Every 8th person in Kazakhstan lives in Almaty

Every eight citizens of Kazakhstan lives in Almaty, Tengrinews.kz reports referring to the press-service of the city akim (mayor). According to the press-service, the number of residents in the metropolis has reached 2 million people, i.e. one eighth of the total population of Kazakhstan. However, the official number of residents in the city is much lower: 1.435 million people. This is twice as many residents as Atyrau and Mangistau oblasts (western Kazakhstan) taken together have. For comparison, in 1991 Almaty city had 1.134 residents. Almaty city is considered one of the key drivers of Kazakhstan's economy after the raw materials production. The metropolis produces 20% of the country's GDP and brings in 25% of income to the government budget. For example, in 1993 the regional GDP in Almaty was 2.1 billion tenge ($14 million), in 2011 - 4.3 trillion tenge ($26 billion). Almaty - also known as the southern capital of Kazakhstan - was the number one city by the volume of GDP in Kazakhstan in 2010: 3,923 million tenge (26 billion dollars). GDP per capita in Almaty has grown 7.6 times since 2000. This year the city has made the largest budget in its history: 276.9 billion tenge ($1.8 billion). In 2007 nominal monthly cash income per a person made 51,703 ($354), whereas in 2011 it made 92 000 tenge ($632). There are 1700 km of traffic roads in Almaty. Over 895 km of the roads have been refurbished since 2009. Over the past 20 years 10 million square meters of real estate have been built, including the 4.8 million square meters that have been building in the past 5 years. Between 2001 and 2011 31 medical facilities have been built, whereas between 1991 and 2000 – only 5 were built. From 2007 till 2011 Almaty saw 13 new schools built, and in total 35 schools over the past 20 years.