Рассказ про город актобе

История

Город возник на месте крепости Актюбе (Белый Холм), основанной в 1869 году. В течение первых трех десятилетий после основания хозяйственная жизнь Актюбинска была тесно связана с кочевым скотоводством казахов. Одновременно происходило оседание населения вокруг селения. Плодородная почва и прекрасное расположение впоследствии привлекут сюда много переселенцев из разных концов Российской Империи. Первый генеральный план застройки укрепления был разработан в 1874 году. Поселение делилось на своеобразные микрорайоны: Курмыш, Татарская слобода, Оторвановка. Первые улицы назывались Гарнизонная, Крепостная, Оренбургская, Илецкая, Георгиевская. В 1891 году гарнизонное укрепление Актюбе преобразовали в уездный город Актюбинск Тургайской области. А в самом начале XX в. через Актюбинск прошла железная дорога Оренбург-Ташкент, которая дала новый толчок к развитию экономики города.

10 марта 1932 года Актюбинск стал центром Актюбинской области. С середины 60-х годов началось строительство жилых микрорайонов и массивов. В 1977 году Актюбинск стал центром Западно-Казахстанской железной дороги. 11 марта 1999 года по Указу Президента Республики Казахстан город Актюбинск стал называться Актобе.

Ақтөбе с казахского языка означает Белый Холм (Ақ — Белый, төбе — Холм).

Актобе — родина 37 героев Советского Союза. В Актюбинске перед Великой Отечественной войной училась славная дочь казахского народа Алия Молдагулова, родился летчик-космонавт СССР Виктор Иванович Пацаев (1933—1971), жил и работал знатный просовод Чаганак Берсиев (1887—1944).

Население

Население 283 тыс.чел. Национальный состав населения, как и обычно в Казахстане, интернационален, но в отличие от других областей страны казахи составляют абсолютное большинство. Много русских, также проживают татары, украинцы, немцы, корейцы, молдаване, уйгуры, евреи, армяне, чеченцы и др.

Экономика, культура

Крупный экономический центр западного Казахстана. Заводы ферросплавов, хромовых соединений, сельскохозяйственного машиностроения, рентгеноаппаратуры и др. Химическая промышленность. Лёгкая, пищевая промышленность, особенно развито производство ликёро-водочной продукции. Также в ближайшее время планируется введение в эсплуатацию газоперабатывающего, горно-обогатительный заводы.

В Актюбинской области имеются крупные эксплуатируемые и неэксплуатируемые месторождения нефти и газа, в Жанажольском районе действует газотурбинная электростанция, вырабатывающая электричество.

В городе действуют 5 ВУЗов, 2 музея общереспубликанского значения, Дворец Спорта и Центральный Стадион, соответствующий стандартам УЕФА. Показывает спектакли драматический театр им. Т.Ахтанова основанный в 1935 году. В городе есть и своя футбольная команда.

Существуют две мечети, здание православного храма (в проекте еще одно здание), католический приход.

Актобе — неофициальная столица рока, панка Казахстана. В частности, ежегодно проводится фестиваль независимой музыки «Суховей». Концепция фестиваля была придумана известным актюбинским музыкантом Ерменом Ержановым из группы «Адаптация». На фестиваль приезжает множество людей со всего СНГ. За последние годы на фестивале побывало более 20 групп из 15 городов СНГ.

Имеется международный аэропорт.

Районы города

Существует два основных географических деления Актобе: Город (под этим словом жители подразумевают старую часть, то есть район бывшей крепости, которая и была построена на светлом холме) и Новая часть города (этот термин в разговорной речи актюбинцы употребляют редко, предпочитая уточнять район).

• Районы Старого города: Курмыш, Москва, Гормолзавод, Татарка, Малышка
• Районы Новой части города: Сингай, Шанхай, Космос, Сазда, 5, 8, 11 и 12 микрорайоны
• Другие районы: Жилгородок, Авиагородок, Юго-Запад, Заречный, Жилянка

Город Сегодня

В 2005 году в городе начался строительный подъем. Акимом были запланированы новые районы и дома. На месте старых кинотеатров «Жулдыз» и «МИР» в 2006 году были построены два новых крупных торговых центра. По новому проекту планируется расширение 11 и 12 микрорайонов, строительство новой набережной и ряда жилых комплексов. Также в планах находится создание 13 микрорайона.

Актобе (Ақтөбе) входит в пятерку крупнейших городов Казахстана, это центр Актюбинской области на западе страны. Сегодня город — индустриальный центр. Здесь переплелись культура и верования различных этносов, что отразилось на облике города. Доказательство тому — достопримечательности Актобе.

Чем знаменит город Актобе? Символ города — Обелиск Славы, а о богатой истории края расскажут экспонаты историко-краеведческого музея, а также музея «Руханият». На бульваре Единства и Согласия соседствуют мечеть «Нур Гасыр» и православный Свято-Никольский собор, знак единства народа ансамбль «Шанырак». Известен в стране областной театр драмы им. Т. Ахтанова и планетарий. Отдохнуть на лоне природы горожане и гости города могут в центральном парке или на берегу Актюбинского водохранилища.

Обелиск Славы

Какие есть исторические памятники в Актобе? Новейшей истории города посвящен Обелиск Славы, а с древней историей города, края, верований гости знакомятся в историко-краеведческом музее и музее «Руханият».

Обелиск Славы находится в списке памятников истории и культуры местного значения. Возведен он был в 1970 году, посвящен актюбинцам, павшим в войнах ХХ века. Около обелиска проходят все торжественные мероприятия, перед Вечным огнем приносят присягу курсанты.

В 2015 году памятник и прилегающая зона были реставрированы, установлен Вечный огонь, позади обелиска возведена гранитная стена с названиями городов-героев, обновлена брусчатка.

Актюбинский областной историко-краеведческий музей

Это старейшее культурное учреждение города, основанное в 1926 году. Расположены экспозиции музея на площади около 2 тыс. м². Сейчас это научно-исследовательский центр, имеющий базу из 100 тысяч экспонатов.

В музее представлены экспонаты доисторических времен. Группа исследователей подтверждает древнюю историю поселений, описывает археологические раскопки погребений, святилищ в окрестностях Актобе.

Основа экспозиции — история края XIX–XX веков. Историк Абдулхамит Раимбергенов приводит факт, что город был основан в 1869 году, а название «Ак-тюбе» означает ‘белая вершина’.

Музей «Руханият»

Это единственный в стране музей, посвященный истокам мировых религий, веротерпимости и межконфессиональному согласию. Открыто учреждение в 2011 году.

Центральная экспозиция посвящена истории ислама, биографии пророка Мухаммеда, традиционным обрядам. Посетителям представлены уникальные рукописи, священные книги, гравюры. В музее работают специалисты-теологи, которые дают квалифицированные ответы на все вопросы посетителей.

Областной театр драмы им. Т. Ахтанова

История театра началась в 1935 году. Он носил разные названия за время своего существования, пока в 1997 году театру присвоили имя казахского драматурга Тахави Ахтанова.

В театре работают две труппы — казахская и русская. Коллективы известны широкому зрителю, ездят с гастролями по многим городам страны и ближнему зарубежью.

Актюбинский областной планетарий

Детей и взрослых завораживает возможность зрительно оказаться за пределами земного шара. Такой эффект создается в купольном зале планетария в Актобе.

В начале 1960-х годов немцы из ГДР подарили городу аппарат Carl Zeiss, который позволяет демонстрировать астрономические явления: солнечные и лунные затмения, метеоритные дожди, движение планет. Вскоре было построено специальное здание с куполом высотой 10 м, где установили этот аппарат. Так в Актобе появился планетарий, который открылся для посетителей в 1967 году.

