Aktobe
Encyclopedia
Aktobe formerly known as Aktyubinsk , is a city on the Ilek River
in Kazakhstan
. With a population of 277,700, it is the capital of Aktobe Province. Aktobe has a mixed ethnic community, including Kazakhs
, Russians
, Ukrainians
, Tatars
, Uyghurs
, Chechens, Armenians
, Jews
and Greeks
. Before perestroika
the city also was home to a sizeable German
community.
The name "Aktobe" comes from Kazakh "ақ" (white) and "төбе" (hill); the name is a reference to the heights on which the original 19th century settlement was located.
In March 1869 a Russian military fort with a garrison of 300 was built at the confluence of the Kargala and Ilek Rivers, along the Orenburg - Kazalinsk caravan
route. From this period Slavic
settlers began to immigrate to the region in order to farm, and very soon neighborhoods had been built around the fort. In 1874 the fort was expanded in size, and streets were laid out to and from the fort's gate. In 1891 the settlement was labelled a district city, and officially named "Aktyubinsk": Актюбинск.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the settlement rapidly expanded in size. While the 1889 population was listed as 2600, the 1909 population had increased more than four times to 10716 official residents. The physical characteristics of the city had developed as well, and by the turn of the century the city could boast two churches, a seminary, a Tatar mosque, a "Russian - Kyrgyz" boys' school and girls' school, a clinic, a bank, a post office, a city park, a movie theater and two mills. The Trans-Aral Railway
was extended through the city in 1901, and in the years before World War I industry and economy began to develop in the town, including the construction of an electric factory, a brick factory and an annual trade fair.
The city was affected by the Russian Revolution of 1905
, and strikes and riots took place during the period 1905 - 1907. Bolshevik
revolutionaries were very active in the city (at least according to official Soviet histories). On January 8, 1918 Bolsheviks moved to seize control of the local soviet and by January 21, 1918 Bolshevik power was secured over the city.
and their White
opponents during the Russian Civil War
. Kazakh and Russian inhabitants of Aktobe and its environs actively supported both sides in the conflict.
In mid-1918, elements of the Bolshevik First Orenburg and Twenty-eighth Regiments, commanded by G.V. Zinoviev, were effectively besieged in Aktobe by forces commanded by Ataman Dutov
. Dutov, commanding approximately 10,000 rifles, 5,000 sabres, and 500 jigits (warriors) of the Alash Orda
movement's newly-formed Second Kazakh Mounted Regiment, attacked Aktobe in October, 1918. The attack only reached as far as the village of Ak Bulak.
In the autumn of 1918, Mikhail Frunze
's Fifth Army and Mikhail Tukhachevsky
's First Army were ordered to break through and clear the railway, in order to allow Red Army forces to link up with Bolsheviks along the Syr Darya
. White pressure on Aktobe was relieved by Frunze's capture of Uralsk, Orenburg
and Orsk
in early 1919, but by April Dutov and Admiral Kolchak were able to launch a combined counteroffensive. Aktobe finally fell to the Whites on April 18, 1919, once again severing Bolshevik rail links to Central Asia. In this offensive, the Whites also managed to capture and execute Amangeldy Imanov, a Kazakh military leader who had been operating in the Aktobe region with the support of Moscow.
By June 1919, Frunze had received reinforcements and had moved back on to the offensive. On September 10, Aktobe was secured by the Fifth Army after an eight-day battle. 20,000 of Kolchak's troops were captured, along with the easternmost part of the city. From this point, Bolshevik forces were able to control the railway to Tashkent.
An All-Kazakhstan Conference of Soviet Workers was held in the city on March 13, 1920. This was the first of a series of regional organizing conferences held by the Bolsheviks that ultimately led to the creation of the Kirgiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - the entity that would ultimately develop into the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan.
as a result of the evacuation and reconstruction of factories from the Ukraine and from Moscow, including a worker's cooperative, a ferroalloy
factory, and an X-ray factory. Chromium
likewise began to be mined and processed in the province. In the 1960s, an extensive expansion of the city was undertaken by Soviet authorities, resulting in the construction of the city "Center" and sports stadium.
