Kazakhstan renames its capital Astana as Nur-Sultan

Kazakhstan has renamed its capital Astana as Nur-Sultan in honour of the country's longtime president who resigned in a surprise move earlier this week.

The order to change the capital city's name was issued on Saturday by Kazakhstan's newly sworn-in interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

Tokayev initially proposed the new name on Wednesday March 20,2019 as a tribute to Nursultan Nazarbayev, who led the country for decades until his resignation on Tuesday March 19,2019

Astana replaced Almaty as the capital in 1997 and boomed from a minor provincial steppe town into a futuristic city.

The name Astana literally means "capital" in Kazakh and there has long been speculation it could, at some point, be renamed after the leader who shaped it.
 
Nazarbayev was at the helm of the country for nearly 30 years, first when it was still part of the Soviet Union and then as the first president of an independent Kazakhstan.