Монументально-художественный ансамбль «Шанырак»

Где можно погулять в Актобе? Обогатит впечатлениями прогулка по бульвару Единства и Согласия, торжественное открытие которого состоялось в год 140-летия Актобе (2009). Здесь привлекает внимание монументальный ансамбль «Шанырак» и расположенные напротив друг друга мусульманская мечеть и православный собор.

Ансамбль «Шанырак» представляет собой символическое изображение каркаса и навершия юрты. Они воспринимаются как символ Казахстана, ставшего домом для многих народов, отражают духовное единство казахстанцев.

В центре композиции расположен свето-музыкальный фонтан «Чаша изобилия», звучит классическая и народная казахская музыка.

Мечеть «Нур Гасыр»

Это центральная мечеть в Актобе. Здание создано из белого мрамора в стиле арабской архитектуры. Над ним возвышается позолоченный купол высотой 40 м, с четырех сторон возвышаются минареты (63 м).

Открыта мечеть в 2008 году. В ней есть отдельные залы для мужчин и женщин. Одновременно мечеть вмещает до 3,5 тысяч человек.

Свято-Никольский кафедральный собор

Крупнейший православный собор посвящен святителю казахской земли и исповеднику Николаю Могилевскому. Построен он в традиционном стиле христианских культовых сооружений, имеет пять куполов и колокольню. Здание облицовано красным кирпичом, окна и двери украшены рисунком.

Службы и обряды проводятся в отдельных залах. Отдельно выделено помещение для таинства крещения — востребованного обряда, который проводится ежедневно.

Парк имени Первого Президента

Какие посмотреть природные достопримечательности в Актобе? Можно посетить парк имени Первого Президента РК, а также провести выходной день на берегу Актюбинского водохранилища.

Парк имени Первого Президента — центральный парк в Актобе. Природный оазис расположен в центре города, занимает площадь в 42 га. Здесь посажены разнообразные породы деревьев, множество цветов. Есть фонтан диаметром 17 м, построен искусственный водоем площадью 7500 м². На берегу есть лодочная станция.

В центре парка сооружен самый высокий в Казахстане флагшток (30 м). Национальный стяг на нем виден с любой точки города.

Актюбинское водохранилище

К юго-востоку от города на реке Илек находится один из крупнейших водоемов, в котором запасы воды достигают 245 млн м³. Практическое назначение водохранилища — орошение окрестных сельхозугодий, но одновременно это и популярный туристический объект. На берегу водоема оборудованы пляжи, а рыбаки ловят судака, сазанов, щук.

Упомянутые достопримечательности Актобе говорят о насыщенной научной, культурной, духовной жизни города. Эти объекты неразрывно связаны с жизнью горожан, представляют интерес для туристов.

Оригинал статьи: https://www.nur.kz/leisure/tourist-routes/1581322-dostoprimechatelnosti-aktobe/

Aktobe Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe (Kazakh) Актобе (Russian)
City
Flag Seal
Aktobe Location in Kazakhstan Aktobe Aktobe (Asia)
Coordinates: 50°17′01″N 57°13′47″E / 50.28361°N 57.22972°ECoordinates: 50°17′01″N 57°13′47″E / 50.28361°N 57.22972°E
Country	Kazakhstan
Region	Aktobe Region
Founded	1869
Government
• Akim (mayor)	Murat Zhurebekov[2]
Area
• City	400 km2 (200 sq mi)
Elevation	219 m (719 ft)
Population  (2020-01-01)
• City	500,757[1]
• Metro	420,778
Time zone	UTC+5 (UTC+5)
Postal code	030001
Area code	+7 7132
Vehicle registration	D
Climate	Dfa
Website	http://www.akimataktobe.gov.kz/

Aktobe (Kazakh: Ақтөбе, romanized: Aqtöbe; Russian: Актобе, romanized: Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people.

Aktobe is located in the west of Kazakhstan. The area of the city is about 428,469 km². There are two water reservoirs, Aktobe and Sazdy.

Aktobe ranks fourth among the cities of Kazakhstan in terms of population and is the largest city in western Kazakhstan. The city’s populace is ethnically diverse, with 79% being Kazakhs and 14.8% being Russians. The predominant religions are Islam and Christianity. The agglomeration of Aktobe is expected to grow up to 1.3 million people, including nearby settlements.^[1]

Etymology[edit]

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.

Until 1999 it was officially known as Aktyubinsk (Russian: Актюбинск). The former name is still commonly used in the Russian language, and by Russians in Kazakhstan.^[3]

History[edit]

Founding and growth[edit]

The territory of modern-day Aktobe Region has seen the rise and fall of many Central Asian cultures and empires. The region figured prominently in the history of the Kazakh «Little Horde». The Kazakh warlord Eset Batyr based his campaigns against the Dzungars from this area. His mausoleum is located 35 km (22 mi) 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 route. From that period onward, Slavic settlers began to migrate to the region in order to farm, and very soon, neighbourhoods were 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.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the settlement rapidly expanded in size. While the 1889 population was listed as 2,600, by 1909 the population had increased more than four times to 10,716 official residents. The physical characteristics of the city had developed as well, and by the turn of the century the city had 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 cinema and two mills. The Trans-Aral Railway was extended through the city in 1901. In the years leading up to World War I, industry began to develop in the town, including the construction of an electric factory, a brick factory and the establishment of an annual trade fair.

The city was affected by the Russian Revolution of 1905, and strikes and riots took place between 1905 and 1907. Bolshevik revolutionaries were very active in the city, according to official Soviet histories. On January 8, 1918, the Bolsheviks moved to seize control of the local Soviet and by January 21, 1918, the Bolsheviks had secured the city under their control.

Russian Civil War[edit]

With its location on the Trans-Aral Railway, Aktyubinsk was a strategic point, much contested between the Red Army and their White opponents during the Russian Civil War. Kazakh and Russian inhabitants of Aktyubinsk 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 Georgy Zinoviev, were effectively besieged in Aktyubinsk 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 the city in October, 1918. The attack only reached as far as the village of Ak Bulak.^[4]

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 Aktyubinsk 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. Aktyubinsk finally fell to the Whites on April 18, 1919, once again severing Bolshevik rail links to Central Asia.^[5] In this offensive, the Whites also managed to capture and execute Amangeldy Imanov, a Kazakh military leader who had been operating in the Aktyubinsk region with the support of Bolsheviks in Moscow.

By June 1919, Frunze had received reinforcements and had moved back on to the offensive. On September 10, Aktyubinsk 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.^[6] 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[edit]

In 1932, Aktyubinsk was named capital city of Aktyubinsk Region. The city developed extensively during World War II as a result of the evacuation and reconstruction of factories from Ukraine and from Moscow, including a worker’s cooperative, a ferroalloy factory, and an X-ray factory. Chromium also began to be mined and processed in the region. In the 1960s, an extensive expansion of the city was undertaken by Soviet authorities, resulting in the construction of a city center and a sports stadium.

The city’s society and economy have dramatically changed since Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991. 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.

In 1999, the official name was changed from Aktyubinsk to Aktobe by presidential decree, as part of a nationwide effort to support the Kazakh language.^[7]

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 interpreted this as a sign of increasing instability in the oil-rich, but socially unequal, region.^[8]

Further attacks by suspected Islamist militants occurred on June 5–6, 2016.

