Almaty /ˈælməti/ (Kazakh:Алматы/Almatı [ɑlmɑˈtə]; Russian:Алматы), formerly known as Alma-Ata /ˌælmə.əˈtɑː/ (Russian:Алма-Ата) and Verny (Russian:Верный), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 1,703,481 people, containing 9% of the country's total population. Almaty is considered a World City with a Beta classification according to GaWC. It served as capital of the Kazakh state in its various forms from 1929 to 1997, under the influence of the then Soviet Union and its appointees. Alma-Ata was the host city for a 1978 international conference on Primary Health Care where the Alma Ata Declaration was adopted, marking a paradigm shift in global public health. In 1997 the government relocated the capital to Astana in the north of the country.