World / Asia / Kazakhstan

It may be Central Asia's largest country but Kazakhstan remains something of an enigma. In Kazakhstan, tourism is mostly geared towards the domestic market and the majority of foreign visitors come here for business. Those taking holidays in Kazakhstan are still a rare breed but most travellers gravitate to the southeast of the country, around Almaty and the Zailiysky Alatau mountains that straddle the border with Kyrgyzstan and provide a picture-perfect playground for hiking and winter sports. The country has an intriguing array of cultural sights, including the 14th-century Timurid mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi at Turkestan.

Kazakhstan's economy has grown dramatically in the past decade, thanks to huge gas and mineral reserves, and with an industrial sector ripe for development; there is considerable demand for foreign expertise and numerous opportunities for investment. Astana, the brash new capital, may be the republic's showpiece but Kazakhstan's cultural heart still lies in Almaty, the former capital in Soviet times. While Astana provides the country's political focus, Almaty, an attractive city of parks and wide boulevards, is where most business continues to be done with a good range of smart hotels and restaurants.