Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the context of "Jetisu Region"

Kazakhstan is divided into 17 regions and 4 cities. The regions are further subdivided into districts. The four cities, Almaty, Baikonur, Shymkent, and the capital city Astana, do not belong to their surrounding regions.

Initially there were 14 regions. On 16 March 2022, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that three new regions would be created. Abai Region was created from East Kazakhstan Region with its capital in Semey. Ulytau Region was created from Karaganda Region with its capital in Jezkazgan. Jetisu Region was created from Almaty Region with its capital in Taldykorgan; Almaty Region's capital was moved from Taldykorgan to Qonayev.

The president of Kazakhstan, officially the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the executive head of state of Kazakhstan and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As the highest-ranking official in the country, the president also chairs the National Security Council with the powers and responsibilities of the office as outlined in a special section of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

The office of the president was established in 1990, a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with Nursultan Nazarbayev becoming the first president. Nazarbayev served in office for nearly three decades until his resignation in March 2019. Following his resignation, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, assumed the acting presidency on 20 March 2019, who was then elected in the June 2019 presidential election.

Abai Region (Kazakh: Абай облысы, romanized: Abai oblysy, pronounced [ɑˈbɑj wobləˈsə]) is a region of Kazakhstan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced on 16 March 2022 that the region would be created. The area split off from East Kazakhstan Region when Tokayev's bill came into force on 8 June 2022. The administrative center of the region is Semey, until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk. Its borders roughly correspond to the old Semipalatinsk Region which was abolished in 1997 and merged with East Kazakhstan Region.

Taldykorgan (Kazakh: Талдықорған, Taldyqorğan, pronounced [tɑɫˌdəqorˈʁɑn] ; Russian: Талдыкорган), formerly spelled Taldy-Kurgan until 1993, is the capital (called an administrative center) of Jetisu Region, Kazakhstan. According to the 2010 Kazakh Census, the population is 143,407.

The town was founded in the 19th century as the village of Gavrilovka and developed into the present city on the same site. The town grew slowly in its early years. After the completion of the railway connection many Russian farmers moved to the area of the town. Russians are the second-largest ethnic group after the Kazakhs among the 70 nationalities living in Taldykorgan. A total of 143,000 people live in the city. Taldykorgan previously served as the capital city of Taldykorgan Region from 1944 to 1997 and Almaty Region from 1997 to 2022 and now serves as the capital of the new Jetisu Region. The change was announced by President Tokayev on 16 March 2022 and officially came into force on 8 June 2022. In that same decree, the capital of Almaty Region was moved to the city of Konaev.