Since Kazakhstani independence in 1991 the city's society and economy have dramatically changed. Older heavy industries have declined and been replaced in importance with the energy sector. The city has continued to expand with new construction and with many Kazakh immigrants moving to the city from the surrounding countryside.
On May 17, 2011 Aktobe was the site of one of Kazakhstan's first terrorist attacks, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the headquarters of the local national security services
. Some analysts have seen this as a seen of increasing instability in the oil-rich, but socially unequal, region.
is located some 200 km to the northwest, while the Russian city of Orsk
is about 150 to the northeast. The area around the city of Aktobe is mostly flat steppe, with low hills rising to the northeast. Other rivers, such as the Emba and the Ural River
, flow through the province. The province is bordered on the south by the Aral Sea. The natural vegetation cover around Aktobe city is steppe, while the southern parts of the province are semi-desert.
Aktobe's climate is continental
, with wide seasonal variations in temperature. In winter, temperatures can reach a low of -41C, with an average of -24C. Summer temperatures can reach a high of 45C, with an average temperature of 31 C. The weather can change rapidly, especially during spring and autumn (the especially windy days in March when the weather changes are known locally as the Бес Қонақ, or "Five Guests"). Precipitation usually occurs in early spring and late autumn/early winter, and is otherwise sporadic throughout the year. Overall, Aktobe receives about 300mm of precipitation per year.
. The population in this province is very mobile, and concrete numbers and percentages can rapidly become obsolete.
Aktobe has a fast-paced apartment-building boom, possibly due to the expansion of the oil industry and immigration from nearby villages. The construction boom is connected with the general economic growth in the province and in Western Kazakhstan.
Province headquarters for the Kazakh National Security Committee
(KNB), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and for the Registry of the Republic of Kazakhstan are located in Aktobe.
Aktobe is the Headquarters for the Western Military District of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This district's responsibilities include defence of the Caspian Sea region, and the district is commanded by a Rear-Admiral. A Russian military presence is maintained in the province at the Emba missile testing range.
Heavy industry was established in Aktobe during the Second World War. Many of today's fastest-growing industries in Aktobe are related to food production (such as the company "Ramazan"), construction ("Dastan") or vodka distilling ("Wimpex" and "Ayazhan"). A number of foreign companies, notably German and Austrian firms, have established partnerships with local light industry firms. Both copper
and chromite
are mined in the Khromtau
district of Aktobe province.
However, the major engine of economic growth in Aktobe and Aktobe province has been the development of energy resources. The Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) owns a 60% stake in AktobeMunaiGaz, and is investing heavily in oil and natural gas extraction from Aktobe province oilfields. A pipeline
has been constructed to transport oil to Xinjiang
(see Energy and Utilities).
The revenues from oil and gas extraction have helped to develop banking, real estate, and support services in Aktobe.
Era many pilots were trained there.
There are also two museums in Aktobe: the Province Museum, dedicated to the natural and human history of Aktobe province, and the Aliya Moldagulova museum. There is also a geological exhibition in the city.
Two Russian Orthodox churches are located in Aktobe, three mosques, with the third mosque completed in 2006, as well as a Catholic
and a Pentecostal church.
There are a large number of outdoor bazaars and indoor shopping centers located across the city. Most unusually, a major indoor shopping center shares space with the Nurdaulet mosque in the city Center.
team to the Spartakiade 2009 and is home to football club FC Aktobe
.
(via Saratov
), Bishkek
, and Tashkent
, as well as daily domestic service to Aktau
, Atyrau
, Almaty
and Astana
.
Aktobe Airport
offers daily flights to Moscow, Almaty, Astana, Aktau, Atyrau, Baku and Erevan.
Bus service connects Aktobe with villages in Aktobe Province and across the border with Russia
.
