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Bicentennial City of Astana Trivia Quiz

People often don't have much knowledge of central Asia, including Kazakhstan. The capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, has a 200 year old history, astonishing architecture and an interesting, but freezing climate.

A multiple-choice quiz by ILoveSBSP. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
ILoveSBSP

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
349,355

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
212

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The city of Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan, and Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, lie on the same time zone, a timezone shared with some countries further south. Which of these is the timezone where Astana lies? Hint

UTC -06:00

UTC +06:00

UTC +18:00

UTC -16:00

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Before Astana, Kazakhstan had a different capital. Which of these is the former capital of Kazakhstan? Hint

New York City

Almaty or Alma-ata

Shymkent

Moscow

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. The Bayterek tower, one of the most popular buildings and tourist destinations in Astana, has a nickname. What is the sweet nickname of this famous monument? Hint

Big Cotton Candy

Mega Candy Cane

Large Lollipop

Sundae with a Cherry on Top

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Question 4 of 10

4. Astana, because of its isolation, is the second coldest capital in the world. The third coldest capital in the world is Moscow, and the first is Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Despite its cold temperature, the climate of Astana is classified as which type? Hint

Sub-oceanic

Humid continental

Desert

Alpine

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Question 5 of 10

5. There are two etymologies of the word "Astana": The first one is the more common one, which is "capital" in Kazakh. The second one is more obscure and archaic, and most likely originated from what Middle Eastern language? Hint

Klingon

English

Persian

Armenian

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Question 6 of 10

6. Astana doesn't lie on any large body of water. There is one important river which flows through the city of Astana, and supports the city's agriculture. What cross-country river flows through Astana? Hint

Irtysh

Tobol

Ishim

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Astana, compared to other capitals, is relatively small, having no satellite towns. Which city is the closest city to this isolated town? Hint

Kostanay

Kokshetau

Stepnogorsk

Karagandy

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. In the Soviet era, Astana was full of labor camps. During the Cold War and the Space Race, Astana was near to ground zero for many of the experiments. During 2006, Meridian 1 was the launched closer to Astana than any of its predecessors. What was Meridian 1? Hint

A biological accident

A phone book

A communications satellite

A space shuttle

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Question 9 of 10

9. Kazakhstan is a landlocked country. It borders the Caspian Sea, and it's not actually a open sea at all. Which sea, connected to the oceans, is located closest to Astana? Hint

Sea of Azov

Pacific Ocean

Kara Sea

Sea of Love

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Question 10 of 10

10. The role of designer of the Astana International Airport, and the whole capital city project, was held by the same person. Who was he? Hint

Kisho Kurokawa

Aldo Rossi

Frank Lloyd Wright

Obi-Wan Kenobi

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: UTC +06:00

Kazakhstan, despite its enormous area, has only two time zones. The UTC+05:00, and the UTC+06:00. The UTC+06:00 time zone is often called either the Bhutan Time or Bangladesh Standard Time. Other countries which lie on the Bhutan Time timezone are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory), Kyrgyzstan, and parts of Russia.

2. Before Astana, Kazakhstan had a different capital. Which of these is the former capital of Kazakhstan?

Answer: Almaty or Alma-ata

Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1996. Kazakhstan itself became independent in 1991 after previously being one of the republics of the USSR.

3. The Bayterek tower, one of the most popular buildings and tourist destinations in Astana, has a nickname. What is the sweet nickname of this famous monument?

Answer: Large Lollipop

The Bayterek is a 105m high monumental tower, a famous site attracting tourists and local Kazakhs. Also, there is a gilded hand print (or Alakan) of the former president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in the tower.

Answer: Humid continental

The average annual temperature in Astana is 1.8 C (35.2 F), and the city is covered in ice and snow half of the year. But overall, Astana is still classified in a humid continental climate, because Astana has cold winters, but it also has warm summers.

Answer: Persian

The word Astana originated from the Persian word "astane", which could mean "royal palace".
Some researchers claimed that the word Astana could also mean "hanging in the dawn" in Turkish. Alas the word origin remains unknown.

Answer: Ishim

The Ishim River is one of the reason why Astana was chosen as the capital of Kazakhstan. The river's 2,450 km (1,520 miles) long, but despite its length, the river only crosses two countries, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The Ob River flows through only Russia. The Tobol only flows through the northwestern part of Kazakhstan. The Irtysh River flows through four countries, starting its life near the Russia-Kazakhstan-Mongolia-China quadpoint.

7. Astana, compared to other capitals, is relatively small, having no satellite towns. Which city is the closest city to this isolated town?

Answer: Stepnogorsk

Stepnogorsk, the closest town to Astana, is 134 kilometers (84 miles) away. During the Soviet era, Stepnogorsk was once a research site for scientists in nuclear and other fields.

Answer: A communications satellite

The ground zero of Meridian-1 is 233 kilometers (145 miles) away from Astana. The communications satellite is a part of the Meridian Project which includes Meridian 1-5.

9. Kazakhstan is a landlocked country. It borders the Caspian Sea, and it's not actually a open sea at all. Which sea, connected to the oceans, is located closest to Astana?

Answer: Kara Sea

The isolation is one of the reason of Astana's cold climate, but the lack of warm currents is also a cause of its cold weather. The Kara Sea is 1,677 kilometers (1,042 miles) away from Astana. The distance of other seas to Astana in increasing order is: Barents Sea, Sea of Azov, White Sea, Black Sea and the Gulf of Finland.

Have you ever noticed that when you're looking at the map, that you'll find a several bays on the north shore of Russia? One of the long bays belongs to the Kara Sea, and significantly decreases the distance from Astana to the Kara Sea.

10. The role of designer of the Astana International Airport, and the whole capital city project, was held by the same person. Who was he?

Answer: Kisho Kurokawa

Kisho Kurokawa was a famous Japanese architect who has designed buildings in some of the largest cities in the world. Frank Lloyd Wright died decades before most of the buildings in Astana were constructed. In addition, Rossi has only designed in Europe and Japan.

Source: Author ILoveSBSP

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Tizzabelle before going online.
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