Sunday Stamps - K

2013, Kazakhstan, 15 years to Astana

Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country and shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.  (It does, however, have the Caspian Sea) It is also the world's ninth largest country. The capital city was renamed Astana - which literally means 'capital city' in Kazakh - in 1998, six years after declaring independence form Russia (the last of the republics to do so before the fall of the Soviet Union).  Its current president has been in power ever since and is known to be an authoritarian with a government that suppresses human rights freedoms. 

This stamp shows the Akorda, the Presidential Palace which was built in 2003. The palace has four floors of rooms each serving an individual purpose - a Marble Hall for signing agreements with other international heads of state, an Oval Hall for summit talks, and a Golden Hall for hosting meetings in privy. There is also a Guest Room for conversations between the President and Foreign Ambassadors, a Hall of Extended Negotiations, and a Hall of the Security Council. And an Oriental Hall which resembles a yurt. That's just one floor.  The first floor (ground floor) is 32' high and has a Grand Central Parade Hall, a Hall of Press Conferences, Gala Hall, and a Winter Garden.

for the letter K - Kazakhstan