Major oil and natural gas pipelines transect Aktobe and the surrounding region. The Keniyak-Orsk pipeline, 400 km pipeline with an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons, carries oil from the Aktobe fields to a refinery in Orsk
, Russia. The Kazakhstan-China Pipeline
has transported oil from Aktobe's fields to Atyrau since 2003. The Keniyak-Kumkol phase of the pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2011, and will link Aktobe's oil fields to the current Atasu-Alashankou pipeline supplying crude oil to Xinjiang. Aktobe is connected to the Bukhara-Urals natural gas pipeline.
will take place in Aktobe in November 2011.
Ilek River
The Ilek River is a steppe river at the southern end of the Ural Mountains. It is a tributary of the Ural River and lies in the Orenburg Oblast in Russia and Republic of Kazakhstan. It rises just south of Orsk, flows south a short distance and then flows westward south of and parallel to the Ural...
in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. With a population of 277,700, it is the capital of Aktobe Province. Aktobe has a mixed ethnic community, including Kazakhs
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
, Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
, Uyghurs
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
, Chechens, Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
. Before perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
the city also was home to a sizeable German
Volga German
The Volga Germans were ethnic Germans living along the River Volga in the region of southern European Russia around Saratov and to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the 18th century, they were allowed to maintain German culture, language, traditions and churches: Lutherans, Reformed,...
community.
The name "Aktobe" comes from Kazakh "ақ" (white) and "төбе" (hill); the name is a reference to the heights on which the original 19th century settlement was located.
Founding and growth
The territory of modern-day Aktobe province has borne witness to the rise and fall of many Central Asian cultures and empires. The region has figured prominently in the history of the Kazakh "Little Horde" (Kaz. Кіші Жуз, Rus. Младший Жуз). The Kazakh war-leader Eset Batyr (Kaz. Есет Батыр) based his campaigns against the Dzungars from this area. His mausoleum is located 35 km. to the south of Aktobe city. Abulkhair Khan (1693 - 1748) was also based in this region.In March 1869 a Russian military fort with a garrison of 300 was built at the confluence of the Kargala and Ilek Rivers, along the Orenburg - Kazalinsk caravan
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
route. From this period Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
settlers began to immigrate to the region in order to farm, and very soon neighborhoods had been built around the fort. In 1874 the fort was expanded in size, and streets were laid out to and from the fort's gate. In 1891 the settlement was labelled a district city, and officially named "Aktyubinsk": Актюбинск.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the settlement rapidly expanded in size. While the 1889 population was listed as 2600, the 1909 population had increased more than four times to 10716 official residents. The physical characteristics of the city had developed as well, and by the turn of the century the city could boast two churches, a seminary, a Tatar mosque, a "Russian - Kyrgyz" boys' school and girls' school, a clinic, a bank, a post office, a city park, a movie theater and two mills. The Trans-Aral Railway
Trans-Aral Railway
The broad gauge Trans-Aral Railway was built in 1906 connecting Orenburg and Tashkent, then both in the Russian Empire. For the first part of the 20th century it was the only railway-connection between European Russia and Central Asia.There were plans to construct the Orenburg-Tashkent line as...
was extended through the city in 1901, and in the years before World War I industry and economy began to develop in the town, including the construction of an electric factory, a brick factory and an annual trade fair.
The city was affected by the Russian Revolution of 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
, and strikes and riots took place during the period 1905 - 1907. Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
revolutionaries were very active in the city (at least according to official Soviet histories). On January 8, 1918 Bolsheviks moved to seize control of the local soviet and by January 21, 1918 Bolshevik power was secured over the city.
Civil War
With its location on the Trans-Aral Railway, Aktobe was a strategic point much contested between the Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and their White
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
opponents during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. Kazakh and Russian inhabitants of Aktobe and its environs actively supported both sides in the conflict.
In mid-1918, elements of the Bolshevik First Orenburg and Twenty-eighth Regiments, commanded by G.V. Zinoviev, were effectively besieged in Aktobe by forces commanded by Ataman Dutov
Alexander Dutov
Alexander Ilyich Dutov , one of the leaders of the Cossack counterrevolution in the Urals, Lieutenant General .Dutov was born in Kazalinsk...