Geography[edit]

Aktobe Region is located in Western Kazakhstan, and is the second largest region 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 Region. The Russian city of Orenburg is located some 200 km (120 mi) to the northwest, while the Russian city of Orsk is about 150 km (93 mi) 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 region. The region is bordered on the south by the Aral Sea. The natural vegetation cover around Aktobe city is steppe, while the southern parts of the region are semi-desert.

Hydrography[edit]

The city is located at the place where Kargaly flows into the Ilek River and its valley expands to 15 km. Directly in the center of the city flows the left tributary of Ilek — the Sazdy River, in the northwest — the left tributary of Ilek — the Zhinishke River. Since the channel of the Sazdy River lies in the central part of Aktobe and along it are large shopping and entertainment centers. In the southern part of the city are the lower reaches of the left tributary of Ilek — the Tamda River, but in the low-water period this channel dries up, forming several stretches. On the northern outskirts of the Zarechny district, the Peschanka river flows, the left tributary of the Kargaly, beyond which is the village of Kargaly. To the west of the Kirpichny district, separating it from the village of Akzhar, the Butak River flows through the lower part of the right tributary of the Kargaly.

At 10 km southeast of the city is the Aktobe reservoir with a volume of 245 million m³, called the inhabitants of the Aktobe Sea, it was commissioned in 1988. The Sazdinskoye reservoir, 8 km south-west of the city, which is a traditional resting place for citizens, was built in 1967, and the Kargaly reservoir, which is the largest artificial reservoir near Aktobe (located outside the territory of the city administration), the volume of which is 280 million m³, was commissioned in 1975 and is located 60 km northeast of the city.

Climate[edit]

Aktobe has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), with wide seasonal variations in temperature. In winter, temperatures can reach a low of −48 °C (−54 °F), with a daily average minimum of −16 °C (3 °F). Summer temperatures can reach a high of 43 °C (109 °F), with an average maximum temperature of 30 °C (86 °F). 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 330 mm (13 in) of precipitation per year.

Vegetation[edit]

At the end of the 19th century, the region in which Aktobe was located was described as practically devoid of forest flora, but at the same time very rich in steppe vegetation. Deforestation in the then Aktyubinsk district led to the spread of sand from the neighboring Irgiz district and the disappearance of previously rich vegetation. In Soviet times, measures were taken to create a «green belt» around the city to protect against winter storms and summer dust storms.

The territory of the city is part of the Aktobe floristic district, which occupies more than half of the Aktobe region and the north-eastern part of the West Kazakhstan region. The following types of plants are widespread in Aktobe and its environs: desert sage, clover poppy and others.

Fauna[edit]

The territory of Kazakhstan consists of 22 zoogeographic sites. The city of Aktobe and the entire northern part of the Aktobe region belongs to the western steppe site, in which, unlike other steppe sites, representatives of European forest species live. In addition, in the western steppe area, the desert fauna is richer than in other steppe areas. The widespread desert species of dressings here is found only occasionally, from the Mongolian fauna you can usually see an Eversman hamster. Kazakh desert species also live here, and near Aktobe you can find the Turanian species of combed gerbils.

Demographics[edit]

Aktobe ranks first in terms of population in Western Kazakhstan and is the fourth city in the country by this indicator (after Almaty, Astana and Shymkent). Aktobe rose in October 2019 from fifth to fourth place in terms of the number of inhabitants when the population of the city reached 497,381 inhabitants, overtaking Karaganda (496,701 people) in this indicator. By the end of 2019, the population of the city stepped over 500,000 people and as of January 1, 2020, numbered 500,803 people. The population density in the territory of the city administration (2,338 km²) is 214.2 people per km².

There are several reasons for changes of this position. First, the statistical authorities began to take into account 59,000 residents of rural districts near Aktobe, disbanded in 2018 and included in the city. Secondly, the natural population growth in Aktobe for nine months of 2019 numbered 6,807 people, while in Karaganda during the same period the natural increase reached 2,712 people. Thirdly, during the same period in Aktobe there was a migration increase numbering 2580 people, while in Karaganda there was a migration decrease numbering 3,741 people.

Aktobe is one of the fastest-growing cities in Kazakhstan – in 2003–2013 the population increased by 50%. For comparison, the population of the cities of Turkestan, Zhanaozen and Kaskelen, which showed the most impressive growth rates, grew by 78% over the indicated period. An increase in the birth rate and a decrease in the number of child deaths contribute to the city’s population.

The main sources of urban population growth are natural growth and migration. So (data for the territory subordinated to the city administration) for the period from January 1, 2011 to October 1, 2015, the natural population growth numbered 36,158 people, and the positive balance of migration growth numbered 3,798 people, but the latter figure hides the multi-directional migration flows.

Migration outside the CIS (mainly ethnic Germans, as well as Russians traveling to Germany as members of mixed families) is insignificant, its balance was 76 people, while migration outflow to Germany numbered 103 people, migration exchange with other countries outside the CIS was weakly positive.

Migration within the CIS had a slight positive balance (371 people), but this is the result of the mutual compensation of two significant migration flows: the outflow of Russians (migration balance — 1,221 people, mainly to Russia) and the influx of ethnic Kazakhs (migration balance of 1,173 people), mainly from the countries of Central Asia).

Migration exchange with other regions of Kazakhstan had a negative migration balance of 5,437 people, mainly it was an outflow of ethnic Kazakhs (balance −5,073 people).

Intraregional migrations forming a migratory influx of the population of 9,685 people is the result of the mutual compensation of two significant migration flows: the outflow of Russians (migration balance — 1,221 people, mainly to Russia) and the influx of ethnic Kazakhs (migration balance of 1,173 people), mainly from the countries of Central Asia).

Migration exchange with other regions of Kazakhstan had a negative migration balance of 5,437 people, mainly it was an outflow of ethnic Kazakhs (balance −5,073 people).
Intraregional migrations formed a migratory influx of the population of 9,685 people.

Ethnic groups (2020):^[1]

• Kazakh: 79.91%
• Russian: 14.23%
• Ukrainian: 2.16%
• Tatar: 1.33%
• Others: 2.36%

Law and government[edit]

Aktobe is the capital city of Aktobe Region. An akim (governor) is appointed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to act as chief executive. Aktobe has both the region and the municipal government (whose chief is also called Akim). The Municipal akim is appointed by the regional akim.

Region 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.^[11] A Russian military presence is maintained in the region at the Emba missile testing range.^[11]

Economy[edit]

Agriculture and ranching play a large role in Aktobe Region’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 and chromite are mined in the Khromtau district of Aktobe Region.

However, the major engine of economic growth in Aktobe and Aktobe Region 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 Region oilfields.^[12] 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.

The region also possesses large deposits of phosphorite. One of the largest known being Chilisai deposit, the British company Sunkar Resources Plc (2008) has built an integrated production facility to develop one of the lowest cost producers of phosphate fertiliser in the world with its Chilisai Project (800Mt of ore averaging 10.5% P₂O₅).^[13]

Industry[edit]

Aktobe is a large industrial center, closely connected with chromite deposits east of the city. It houses plants of ferroalloys, chromium compounds, agricultural machinery, X-ray equipment, etc. The chemical, light, and food industries are developed.

In 1930, south of the city, the construction of one of the first and largest chemical industry enterprises in Kazakhstan, the Aktobe Chemical Plant, near which the city of Alga later grew, began. After the collapse of the USSR, production at a chemical plant was suspended and the once city-forming enterprise fell into complete decline. In 2018, the regional authorities decided to completely liquidate the plant. The Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant (Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant), commissioned in 1943, became the first ferrous metallurgy enterprise in Kazakhstan.

