Kazakhstan Archives

In good company

Camel in the desert of the Aral Sea, near Aralsk, Kazakhstan. Credits : Tristan Bjalon (@tristanbja, France) Find all of our photos of… [...]

Image by Lossi 36 / Julian Postulart / Canva

The story of the Xinjiang Kazakhs: silent suffering along the Belt and Road

Relations between Kazakhstan and China are deepening fast. As a linchpin in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, Astana hopes to pluck the fruits of this global infrastructure development strategy, which… [...]

The Ascension Cathedral in Almaty

The Ascension Cathedral is the largest Orthodox building (56 metres high) built entirely of wood and the second largest in the world. It was this architecture that enabled it… [...]

Kazakhstan to become an Unusual Addition to the Abraham Accords: Will this Diplomatic Gesture for Washington Pay Off?

Two years into the war in Gaza – which has killed over 68,000 Palestinians – Kazakhstan has volunteered to join Trump’s Abraham Accords initiative to forge closer ties with Israel. [...]

buildings mirror glass refections almaty

Mirrors

In Almaty, and perhaps more so than anywhere else in the Central Asian steppes, the layers of the past are reflected in the diverse architectural facades. The relocation of… [...]

Guardian of the steppes

Many steppe marmots (Marmota baibacina) live between Akkol and Makinsk. While the young explore their surroundings, the adults keep watch in the shade of the birds… [...]

Desert fauna

A Phrynocephalus mystaceus, or toad-headed agama, basks in the sun among saxaul bushes. This small lizard (about 20 cm from head to tail), found notably in Altyn-Emel… [...]

Memories of KarLag

This wall sculpture is located at the Museum of Memory for the Victims of Repression in the Dolinka Colony, also known as the KarLag Museum. For many years, the… [...]

The Karlag infirmary

The former infirmary of the Soviet prison labour camp in Karaganda (KarLag) reveals a bare interior where medical care must have been rudimentary. This labour camp, one of… [...]

In the Karaganda Gulag

In this office at the Karlag labour camp in Karaganda, the only decoration is a portrait of Lenin hanging on the wall. Some historians believe that Stalin’s… [...]

The Karaganda Gulag

In the administrative centre of the former KarLag gulag in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, stands a brightly coloured flag, typical of the Stalinist era, bearing a slogan glorifying work. This… [...]