Short answers, pulled from the story.
Almaty is in southern Kazakhstan, in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains near the border with Kyrgyzstan. It sits at an elevation of 700 to 900 metres, with the Big Almaty and Small Almaty rivers running through it, almost 1,000 km from the capital Astana.
Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1991 during the Soviet era and again until 1997, when the capital was moved to Akmola, now Astana. It is now referred to as the southern capital of Kazakhstan.
The name Almaty traces to the medieval settlement Almatau, meaning apple mountain, and a disputed theory derives it from the Kazakh word for apple, alma. The region west of the Tian Shan mountains is thought to be the apple's ancestral home, and the wild Malus sieversii is considered a candidate for the ancestor of the modern domestic apple.
An earthquake almost destroyed the town then called Verny on the 28th of May 1887, killing 322 people and destroying 1,798 brick houses. On the 3rd of January 1911, the Kebin earthquake almost completely destroyed the city, collapsing over 770 brick buildings. The city lies in a tectonically active zone where expected earthquake magnitudes range from 6.0 to 8.3.
Leon Trotsky, leader of the 1917 October Revolution, was exiled to Alma-Ata by Joseph Stalin on the 31st of January 1928, arriving with his wife Natalia Sedova and son Lev Sedov. He was expelled in February 1929 and went on to Turkey and later Mexico City.
Medeu is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink built in 1972 in a mountain gorge fifteen kilometres from Almaty. It sits at 1,691 metres above sea level, making it one of the highest skating rinks in the world, and 126 world records were set on its ice across 33 years.
Almaty generates approximately 20 percent of Kazakhstan's GDP, about 20 percent of government revenues, and roughly 60 percent of the country's bank credits. It is home to Halyk Bank, the largest bank in Central Asia, as well as Kaspi Bank and the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.