The cost of production of the city’s enterprises in 2014 reached 257.9 billion tenge (1.44 billion US dollars) and amounted to 20.7% of the total regional indicators, which is 1.7% lower than the previous year. The metallurgical industry accounts for more than 30% of all production produced in the city, and the chemical industry accounts for 10.3% of the total.

The largest enterprises of the city are the Aktobe ferroalloy plant, Aktyubrentgen, Aktobe plant of chromium compounds and a number of food industry enterprises. AFP produces 22% of Kazakhstan’s ferroalloys. Aktobe plant of chromium compounds is the only enterprise in the country producing chromium oxide, chromic anhydride, tannins, sodium dichromate.

In Aktobe there are large food industry enterprises producing flour, confectionery and pasta, vegetable oil and other products.

Aktobe region and Aktobe — one of the four regions of Kazakhstan, where the production of alcoholic beverages is concentrated. The local vodka producer GEOM LLP (Wimpex) is one of the largest vodka producers in Kazakhstan and occupies 22% of this market. Alcohol production is also carried out by Aktobe Champagne Wine Factory LLP, Arai CJSC, Centaur LLP, Aktobe Distillery Crystal, Kazakh-German joint venture Omirbek and Transmars LLP. The Omirbek and GEOM companies were several times included in the list of the largest taxpayers in the Aktobe region.

Agriculture[edit]

At the end of 2014, 319 agricultural enterprises were registered on the territory of the Aktobe city administration, which produced goods worth 11,998.7 million tenge. Of these, 4112.5 million tenge accounted for crop production, and 7582.8 million tenge for livestock. In total, in 2014 they produced 4.8 thousand tons of meat, 24.9 thousand tons of milk, 121.2 million pieces of eggs.

Despite the allocated subsidies in the amount of 360 million tenge, city livestock farmers were only able to satisfy the Aktobe need for eggs. In 2014, farmers produced 2.9 thousand tons of meat and 20 thousand tons of milk, while the need for meat and milk is 20.7 thousand and 71.4 thousand tons, respectively. However, other types of food (flour, vegetable oil) were produced several times more than the required amount.

On the territory of the city akimat in 2012, 32,021 garden plots were registered as part of collective gardening, as well as 1,101 garden plots as part of collective gardens. Some of the so-called horticultural plots are used not only for home gardening and horticulture, but also for temporary (seasonal) residence for the purpose of recreation and as an individual residential sector for permanent residence; the number of residents who use buildings in garden plots for permanent residence is estimated at 40 thousand people. According to the leadership of the city, cottages impede the development of Aktobe. Registration of permits for the construction of cottages was suspended, and existing garden plots are planned to be vacated for the construction of multi-storey buildings. In the future, summer cottages will be located 10–20 km from the city.

Trade and services[edit]

The main trading floors in the city for a long time remained markets (bazaars), the number of which reached 28 in 2014. The largest of these are the Shygys and Central markets. The city administration is working on the opening of communal mini-markets for the products of local producers and gardeners-summer residents.

The annual growth in retail turnover remains. If in 2012 and 2013 it reached 309.3 and 317.9 billion tenge, respectively, then in 2015 it rose to 391.8 billion tenge.

Since the 2000s, there has been a trend of re-equipping open-air bazaars into indoor pavilions and the construction of shopping and entertainment centers. In 1998, the Bayzharkinov entrepreneurs built one of the first major shopping centers in the city — Nurdaulet. In the following years, several more shopping and entertainment centers appeared: Mega Shygys (2002), Alatau (2007), KeruenCity (2009, formerly Mega Aktobe), Alia Bazary (2011, formerly Alia Center «), CITY Shopping Center (2015).

At present, there are two large supermarket chains in the city — Anvar and Dina. The first hypermarket in Aktobe was «Olzha» (6500 m²), which opened in 2009. In 2011, the second Olzha hypermarket was opened, which occupied the entire first floor (5500 m²) of a large shopping center, built on the site of the Aliya market. In the same year, the Dina chain opened its own hypermarket with an area of 7500 m², and at the end of 2015, the Anwar chain also opened a hypermarket. The «Olzha» hypermarkets, which became the first of their kind not only in Aktobe, but throughout Western Kazakhstan, are now closed.

There is a wholesale center supermarket «Dastarkhan». Also working with household appliances and electronics stores are Alser, Fora, Sulpak and Technodom.

Education[edit]

Aktobe is host to a number of state and private institutions of higher learning, including Zhubanov University (formerly Aktobe State University) and the West Kazakhstan Medical University. The military of Kazakhstan also maintains a pilot school in the city. During the Soviet era many pilots were trained there. Aktobe Art School is one of the most respected institutions which work together with UNESCO.

Science and innovation[edit]

Aktobe is a large scientific center. According to the Department of Statistics of the Aktobe region (2009), the volume of scientific and technical work in the city reached 336 million tenge (440 million tenge in the region). Research and development expenses amounted to 476 million tenge (489 million tenge in the region), including: for basic research — 8 million tenge, for applied research — 465 million tenge, for scientific and technical services — 2 million tenge. City enterprises have created 20 new technologies and technical facilities.

The level of innovation in production is low: 290 out of 303 enterprises of the city did not have any innovations (innovative activity — 4.3%). The volume of innovative products and services amounted to 1,893,742 thousand tenge (4,428,289 thousand tenge in the region) and 885,625 thousand tenge, respectively. The city enterprises spent 909,147 thousand tenge on technological innovations, which is significantly lower than the previous years.

Healthcare[edit]

Consultation and diagnostic clinic number 2 in the old part of the city
The Health Department is in charge of regulating the protection of citizens’ health, medical and pharmaceutical science and education, the circulation of medicines, and the quality control of medical services in Aktobe and the Aktobe region. All regional, city and district medical institutions, organizations and healthcare enterprises are subordinate to the department.

The first city hospital opened in 1912. According to the data for 2019, there were 28 hospital facilities and 143 outpatient clinics in the city, in which 2,281 doctors and 4,002 medical personnel worked. With a growing population, the number of doctors and medical staff remained almost at the same level as in 2018.

Aktobe doctors have the ability to treat various types of diseases, including heart and kidney diseases. In 2014, a donor kidney transplant was performed for the first time in a regional hospital for patients with renal failure.

Culture[edit]

In total there are six museums in the city. The oldest of them, the Aktobe Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, was opened in 1929 on the basis of the school museum and is considered one of the attractions of Aktobe. The memorial museum of Alia Moldagulova, which was opened on April 22, 1985, is located on the eponymous avenue, near the memorial complex of Moldagulova and the Alley of Heroes. The Rukhaniyat Museum was opened in 2011 on the ground floor of the Nur Gasyr Mosque. His activities are aimed at «the implementation of scientific and educational, research and educational activities.» The Museum of Art and Decorative and Applied Arts since November 12, 2013 is located on the central avenue of the city, in the former registry office building.

Theaters and Philharmonic[edit]

There are two professional theaters in Aktobe. The oldest of them is the Drama Theater. T. Akhtanov was founded on the basis of the drama circle of railway workers in 1935 at the suggestion of the People’s Commissar Temirbek Zhurgenov, and in 1997 the theater was named after the Kazakh-Soviet writer Takhavi Akhtanov, who was a native of Aktobe region.

There is also a children’s puppet theater «Alakay». The Regional Philharmonic was founded in 1944, in 2004 it was allocated the building of the House of Culture of Chemists. In 2009, the House of Friendship was opened, the purpose of which is the development of cultures, national traditions and native languages of all the nations of the region. The Friendship House has a concert hall with 300 seats, a ceremonial hall and a choreography hall, a conference hall, an exhibition and a recording studio.

