Kazakhstan
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan
Until the 1950s Astana (Aqmola), was a tiny mining town. Then Nikita Khruschev announced his Virgin Lands scheme to turn 250,000 sq km of Kazakhstan steppe into wheat fields.
Alcohol in Kazakhstan
Strong alcoholic drink is an "imported" culture from Russia , and it is almost as much appreciated here as in Russia proper. Since alcohol is particularly cheap, it's easy for one's health to suffer.
Education in Kazakhstan
Following independence from the Soviet Union a major economic depression cut "public financing" for education in Kazakhstan, "which dropped from 6% of gross domestic product in 1991 to about 3% in 1994, before rising to 4% in 1999."