. Dutov, commanding approximately 10,000 rifles, 5,000 sabres, and 500 jigits (warriors) of the Alash Orda
Alash Orda
Alash Orda was the name of the provisional Kazakh government between 13 December 1917 and 26 August 1920.The Alash Party proclaimed the autonomy of the Kazakh people in December 1917. Membership consists from 25 members and 15 member candidates...
movement's newly-formed Second Kazakh Mounted Regiment, attacked Aktobe in October, 1918. The attack only reached as far as the village of Ak Bulak.
In the autumn of 1918, Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.-Life and Political Activity:Frunze was born in Bishkek, then a small Imperial Russian garrison town in the Kyrgyz part of Turkestan, to a Moldovan medical practitioner and his Russian wife...
's Fifth Army and Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander in chief of the Red Army , and one of the most prominent victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.-Early life:...
's First Army were ordered to break through and clear the railway, in order to allow Red Army forces to link up with Bolsheviks along the Syr Darya
Syr Darya
The Syr Darya , also transliterated Syrdarya or Sirdaryo, is a river in Central Asia, sometimes known as the Jaxartes or Yaxartes from its Ancient Greek name . The Greek name is derived from Old Persian, Yakhsha Arta , a reference to the color of the river's water...
. White pressure on Aktobe was relieved by Frunze's capture of Uralsk, Orenburg
Orenburg
Orenburg is a city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies southeast of Moscow, very close to the border with Kazakhstan. Population: 546,987 ; 549,361 ; Highest point: 154.4 m...
and Orsk
Orsk
Orsk is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Since this river is considered a boundary between Europe and Asia, Orsk can be said to lie in two continents. It is...
in early 1919, but by April Dutov and Admiral Kolchak were able to launch a combined counteroffensive. Aktobe finally fell to the Whites on April 18, 1919, once again severing Bolshevik rail links to Central Asia. In this offensive, the Whites also managed to capture and execute Amangeldy Imanov, a Kazakh military leader who had been operating in the Aktobe region with the support of Moscow.
By June 1919, Frunze had received reinforcements and had moved back on to the offensive. On September 10, Aktobe was secured by the Fifth Army after an eight-day battle. 20,000 of Kolchak's troops were captured, along with the easternmost part of the city. From this point, Bolshevik forces were able to control the railway to Tashkent.
An All-Kazakhstan Conference of Soviet Workers was held in the city on March 13, 1920. This was the first of a series of regional organizing conferences held by the Bolsheviks that ultimately led to the creation of the Kirgiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - the entity that would ultimately develop into the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan.
Modern history
In 1932, Aktobe was named capital city of Aktobe Province. The city developed extensively during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a result of the evacuation and reconstruction of factories from the Ukraine and from Moscow, including a worker's cooperative, a ferroalloy
Ferroalloy
Ferroalloy refers to various alloys of iron with a high proportion of one or more other element, manganese or silicon for example. It is used in the production of steels and alloys as a raw material.The main ferroalloys are:*FeAl – ferroaluminum...
factory, and an X-ray factory. Chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
likewise began to be mined and processed in the province. In the 1960s, an extensive expansion of the city was undertaken by Soviet authorities, resulting in the construction of the city "Center" and sports stadium.
Since Kazakhstani independence in 1991 the city's society and economy have dramatically changed. Older heavy industries have declined and been replaced in importance with the energy sector. The city has continued to expand with new construction and with many Kazakh immigrants moving to the city from the surrounding countryside.
On May 17, 2011 Aktobe was the site of one of Kazakhstan's first terrorist attacks, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the headquarters of the local national security services
2011 Aktobe bombing
The 2011 Aktobe Bombing was a terrorist attack in the city of Aktobe, Kazakhstan on May 17, 2011. The attacker entered the headquarters of the Kazakhstani security services in the oblast and set off a suicide bomb, killing himself and injuring two others. Initially, the bombing was blamed on...
. Some analysts have seen this as a seen of increasing instability in the oil-rich, but socially unequal, region.
