Almaty, formerly known as Alma-Ata and Vernɨy, is the largest city in Kazakhstan. Despite losing its status as the capital to Astana in 1997, Almaty remains the major commercial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan, as well as its biggest population center. The city is located in the mountainous area of southern Kazakhstan.
There is a theory, which is disputed, that the city derives its name from the Kazakh word for 'apple' (алма), and thus is often translated as "full of apples"; alma is also 'apple' in other Turkic languages, as well as in Hungarian and Mongolian. The Russian version of its name - Alma-Ata, used during the Soviet era - was often perceived by as a combination of two Kazakh words, meaning Father of Apples.
There is great genetic diversity among the wild apples in the region surrounding Almaty; the region is thought to be the ancestral home of the apple, and the wild Malus sieversii is considered a likely candidate for the ancestor of the modern domestic apple, which could explain the "Alma Ata" name.
