian (official);
Currency: Kazakhstan Tenge (KZT)

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March 31, 2008

Istanbul Next leg

April 3, 2008

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Yesterday and Today

History of Almaty During X-IX B.C. in the bronze era the first farmers and cattle-breeders established settlements on the territory of Almaty . It is evidenced by Terenkary and Butakty settlements located on the territory of the city. [Full story]

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Culture and Tradition

Religious life All in all, 275 religious associations and groups representing 42 confessions of faith are active in Almaty, a 10-fold increase from 1991, and a growing trend is observed. The largest associations embrace Islam and the Russian Orthodox Church. [Full story]

National dishes In general Kazakhs prefer meat dishes. Favourite national dish of Kazakhs is beshbarmak. Beshbarmak is cooked of lamb, horse meat, beef and dough. Such dishes of horse meat as kazy, karta, zhal, zhaya and, of course, mare's milk are favorite. [Full story]