Geography
Aktobe Province is located in Western Kazakhstan, and is the second largest province by area in Kazakhstan. The city of Aktobe is located where the Kargala and Ilek rivers meet. It is in the north-central part of Aktobe province. The Russian city of OrenburgOrenburg
Orenburg is a city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies southeast of Moscow, very close to the border with Kazakhstan. Population: 546,987 ; 549,361 ; Highest point: 154.4 m...
is located some 200 km to the northwest, while the Russian city of Orsk
Orsk
Orsk is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Since this river is considered a boundary between Europe and Asia, Orsk can be said to lie in two continents. It is...
is about 150 to the northeast. The area around the city of Aktobe is mostly flat steppe, with low hills rising to the northeast. Other rivers, such as the Emba and the Ural River
Ural River
The Ural or Jayıq/Zhayyq , known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. Its total length is 1,511 mi making it the third longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube...
, flow through the province. The province is bordered on the south by the Aral Sea. The natural vegetation cover around Aktobe city is steppe, while the southern parts of the province are semi-desert.
Aktobe's climate is continental
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
, with wide seasonal variations in temperature. In winter, temperatures can reach a low of -41C, with an average of -24C. Summer temperatures can reach a high of 45C, with an average temperature of 31 C. The weather can change rapidly, especially during spring and autumn (the especially windy days in March when the weather changes are known locally as the Бес Қонақ, or "Five Guests"). Precipitation usually occurs in early spring and late autumn/early winter, and is otherwise sporadic throughout the year. Overall, Aktobe receives about 300mm of precipitation per year.
Demographics
While Aktobe Province is the second-largest province in area in Kazakhstan, it has the second-lowest population density of 2.3 people per square km. In 1985 it had a population of around 231,000. The 1999 Census estimated that approximately 682,600 people lived in the province, and over 250,000 people lived within the city of Aktobe. While the census does not enumerate ethnic breakdowns by province, Aktobe and Aktobe Province would appear to host a large Kazakh ethnic majority (55.6%). Russians are the second-largest ethnic group (23.7%), and smaller ethnic groups also inhabit the province, especially the city of Aktobe. Among these are sizeable Ukrainian, Tatar, Chechen, Armenian, Jewish, and Greek populations, among many others. The Volga Germans once maintained a large community in Aktobe, but since the early 1990s many of their number have emigrated to GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The population in this province is very mobile, and concrete numbers and percentages can rapidly become obsolete.
Aktobe has a fast-paced apartment-building boom, possibly due to the expansion of the oil industry and immigration from nearby villages. The construction boom is connected with the general economic growth in the province and in Western Kazakhstan.
Law and government
Aktobe is the capital city of Aktobe Province. An akim (governor) is appointed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to act as chief executive. Aktobe has both a province and a municipal government (whose chief is also called Akim). The Municipal akim is appointed by the province akim.Province headquarters for the Kazakh National Security Committee
National Security Committee
The National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan is an intelligence agency in Kazakhstan. It was founded on 13 July 1992.-History:...
(KNB), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and for the Registry of the Republic of Kazakhstan are located in Aktobe.
Aktobe is the Headquarters for the Western Military District of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This district's responsibilities include defence of the Caspian Sea region, and the district is commanded by a Rear-Admiral. A Russian military presence is maintained in the province at the Emba missile testing range.
Economy
Agriculture and ranching play a large role in Aktobe province's economy and in rural employment. Beef, mutton and dairy products are major products in this area.Heavy industry was established in Aktobe during the Second World War. Many of today's fastest-growing industries in Aktobe are related to food production (such as the company "Ramazan"), construction ("Dastan") or vodka distilling ("Wimpex" and "Ayazhan"). A number of foreign companies, notably German and Austrian firms, have established partnerships with local light industry firms. Both copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and chromite
Chromite
Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...
are mined in the Khromtau
Khromtau
Khromtau is a town in Aktobe Province of Kazakhstan, the administrative center of Khromtau District. It was formed in 1967. Population is approximately 21,156 . Khromtau has important Chromium deposits, which are currently exploited in underground mines...
district of Aktobe province.
