Baikonur is a city located in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. The settlement was specifically constructed to serve as a base for the Baikonur Cosmodrome, providing administrative offices and housing for employees.
The city is currently leased and administered by the Russian Federation until 2050. During the Soviet era, the town was known as Leninsk and was occasionally referred to as Zvezdograd before being officially renamed Baikonur by Russian President Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995.