Libraries[edit]

The city has 18 libraries. The Lomonosov Central Library is located on Zhangeldin Street and has 5 branches in different parts of the city, including the Samuil Marshak Children’s Library, and 6 branches in the villages of the city administration. The library system is managed by the city department of culture and language development. The library collection has literary works in Russian, German, English and French languages.

City holidays and festivals[edit]

Every year on May 28, City Day is celebrated. Various cultural events are organized in the park named after the First President, the water-green boulevard of Unity and Concord, the park named after A.S. Pushkin, in the regional philharmonic named after G. Zhubanova, the Palace of students and other venues.

Every year on May 1, in honor of the grand opening of the summer season of the fountains called «Fountain Splashes», the city administration organizes celebrations.

In 2001–2008, under the leadership of the frontman of the Adaptation group Ermen Erzhanov, the city hosted the «Sukhovei «festival of independent music, which was attended by many guests from the CIS countries. After its closure, a similar festival called «Indicator» was organized several times. In 2015, it was announced the resumption of the «Sukhovei «.

Cinemas[edit]

In pre-revolutionary Aktyubinsk there was one cinema hall (one of 13 cinema halls in Kazakhstan). In Soviet times, the cinemas «Zhuldyz» (1967; formerly «October»), «Mir» (1985), «Kazakhstan» (1961; the first wide-screen movie theater), «Sputnik» (1965), and «Pioneer» (formerly «Kultfront») and «Kultpohod», and in the park named after A. S. Pushkin there was a summer cinema. During the years of independence, the «Aina» shopping center was built on the site of the Oktyabr movie theater, and the Mir cinema was turned into the business center of the same name. The same fate befell the rest of the cinemas.

In 2002, in the building of the House of Culture of Railway Workers, built in 1928 and included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan, the first post-Soviet Aktobe cinema, Lokomotiv, was opened. In 2009, the seven-screen multiplex cinema «Kinopark» was opened in the KeruenCity shopping and entertainment center (formerly MEGA Aktobe).

Parks[edit]

During the existence of the USSR in the territory of Aviator park, Central park after. Lenin (present. Them. The First President) and in the park after A.S. Pushkin were opened amusement parks with various attractions. Currently in the park to them. Pushkin has about 20 attractions, another 10 modern attractions are installed in the town of «Ak bot» in the park.

In the past, an amusement park opened in the city every summer. In the 2010s, as part of the general reconstruction of Aktobe Central Park, which was renamed in honor of Nursultan Nazarbayev, outdated attractions, including the Ferris wheel, were dismantled. Instead, the» Captain Brig» entertainment center was built, worth $ 10 million, on the territory of which carousels and roller coasters were installed, and in the main pavilion with an area of 1150 m² there were children’s game attractions. «Captain Brig» is distinguished by the relative high cost of tickets for paid attractions and a small amount of free entertainment.

Entertainment centers for children are located in the courtyard of the Nurdaulet shopping center and inside MEGA Aktobe. In the Happylon entertainment center in MEGA with an area of 2200 m², about 130 attractions and gaming machines were installed, and on the playground near Nurdaulet, in addition to traditional slides and attractions, about 10 years (until 2016) existed for the only mini-zoo in the city.

Park of Health (Park Zdorovyia) was opened in 2017. There are mini-football pitch, basketball pitch and other athletic facilities.

Architecture[edit]

After the territories of modern Kazakhstan were annexed to the Russian Empire, due to the need for strong points and retail outlets, many cities appeared, one of which was Aktobe. In the architecture of the cities of Southern Kazakhstan, the influence of the Central Asian khanates is traced, and the settlements in the west and north-west were typically Russian provincial cities. These cities were built on the basis of master plans drawn up by Russian topographers. The first master plan of Aktobe was developed in 1874.
Eclecticism is inherent in Aktobe architecture — new buildings are adjacent to houses built in the Soviet period, occasionally there are buildings that have survived from pre-revolutionary times. One of the oldest buildings in the city — the Russian-Kyrgyz women’s school, built in 1894, is located on Aiteke bi. Today this building is occupied by the» Shahrizad «restaurant. The building of the former House of Culture of Railway Workers (now the Lokomotiv Cinema), built in 1928 in the constructivist style, is included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan of republican significance.

Monuments[edit]

The city has a large number of registered monuments, memorial plaques, large and small sculptural forms, and memorials. During the years of independence of Kazakhstan alone, 28 monuments and memorial complexes were erected in Aktobe. There is a real cult of the famous sniper Alia Moldagulova — a memorial complex and a monument were built, one of the central avenues was named in her honor, a personal museum was opened. The monument to Alia Moldagulova (1960) and the bust of cosmonaut Viktor Patsaev (1976) are among the monuments of history and culture of Kazakhstan of republican significance.
One of the noteworthy monuments is the 19-meter granite Obelisk of Glory in honor of Aktobe residents who fell in battles for their homeland during the Civil War and World War II with eternal flame, dedicated to the fighters for the establishment of Soviet power and who died in the Great Patriotic War. In 1983, in front of him, a monument to V.I. Lenin was unveiled on the main square of the city (because of this, the obelisk was moved to another place), which then gave way to the monument to the khan of the Small Zhuz Abulkhair, sculptor E. Sergebaev.
In 2008, the city hosted the grand opening of the monument to the heroes of the trilogy Abdijamil Nurpeisov «Blood and Sweat» — the first monument in Kazakhstan dedicated to literary characters.

Planetarium[edit]

Aktobe planetarium is the first planetarium in Kazakhstan. For a long time it was the only one in the country. The planetarium building with a domed hall was built by Moscow specialists in Pioneer Park at the intersection of Nekrasov and Frunze Streets. Until 2001, the permanent leader of the planetarium was Nikolai Pavlovich Zafiris.
The «Star Hall» of the planetarium with a 10-meter dome allows visitors to demonstrate various astronomical phenomena: solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers, halo, sunrise and sunset, panorama of Baikonur. This room also hosts lectures on astronomy and astronautics.
From 1967 to 2012, about 1.5 million people visited the planetarium. The main visitors to the planetarium are schoolchildren, then students and adults.

Sports[edit]

The city sent a bandy team to the Spartakiade 2009 ^[14] and is home to football club FC Aktobe.
Football is one of the most popular sports in the city. Fans of the local club «Aktobe» organized the famous ultras group «13th sector». In 2013, according to a survey of the sports information portal Vesti.kz, Aktobe was recognized as «the most football city in Kazakhstan.» Central Stadium. Koblandy batyr was built in 1975 and complies with UEFA standards. On March – October, the city football club «Aktobe» holds matches, which several times in a row became the champion of Kazakhstan and 9 times the most visited club in the country (185.7 thousand spectators visited home and away matches of the club in 2014). The club is financed from the city budget, in 2015 the amount of financing amounted to 3 billion tenge (2.3 billion tenge in 2010). In 2019, the Aktobe football club (for the first time since 1997) was forced to leave the Kazakhstan Premier League and dropped into the first league. One year later, in 2020, FC Aktobe returned to the Premier League

Infrastructure[edit]

Transport[edit]

Aktobe maintains international rail service with Moscow (via Saratov), Bishkek, and Tashkent, as well as daily domestic service to Aktau, Atyrau, Almaty and Astana.

Aktobe Airport offers flights to Moscow, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Shymkent and Aktau.^[15]

Bus service connects Aktobe with villages in Aktobe Region and across the border with Russia.

