Photos of the real KAZAKSTAN:

Kazakstan Photo Gallery


===================

City of Almaty:






Kazak Mountains:




Aral Sea:




Kazak Flag:





Kazakstan on the World Map:

The Aral Sea?! Whats up with that?! Im really asking that, too. What happened? Did an entire sea just dry up in a massive cataclysmic event?

quote:

Originally posted by Thunderpants1:
The Aral Sea?! Whats up with that?! Im really asking that, too. What happened? Did an entire sea just dry up in a massive cataclysmic event?

There was no nature involved. People drained it...



ARAL SEA TRAGEDY



When the former Soviet Union diverted the Ama Dariya and the Syrdariya - the rivers which fed the Aral Sea - to grow cotton in the desert, they created an ecological and human disaster.

You need to take to the air to appreciate the scale of the damage that has been done.

What was the fourth biggest inland sea is now mostly desert.

What appears to be snow on the seabed is really salt. The winds blow this as far as the Himalayas.



An analyst from the organisation set up by five countries nearest the old sea told me that by changing farming methods, they have slowed down the rate of shrinking.

Still, it will be years yet before what is left of the sea begins to grow again.

All of this was done in the name of cotton - grown where it would not grow naturally.

The Soviet Union developed huge plantations here. It remains the main source of income for the newly independent republics.


Children play in a ship cemetery in the Aral Sea


Change is difficult, but change they must. Miles from the Aral Sea, the ground is encrusted with salt.

Decades of heavy irrigation have raised the water table and brought all the salts the soil held to the surface.

Watch this animation of Aral.


BBC

Kazak_Jigit,

Thank you for posting. I haven't played GR2 (due to lack of a PC version), but I really appreciate that you'd come and share photos and information with us. I've heard that the Aral sea was shrinking, but it pains me to see how much people can destroy without so much as a second thought.

Thats incredible. I wouldnt have thought that people could drain an entire sea like that. And I never even heard of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Thoramir:
Kazak_Jigit,

Thank you for posting. I haven't played GR2 (due to lack of a PC version), but I really appreciate that you'd come and share photos and information with us.

Thanks

The same with me

I am a big fan of original Ghost Recon (Russia, Ethiopia and Cuba), but cannot play GR2 and GR2:SS because UBI didn't make a PC version.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kazak_Jigit,

quote:

Originally posted by Thoramir:
I've heard that the Aral sea was shrinking, but it pains me to see how much people can destroy without so much as a second thought.

quote:

Originally posted by Thunderpants1:
Thats incredible. I wouldnt have thought that people could drain an entire sea like that. And I never even heard of it.

It is really sad.

That's a Soviet style - not caring about lifes, nature - the Party's plan is everything.

That's pretty amazing stuff. Good post man.

Now that you guys have seen the real pictures, what do you think of how it looks in the game? Does it seem like Ubi did their homework?

COMPARISON


Click to enlarge:

Almaty:

Astana:

Aral sea:

Wow that's a great comparison! Thanks for sharing that, i'm sure not many of us would have realized that if you hadn't come here.

Our capital Astana:

So where is Borat from?

Wasnt it just nullified as a country?

Not that I know off... I know there are issues with the government (at least a while back) where they mave have nullified Parliament, but nothing to the extent of the entire country.

my mom was born in Kazakstan!

Borat is pretty awesome.

Yes, I know Kazakhstan is nothing like what Borat says, but Sacha Baron Cohen is a hilarious guy.

quote:

Originally posted by AgentFork:
[IMGYes, I know Kazakhstan is nothing like what Borat says, but Sacha Baron Cohen is a hilarious guy.

What makes it even more hilarious was that a few years ago the government of Kazakhstan released a statement decrying the Borat character and citing all of Kazakhstan's good points. I don't think they got the joke.

Teddy, WTF? No, the country wasn't nullified. Neither was Parliament.

Everything is ok. The economy is booming thanks to the oil export.

KAZAKSTAN













































































































Almaty






















Astana


























Bayterek - symbolical monument of the sacred Tree of Life










KazMunaiGaz - headquarters of the national oil company










Transport tower






Esil river












Old square






Ak Orda - presidential residence

woot go cossaks, it took me awhile to realize the connection. doesnt cossak mean freedom or something? i read it in a WWII book, technically it was fiction but aside from the charaters it was real.