However, the major engine of economic growth in Aktobe and Aktobe province has been the development of energy resources. The Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) owns a 60% stake in AktobeMunaiGaz, and is investing heavily in oil and natural gas extraction from Aktobe province oilfields. A pipeline
Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline
The Kazakhstan–China oil pipeline is China's first direct oil import pipeline allowing oil import from Central Asia. It runs from Kazakhstan's Caspian shore to Xinjiang in China. The pipeline is owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation and the Kazakh oil company KazMunayGas.-History:The...
has been constructed to transport oil to Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
(see Energy and Utilities).
The revenues from oil and gas extraction have helped to develop banking, real estate, and support services in Aktobe.
Education
Aktobe is host to a number of state and private institutions of higher learning, including Zhubanov State University and the West Kazakhstan Medical Academy. The military of Kazakhstan also maintains a pilot school in the city. During the SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Era many pilots were trained there.
Culture
There are two theaters in Aktobe, as well as one Children's Palace theater.There are also two museums in Aktobe: the Province Museum, dedicated to the natural and human history of Aktobe province, and the Aliya Moldagulova museum. There is also a geological exhibition in the city.
Two Russian Orthodox churches are located in Aktobe, three mosques, with the third mosque completed in 2006, as well as a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and a Pentecostal church.
There are a large number of outdoor bazaars and indoor shopping centers located across the city. Most unusually, a major indoor shopping center shares space with the Nurdaulet mosque in the city Center.
Sports
The city sent a bandyBandy
Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...
team to the Spartakiade 2009 and is home to football club FC Aktobe
FC Aktobe
FC Aktobe are a Kazakh football club based at the Central Stadium in Aktobe. Current members and four-time champions of the Kazakhstani Premier League, they also won the country's second level league – First Division – in 2000.-Name history:...
.
Transport
Aktobe maintains daily international rail service with MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(via Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
), Bishkek
Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
, and Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, as well as daily domestic service to Aktau
Aktau
Aktau , formerly known as Shevchenko , is a city in Kazakhstan's Mangyshlak Peninsula and country's only seaport on the Caspian Sea. It is the capital of Mangystau Province in western Kazakhstan...
, Atyrau
Atyrau
Atyrau , known as Guryev until 1991, is a city in Kazakhstan, and the capital of Atyrau Province. It is located at the mouth of the Ural River, 2700 kilometers west of Almaty and 350 kilometers east of the Russian city of Astrakhan. Other transliterations include Aterau, Atirau, Atyraw, Atyraou,...
, Almaty
Almaty
Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
and Astana
Astana
Astana , formerly known as Akmola , Tselinograd and Akmolinsk , is the capital and second largest city of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 708,794 as of 1 August 2010...
.
Aktobe Airport
Aktobe Airport
Aktobe Airport is an airport in Kazakhstan located 4 km south of Aktobe. It has a small terminal with five airliner parking spots. It has serviced the Ilyushin Il-86.-Airlines and destinations:...
offers daily flights to Moscow, Almaty, Astana, Aktau, Atyrau, Baku and Erevan.
Bus service connects Aktobe with villages in Aktobe Province and across the border with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Energy and utilities
The Aktobe Field has an estimated reserve of 1.17 billion barrels of crude oil, and is being developed by the CNPC/AktobeMunaiGaz consortium. Smaller German and American joint ventures are also involved in oil extraction projects in the region.Major oil and natural gas pipelines transect Aktobe and the surrounding region. The Keniyak-Orsk pipeline, 400 km pipeline with an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons, carries oil from the Aktobe fields to a refinery in Orsk
Orsk
Orsk is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Since this river is considered a boundary between Europe and Asia, Orsk can be said to lie in two continents. It is...
, Russia. The Kazakhstan-China Pipeline
Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline
The Kazakhstan–China oil pipeline is China's first direct oil import pipeline allowing oil import from Central Asia. It runs from Kazakhstan's Caspian shore to Xinjiang in China. The pipeline is owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation and the Kazakh oil company KazMunayGas.-History:The...
has transported oil from Aktobe's fields to Atyrau since 2003. The Keniyak-Kumkol phase of the pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2011, and will link Aktobe's oil fields to the current Atasu-Alashankou pipeline supplying crude oil to Xinjiang. Aktobe is connected to the Bukhara-Urals natural gas pipeline.
