Almaty - Preparations for Kazakhstan's official transfer of the country's capital from Almaty to the icy, wind-swept northern city of Akmola have met with less-than-enthusiastic participation from grumbling officials. President Nursultan Nazarbayev will preside over today's solemn ceremony in Akmola, which lies on the Siberian steppes near Russia.
The transfer was conceived to secure ethnic peace in the former Soviet republic, where some 40 per cent of the 17 million inhabitants are Russian. It was the Cossack ancestors of this population who in 1830 founded Akmola - meaning "white tomb" in Kazakh. Previously, the region around Akmola was known primarily for Soviet-era forced labour camps and avoided for its winter temperatures which can go as low as minus 40 Celsius, exacerbated by piercing winds.