Kazakhstan's Astana Officially Renamed To Nur-Sultan As Decree Enters Into Force

A decree of new Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on renaming the country's capital of Astana into Nur-Sultan entered on Saturday into force, which means that the city has a new name from today

ALMATY (Kazakhstan) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2019) A decree of new Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on renaming the country's capital of Astana into Nur-Sultan entered on Saturday into force, which means that the city has a new name from today.

The initiative to rename Astana to honor former President Nursultan Nazarbayev was proposed by Tokayev earlier this week and supported by the country's parliament on Wednesday. On Saturday, the relevant amendments to the country's constitution were signed by Tokayev.

On Tuesday, Nazarbayev, 78, announced his resignation after some 28 years of presidency.

The city of Nur-Sultan was founded in 1830 as the Akmola fortress, which was renamed to the city of Akmolinsk in 1863. The city was renamed to Tselinograd in 1961 and back to Akmola in 1992. The city had the name Astana since 1998.