Energy and utilities[edit]

The Aktobe Field has an estimated reserve of 1.17 billion barrels of crude oil, and is being developed by the CNPC/AktobeMunaiGaz consortium.^[16] Smaller German and American joint ventures are also involved in oil extraction projects in the region.^[17]

Major oil and natural gas pipelines transect Aktobe and the surrounding region.^[18] The 400 km (250 mi) Keniyak-Orsk pipeline, with an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons, carries oil from the Aktobe fields to a refinery in Orsk, Russia.^[17] 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.^[19] Aktobe is connected to the Bukhara-Urals natural gas pipeline.^[20]

Famous people[edit]

• Alexander Mikaberidze (born 1978), Napoleonic historian.
• Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912—1974), International Master and 5-time winner of the Russian Chess Championship^[21]
• Valeri Liukin (b. 1966), 2x gold medallist, Olympic Gymnastics (Seoul 1988) & father/coach to 2008 Olympic Gymnastics Champion Nastia Liukin^[22]
• Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev (1933–1971), Cosmonaut^[23]
• Yury Lonchakov (b. 1965), Cosmonaut^[24]
• Bala (Daniyar Kulumshin) (born 1998), singer. Member of Kazakh boy group Ninety One.^{[citation needed]}
• Dimash Kudaibergen, (born 1994), singer.^[25]
• Zhalgas Zhumagulov, (born 1988), MMA fighter
• Sabina Altynbekova, (born 1996), Volleyball player

Events[edit]

The VII Asian-Pacific Astronomy Olympiad took place in Aktobe in November 2011.^[26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Aktobe — Gorod Slavnoi Istorii. Komitet po upravleniyu zemel’nimi resursami ministyerstva cel’skogo khozyaistva Pespubliki Kazakhstana (Комземресурсы). Astana, Kazakhstan 1999. (Russian)

External links[edit]

• Aktobe city administration. (In Russian and Kazakh)
• Rika TV Portal. News and Information from an Aktobe media outlet. (In Russian)
• Photos of Aktobe city

Aktobe Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe (Kazakh) Актобе (Russian)
City
Flag Seal
Aktobe Location in Kazakhstan Aktobe Aktobe (Asia)
Coordinates: 50°17′01″N 57°13′47″E / 50.28361°N 57.22972°ECoordinates: 50°17′01″N 57°13′47″E / 50.28361°N 57.22972°E
Country	Kazakhstan
Region	Aktobe Region
Founded	1869
Government
• Akim (mayor)	Murat Zhurebekov[2]
Area
• City	400 km2 (200 sq mi)
Elevation	219 m (719 ft)
Population  (2020-01-01)
• City	500,757[1]
• Metro	420,778
Time zone	UTC+5 (UTC+5)
Postal code	030001
Area code	+7 7132
Vehicle registration	D
Climate	Dfa
Website	http://www.akimataktobe.gov.kz/

Aktobe (Kazakh: Ақтөбе, romanized: Aqtöbe; Russian: Актобе, romanized: Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people.

Aktobe is located in the west of Kazakhstan. The area of the city is about 428,469 km². There are two water reservoirs, Aktobe and Sazdy.

Aktobe ranks fourth among the cities of Kazakhstan in terms of population and is the largest city in western Kazakhstan. The city’s populace is ethnically diverse, with 79% being Kazakhs and 14.8% being Russians. The predominant religions are Islam and Christianity. The agglomeration of Aktobe is expected to grow up to 1.3 million people, including nearby settlements.^[1]

Etymology[edit]

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.

Until 1999 it was officially known as Aktyubinsk (Russian: Актюбинск). The former name is still commonly used in the Russian language, and by Russians in Kazakhstan.^[3]

History[edit]

Founding and growth[edit]

The territory of modern-day Aktobe Region has seen the rise and fall of many Central Asian cultures and empires. The region figured prominently in the history of the Kazakh «Little Horde». The Kazakh warlord Eset Batyr based his campaigns against the Dzungars from this area. His mausoleum is located 35 km (22 mi) 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 route. From that period onward, Slavic settlers began to migrate to the region in order to farm, and very soon, neighbourhoods were 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.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the settlement rapidly expanded in size. While the 1889 population was listed as 2,600, by 1909 the population had increased more than four times to 10,716 official residents. The physical characteristics of the city had developed as well, and by the turn of the century the city had 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 cinema and two mills. The Trans-Aral Railway was extended through the city in 1901. In the years leading up to World War I, industry began to develop in the town, including the construction of an electric factory, a brick factory and the establishment of an annual trade fair.

The city was affected by the Russian Revolution of 1905, and strikes and riots took place between 1905 and 1907. Bolshevik revolutionaries were very active in the city, according to official Soviet histories. On January 8, 1918, the Bolsheviks moved to seize control of the local Soviet and by January 21, 1918, the Bolsheviks had secured the city under their control.

Russian Civil War[edit]

With its location on the Trans-Aral Railway, Aktyubinsk was a strategic point, much contested between the Red Army and their White opponents during the Russian Civil War. Kazakh and Russian inhabitants of Aktyubinsk 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 Georgy Zinoviev, were effectively besieged in Aktyubinsk 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 the city in October, 1918. The attack only reached as far as the village of Ak Bulak.^[4]

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 Aktyubinsk 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. Aktyubinsk finally fell to the Whites on April 18, 1919, once again severing Bolshevik rail links to Central Asia.^[5] In this offensive, the Whites also managed to capture and execute Amangeldy Imanov, a Kazakh military leader who had been operating in the Aktyubinsk region with the support of Bolsheviks in Moscow.

By June 1919, Frunze had received reinforcements and had moved back on to the offensive. On September 10, Aktyubinsk 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.^[6] 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[edit]

In 1932, Aktyubinsk was named capital city of Aktyubinsk Region. The city developed extensively during World War II as a result of the evacuation and reconstruction of factories from Ukraine and from Moscow, including a worker’s cooperative, a ferroalloy factory, and an X-ray factory. Chromium also began to be mined and processed in the region. In the 1960s, an extensive expansion of the city was undertaken by Soviet authorities, resulting in the construction of a city center and a sports stadium.

The city’s society and economy have dramatically changed since Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991. 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.

In 1999, the official name was changed from Aktyubinsk to Aktobe by presidential decree, as part of a nationwide effort to support the Kazakh language.^[7]

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 interpreted this as a sign of increasing instability in the oil-rich, but socially unequal, region.^[8]

Further attacks by suspected Islamist militants occurred on June 5–6, 2016.

Geography[edit]

Aktobe Region is located in Western Kazakhstan, and is the second largest region 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 Region. The Russian city of Orenburg is located some 200 km (120 mi) to the northwest, while the Russian city of Orsk is about 150 km (93 mi) 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 region. The region is bordered on the south by the Aral Sea. The natural vegetation cover around Aktobe city is steppe, while the southern parts of the region are semi-desert.

Hydrography[edit]

The city is located at the place where Kargaly flows into the Ilek River and its valley expands to 15 km. Directly in the center of the city flows the left tributary of Ilek — the Sazdy River, in the northwest — the left tributary of Ilek — the Zhinishke River. Since the channel of the Sazdy River lies in the central part of Aktobe and along it are large shopping and entertainment centers. In the southern part of the city are the lower reaches of the left tributary of Ilek — the Tamda River, but in the low-water period this channel dries up, forming several stretches. On the northern outskirts of the Zarechny district, the Peschanka river flows, the left tributary of the Kargaly, beyond which is the village of Kargaly. To the west of the Kirpichny district, separating it from the village of Akzhar, the Butak River flows through the lower part of the right tributary of the Kargaly.

