A·sta·na (?-stä?n?) Formerly Aq·mo·la (äk?m?-lä?) and Tse·lin·o·grad (ts?-l?n??-gräd?) The capital of Kazakhstan, in the north-central part of the country. Founded as a fortress in 1824, it was a small mining town until the 1950s when it became the center of a vast agricultural project initiated by Nikita Khrushchev. The capital was shifted from Almaty in 1997.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Astana (æ?stæn?) n (Placename) the capital of Kazakhstan, in the N of the country; replaced Almaty as capital in 1997; an important railway junction. Pop: 335 000 (2005 est). Former names: Akmolinsk (until 1961), Tselinograd (1961?94) or Akmola (1994?98)Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014