Almaty had 2,347,900 residents on January 1, 2026, making it the answer to the question about Kazakhstan’s city population.
Almaty is Kazakhstan’s largest city and its main commercial, cultural, and financial centre. It lies in the country’s southeast, near the Kyrgyzstan border, at the foot of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains. The city’s name is associated with apples, reflecting the region’s long connection with wild apple varieties.
Almaty was founded as a Russian fort in 1854 and became an important settlement in the late nineteenth century. It served as Kazakhstan’s capital during the Soviet period and after independence, until the capital moved to Akmola—renamed Astana—in 1997. Almaty remains the country’s largest urban centre even though it is no longer the political capital.
A common mix-up is choosing Astana because it is Kazakhstan’s current capital. Shymkent is another major Kazakh city, but the population figure in the question identifies Almaty’s city administration, not a metropolitan-area total.