At 10 km southeast of the city is the Aktobe reservoir with a volume of 245 million m³, called the inhabitants of the Aktobe Sea, it was commissioned in 1988. The Sazdinskoye reservoir, 8 km south-west of the city, which is a traditional resting place for citizens, was built in 1967, and the Kargaly reservoir, which is the largest artificial reservoir near Aktobe (located outside the territory of the city administration), the volume of which is 280 million m³, was commissioned in 1975 and is located 60 km northeast of the city.

Climate[edit]

Aktobe has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), with wide seasonal variations in temperature. In winter, temperatures can reach a low of −48 °C (−54 °F), with a daily average minimum of −16 °C (3 °F). Summer temperatures can reach a high of 43 °C (109 °F), with an average maximum temperature of 30 °C (86 °F). 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 330 mm (13 in) of precipitation per year.

Vegetation[edit]

At the end of the 19th century, the region in which Aktobe was located was described as practically devoid of forest flora, but at the same time very rich in steppe vegetation. Deforestation in the then Aktyubinsk district led to the spread of sand from the neighboring Irgiz district and the disappearance of previously rich vegetation. In Soviet times, measures were taken to create a «green belt» around the city to protect against winter storms and summer dust storms.

The territory of the city is part of the Aktobe floristic district, which occupies more than half of the Aktobe region and the north-eastern part of the West Kazakhstan region. The following types of plants are widespread in Aktobe and its environs: desert sage, clover poppy and others.

Fauna[edit]

The territory of Kazakhstan consists of 22 zoogeographic sites. The city of Aktobe and the entire northern part of the Aktobe region belongs to the western steppe site, in which, unlike other steppe sites, representatives of European forest species live. In addition, in the western steppe area, the desert fauna is richer than in other steppe areas. The widespread desert species of dressings here is found only occasionally, from the Mongolian fauna you can usually see an Eversman hamster. Kazakh desert species also live here, and near Aktobe you can find the Turanian species of combed gerbils.

Demographics[edit]

Aktobe ranks first in terms of population in Western Kazakhstan and is the fourth city in the country by this indicator (after Almaty, Astana and Shymkent). Aktobe rose in October 2019 from fifth to fourth place in terms of the number of inhabitants when the population of the city reached 497,381 inhabitants, overtaking Karaganda (496,701 people) in this indicator. By the end of 2019, the population of the city stepped over 500,000 people and as of January 1, 2020, numbered 500,803 people. The population density in the territory of the city administration (2,338 km²) is 214.2 people per km².

There are several reasons for changes of this position. First, the statistical authorities began to take into account 59,000 residents of rural districts near Aktobe, disbanded in 2018 and included in the city. Secondly, the natural population growth in Aktobe for nine months of 2019 numbered 6,807 people, while in Karaganda during the same period the natural increase reached 2,712 people. Thirdly, during the same period in Aktobe there was a migration increase numbering 2580 people, while in Karaganda there was a migration decrease numbering 3,741 people.

Aktobe is one of the fastest-growing cities in Kazakhstan – in 2003–2013 the population increased by 50%. For comparison, the population of the cities of Turkestan, Zhanaozen and Kaskelen, which showed the most impressive growth rates, grew by 78% over the indicated period. An increase in the birth rate and a decrease in the number of child deaths contribute to the city’s population.

The main sources of urban population growth are natural growth and migration. So (data for the territory subordinated to the city administration) for the period from January 1, 2011 to October 1, 2015, the natural population growth numbered 36,158 people, and the positive balance of migration growth numbered 3,798 people, but the latter figure hides the multi-directional migration flows.

Migration outside the CIS (mainly ethnic Germans, as well as Russians traveling to Germany as members of mixed families) is insignificant, its balance was 76 people, while migration outflow to Germany numbered 103 people, migration exchange with other countries outside the CIS was weakly positive.

Migration within the CIS had a slight positive balance (371 people), but this is the result of the mutual compensation of two significant migration flows: the outflow of Russians (migration balance — 1,221 people, mainly to Russia) and the influx of ethnic Kazakhs (migration balance of 1,173 people), mainly from the countries of Central Asia).

Migration exchange with other regions of Kazakhstan had a negative migration balance of 5,437 people, mainly it was an outflow of ethnic Kazakhs (balance −5,073 people).

Intraregional migrations forming a migratory influx of the population of 9,685 people is the result of the mutual compensation of two significant migration flows: the outflow of Russians (migration balance — 1,221 people, mainly to Russia) and the influx of ethnic Kazakhs (migration balance of 1,173 people), mainly from the countries of Central Asia).

Migration exchange with other regions of Kazakhstan had a negative migration balance of 5,437 people, mainly it was an outflow of ethnic Kazakhs (balance −5,073 people).
Intraregional migrations formed a migratory influx of the population of 9,685 people.

Ethnic groups (2020):^[1]

• Kazakh: 79.91%
• Russian: 14.23%
• Ukrainian: 2.16%
• Tatar: 1.33%
• Others: 2.36%

Law and government[edit]

Aktobe is the capital city of Aktobe Region. An akim (governor) is appointed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to act as chief executive. Aktobe has both the region and the municipal government (whose chief is also called Akim). The Municipal akim is appointed by the regional akim.

Region 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.^[11] A Russian military presence is maintained in the region at the Emba missile testing range.^[11]

Economy[edit]

Agriculture and ranching play a large role in Aktobe Region’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 and chromite are mined in the Khromtau district of Aktobe Region.

However, the major engine of economic growth in Aktobe and Aktobe Region 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 Region oilfields.^[12] 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.

The region also possesses large deposits of phosphorite. One of the largest known being Chilisai deposit, the British company Sunkar Resources Plc (2008) has built an integrated production facility to develop one of the lowest cost producers of phosphate fertiliser in the world with its Chilisai Project (800Mt of ore averaging 10.5% P₂O₅).^[13]

Industry[edit]

Aktobe is a large industrial center, closely connected with chromite deposits east of the city. It houses plants of ferroalloys, chromium compounds, agricultural machinery, X-ray equipment, etc. The chemical, light, and food industries are developed.

In 1930, south of the city, the construction of one of the first and largest chemical industry enterprises in Kazakhstan, the Aktobe Chemical Plant, near which the city of Alga later grew, began. After the collapse of the USSR, production at a chemical plant was suspended and the once city-forming enterprise fell into complete decline. In 2018, the regional authorities decided to completely liquidate the plant. The Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant (Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant), commissioned in 1943, became the first ferrous metallurgy enterprise in Kazakhstan.

The cost of production of the city’s enterprises in 2014 reached 257.9 billion tenge (1.44 billion US dollars) and amounted to 20.7% of the total regional indicators, which is 1.7% lower than the previous year. The metallurgical industry accounts for more than 30% of all production produced in the city, and the chemical industry accounts for 10.3% of the total.

The largest enterprises of the city are the Aktobe ferroalloy plant, Aktyubrentgen, Aktobe plant of chromium compounds and a number of food industry enterprises. AFP produces 22% of Kazakhstan’s ferroalloys. Aktobe plant of chromium compounds is the only enterprise in the country producing chromium oxide, chromic anhydride, tannins, sodium dichromate.

In Aktobe there are large food industry enterprises producing flour, confectionery and pasta, vegetable oil and other products.

Aktobe region and Aktobe — one of the four regions of Kazakhstan, where the production of alcoholic beverages is concentrated. The local vodka producer GEOM LLP (Wimpex) is one of the largest vodka producers in Kazakhstan and occupies 22% of this market. Alcohol production is also carried out by Aktobe Champagne Wine Factory LLP, Arai CJSC, Centaur LLP, Aktobe Distillery Crystal, Kazakh-German joint venture Omirbek and Transmars LLP. The Omirbek and GEOM companies were several times included in the list of the largest taxpayers in the Aktobe region.

