Aerial photography by Nikita Popov

Baikonur, formerly known as Leninsk (also, see Tyuratam), is a city in Kazakhstan, rented and administered by the Russian Federation. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995. During the Soviet period, it was sometimes referred to as Zvezdograd (Star City).

The original Baikonur is a mining town a few hundred kilometres northeast of the present location. Starting with Vostok 1 in April 1961, the launch site was given this name to cause confusion and keep the location secret.

Source: Wikipedia