Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of over two million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936, while the country was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR, then from 1936 to 1991, a union republic of the Soviet Union and finally from 1991, an independent state. In 1997, the government relocated the capital to Akmola.