#Russian Empire toponymy

• Akmolinsk — The historical official name formerly used for the current capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Astana; initially founded in eighteen thirty as a Russian military fortress outpost in the Kazakh steppe, it held this structural name throughout the Tsarist and early Soviet periods until nineteen sixty-one. This crucial railway and administrative hub was subsequently renamed Tselinograd during the Virgin Lands Campaign, then Akmola, Nur-Sultan, and once again Astana, reflecting through these toponymic shifts the geopolitical evolutions and identity dynamics of the Eurasian space.
• Aktiubinsk — The historical official name formerly used for the current major city of Aktobe, located in western Kazakhstan on the Ilek River; initially founded in eighteen sixty-nine as a Russian military fortress outpost in the steppe, it held this structural name throughout the Tsarist and Soviet periods until nineteen ninety-nine. This crucial railway, industrial, and metallurgical hub was renamed according to the Kazakh language after independence, reflecting through this toponymic shift the administrative de-russification processes and national identity reclamation within the Central Asian space.