Shymkent

Shymkent's beginnings are usually placed in the 12th century, when a caravanserai was founded here to protect the Silk Road town of Sayram, 10 kilometres to the east, though archaeological finds point to much older settlement. It grew as a market between nomads and settled peoples and was destroyed several times, including by the Mongols. In the early 19th century it came under the Khanate of Kokand, and in 1864 it was captured by Russian forces; it was renamed Chernyaev in 1914, became Chimkent again in 1924, and took the Kazakh spelling Shymkent in 1993.

In the Soviet period it became an industrial centre, and a lead plant built in the 1930s produced 70 per cent of the Soviet Union's lead; factories were evacuated here during the Second World War. Until 2018 it was the capital of South Kazakhstan Region, before becoming a city of republican significance in its own right. It was named Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States for 2020.

Ordabasy Square was once the site of a permanent market, which later moved to the Upper Bazaar, regarded as the oldest shopping area of modern Shymkent. The surrounding farmland grows cotton, rice, maize and melons, and orchards around the city produce apples, apricots, pomegranates, walnuts and grapes. Historically the town was known for its kumis, fermented mare's milk, and today football fans follow FC Ordabasy at the 20,000-seat Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium.