Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains - Almaty, Kazakhstan

The snowy peaks of the Trans-Ili Alatau (Іле Алатауы) rise like a wall behind Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, and this camera looks over the rooftops toward the mountains as the light and weather change across the ridges.

The range runs about 220 miles (350 km) from east to west and forms the northern edge of the Tian Shan. Its highest point, Talgar Peak, reaches 16,316 feet (4,973 m), and hundreds of glaciers cling to its slopes.

Almaty was founded in 1854 as a Russian fort and was Kazakhstan's capital until 1997. Today about 2.35 million people live here, and the Medeu ice rink sits high in the mountains just above the city.

Did You Know? The name Almaty is thought to come from the Kazakh word for apple, and the wild apple forests of these mountains are believed to be home to the ancestors of today's apples.

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