The most famous landmark in Astana is the Baiterek Tower — a tall white column with a shining golden ball near the top. Inside the ball there is a viewing platform where you can look out over the whole city, and there is even a handprint cast in gold that visitors can place their hand on for good luck.
Astana sits in the middle of Kazakhstan's vast steppe — a huge, almost treeless grassland that stretches as far as you can see in every direction. Winters here are bitterly cold (sometimes colder than the North Pole!) and summers are warm and sunny, so the architects had to design buildings that could handle enormous temperature swings.
The Khan Shatyr is another amazing building — it looks like the world's biggest tent. Inside, it is warm all year round and has a beach with real sand, water slides, a river and shops. When the outside temperature drops to minus 30 degrees, families can still splash around inside.
Astana means 'capital' in Kazakh. The city has changed its name a few times over the years — today it is officially called Astana. It is a very young capital compared with most — buildings that look ancient were actually built only a few decades ago.