Famous people
- Valeri LiukinValeri LiukinValeri Viktorovich Liukin is a retired competitive artistic gymnast who competed for the former Soviet Union. Liukin is the 1988 Olympic Champion in the team competition and individually on the horizontal bar and Olympic silver medalist in the all-around and the parallel bars...
, 2x gold medallist, Olympic Gymnastics (Seoul 1988) & father/coach to 2008 Olympic Gymnastics Champion Nastia LiukinNastia LiukinAnastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars... - Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev (1933 - 1971), Cosmonaut
- Yury Lonchakov (b. 1965), Cosmonaut
Events
The VII Asian-Pacific Astronomy OlympiadInternational Astronomy Olympiad
The International Astronomy Olympiad is an internationally recognized annual astronomy scientific-educating event for high school students , which includes an intellectual competition between these students...
will take place in Aktobe in November 2011.
See also
- KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
- Kazakh SteppeKazakh SteppeThe Kazakh Steppe or Kirghiz Steppe ecoregion, of the Palearctic Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Biome, is a vast region of open grassland in northern Kazakhstan and adjacent portions of Russia, extending to the east of the Pontic steppe and to the west of the Emin Valley steppe,...
- List of Kazakh historical figures
- History of KazakhstanHistory of KazakhstanThe history of Kazakhstan describes the human past in the Eurasia's largest segment of the steppe belt that was the home and crossroads for numerous human groups starting with extinct Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus 1 mln - 800,000 in the Karatau Mountains, Caspian and Balkhash areas; Neanderthals...
- Politics of KazakhstanPolitics of KazakhstanThe politics of Kazakhstan takes place in the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Kazakhstan is head of state and nominates the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government...
- Military of KazakhstanMilitary of KazakhstanThe Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan , is the name of the unified armed forces of Kazakhstan...
- Demographics of KazakhstanDemographics of KazakhstanThe Demographics of Kazakhstan enumerate the demographic features of the population of Kazakhstan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population...
- Economy of KazakhstanEconomy of KazakhstanThe economy of Kazakhstan is the largest economy in Central Asia. It possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves as well as minerals and metals. It also has considerable agricultural potential with its vast steppe lands accommodating both livestock and grain production, as well as developed space...
- List of schools in Kazakhstan
- Education in KazakhstanEducation in KazakhstanFollowing independence from the Soviet Union a major economic depression cut "public financing" for education in Kazakhstan, "which dropped from 6% of gross domestic product in 1991 to about 3% in 1994, before rising to 4% in 1999." Elementary- and secondary-school teachers remain badly underpaid;...
- Communications in KazakhstanCommunications in KazakhstanThis article provides an overview of the communications infrastructure of the country of Kazakhstan.The information was taken from CIA World FactBook :Telephones - main lines in use:5.928 million Telephones - mobile cellular:...
- Transport in KazakhstanTransport in KazakhstanFor transport in the Soviet Union, see Transport in the Soviet Union.- Railways :total:15,300 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial linesbroad gauge:15,300 km of gauge...
- Aktobe AirportAktobe AirportAktobe Airport is an airport in Kazakhstan located 4 km south of Aktobe. It has a small terminal with five airliner parking spots. It has serviced the Ilyushin Il-86.-Airlines and destinations:...
Sources
Aktobe - Gorod Slavnoi Istorii. Komitet po upravleniyu zemel'nimi resursami ministyerstva cel'skogo khozyaistva Pespubliki Kazakhstana (Комземресурсы). Astana, Kazakhstan 1999. (Russian)External links
- Aktobe city administration. (In Russian and Kazakh)
- Rika TV Portal. News and Information from an Aktobe media outlet. (In Russian)
- Wild Natures - Holidays in Kazakhstan"A Dutch organization, promoting and investing in touristic and agricultural projects in Kazakhstan" Information and Links (English)