Agriculture[edit]

At the end of 2014, 319 agricultural enterprises were registered on the territory of the Aktobe city administration, which produced goods worth 11,998.7 million tenge. Of these, 4112.5 million tenge accounted for crop production, and 7582.8 million tenge for livestock. In total, in 2014 they produced 4.8 thousand tons of meat, 24.9 thousand tons of milk, 121.2 million pieces of eggs.

Despite the allocated subsidies in the amount of 360 million tenge, city livestock farmers were only able to satisfy the Aktobe need for eggs. In 2014, farmers produced 2.9 thousand tons of meat and 20 thousand tons of milk, while the need for meat and milk is 20.7 thousand and 71.4 thousand tons, respectively. However, other types of food (flour, vegetable oil) were produced several times more than the required amount.

On the territory of the city akimat in 2012, 32,021 garden plots were registered as part of collective gardening, as well as 1,101 garden plots as part of collective gardens. Some of the so-called horticultural plots are used not only for home gardening and horticulture, but also for temporary (seasonal) residence for the purpose of recreation and as an individual residential sector for permanent residence; the number of residents who use buildings in garden plots for permanent residence is estimated at 40 thousand people. According to the leadership of the city, cottages impede the development of Aktobe. Registration of permits for the construction of cottages was suspended, and existing garden plots are planned to be vacated for the construction of multi-storey buildings. In the future, summer cottages will be located 10–20 km from the city.

Trade and services[edit]

The main trading floors in the city for a long time remained markets (bazaars), the number of which reached 28 in 2014. The largest of these are the Shygys and Central markets. The city administration is working on the opening of communal mini-markets for the products of local producers and gardeners-summer residents.

The annual growth in retail turnover remains. If in 2012 and 2013 it reached 309.3 and 317.9 billion tenge, respectively, then in 2015 it rose to 391.8 billion tenge.

Since the 2000s, there has been a trend of re-equipping open-air bazaars into indoor pavilions and the construction of shopping and entertainment centers. In 1998, the Bayzharkinov entrepreneurs built one of the first major shopping centers in the city — Nurdaulet. In the following years, several more shopping and entertainment centers appeared: Mega Shygys (2002), Alatau (2007), KeruenCity (2009, formerly Mega Aktobe), Alia Bazary (2011, formerly Alia Center «), CITY Shopping Center (2015).

At present, there are two large supermarket chains in the city — Anvar and Dina. The first hypermarket in Aktobe was «Olzha» (6500 m²), which opened in 2009. In 2011, the second Olzha hypermarket was opened, which occupied the entire first floor (5500 m²) of a large shopping center, built on the site of the Aliya market. In the same year, the Dina chain opened its own hypermarket with an area of 7500 m², and at the end of 2015, the Anwar chain also opened a hypermarket. The «Olzha» hypermarkets, which became the first of their kind not only in Aktobe, but throughout Western Kazakhstan, are now closed.

There is a wholesale center supermarket «Dastarkhan». Also working with household appliances and electronics stores are Alser, Fora, Sulpak and Technodom.

Education[edit]

Aktobe is host to a number of state and private institutions of higher learning, including Zhubanov University (formerly Aktobe State University) and the West Kazakhstan Medical University. The military of Kazakhstan also maintains a pilot school in the city. During the Soviet era many pilots were trained there. Aktobe Art School is one of the most respected institutions which work together with UNESCO.

Science and innovation[edit]

Aktobe is a large scientific center. According to the Department of Statistics of the Aktobe region (2009), the volume of scientific and technical work in the city reached 336 million tenge (440 million tenge in the region). Research and development expenses amounted to 476 million tenge (489 million tenge in the region), including: for basic research — 8 million tenge, for applied research — 465 million tenge, for scientific and technical services — 2 million tenge. City enterprises have created 20 new technologies and technical facilities.

The level of innovation in production is low: 290 out of 303 enterprises of the city did not have any innovations (innovative activity — 4.3%). The volume of innovative products and services amounted to 1,893,742 thousand tenge (4,428,289 thousand tenge in the region) and 885,625 thousand tenge, respectively. The city enterprises spent 909,147 thousand tenge on technological innovations, which is significantly lower than the previous years.

Healthcare[edit]

Consultation and diagnostic clinic number 2 in the old part of the city
The Health Department is in charge of regulating the protection of citizens’ health, medical and pharmaceutical science and education, the circulation of medicines, and the quality control of medical services in Aktobe and the Aktobe region. All regional, city and district medical institutions, organizations and healthcare enterprises are subordinate to the department.

The first city hospital opened in 1912. According to the data for 2019, there were 28 hospital facilities and 143 outpatient clinics in the city, in which 2,281 doctors and 4,002 medical personnel worked. With a growing population, the number of doctors and medical staff remained almost at the same level as in 2018.

Aktobe doctors have the ability to treat various types of diseases, including heart and kidney diseases. In 2014, a donor kidney transplant was performed for the first time in a regional hospital for patients with renal failure.

Culture[edit]

In total there are six museums in the city. The oldest of them, the Aktobe Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, was opened in 1929 on the basis of the school museum and is considered one of the attractions of Aktobe. The memorial museum of Alia Moldagulova, which was opened on April 22, 1985, is located on the eponymous avenue, near the memorial complex of Moldagulova and the Alley of Heroes. The Rukhaniyat Museum was opened in 2011 on the ground floor of the Nur Gasyr Mosque. His activities are aimed at «the implementation of scientific and educational, research and educational activities.» The Museum of Art and Decorative and Applied Arts since November 12, 2013 is located on the central avenue of the city, in the former registry office building.

Theaters and Philharmonic[edit]

There are two professional theaters in Aktobe. The oldest of them is the Drama Theater. T. Akhtanov was founded on the basis of the drama circle of railway workers in 1935 at the suggestion of the People’s Commissar Temirbek Zhurgenov, and in 1997 the theater was named after the Kazakh-Soviet writer Takhavi Akhtanov, who was a native of Aktobe region.

There is also a children’s puppet theater «Alakay». The Regional Philharmonic was founded in 1944, in 2004 it was allocated the building of the House of Culture of Chemists. In 2009, the House of Friendship was opened, the purpose of which is the development of cultures, national traditions and native languages of all the nations of the region. The Friendship House has a concert hall with 300 seats, a ceremonial hall and a choreography hall, a conference hall, an exhibition and a recording studio.

Libraries[edit]

The city has 18 libraries. The Lomonosov Central Library is located on Zhangeldin Street and has 5 branches in different parts of the city, including the Samuil Marshak Children’s Library, and 6 branches in the villages of the city administration. The library system is managed by the city department of culture and language development. The library collection has literary works in Russian, German, English and French languages.

City holidays and festivals[edit]

Every year on May 28, City Day is celebrated. Various cultural events are organized in the park named after the First President, the water-green boulevard of Unity and Concord, the park named after A.S. Pushkin, in the regional philharmonic named after G. Zhubanova, the Palace of students and other venues.

Every year on May 1, in honor of the grand opening of the summer season of the fountains called «Fountain Splashes», the city administration organizes celebrations.

In 2001–2008, under the leadership of the frontman of the Adaptation group Ermen Erzhanov, the city hosted the «Sukhovei «festival of independent music, which was attended by many guests from the CIS countries. After its closure, a similar festival called «Indicator» was organized several times. In 2015, it was announced the resumption of the «Sukhovei «.

Cinemas[edit]

In pre-revolutionary Aktyubinsk there was one cinema hall (one of 13 cinema halls in Kazakhstan). In Soviet times, the cinemas «Zhuldyz» (1967; formerly «October»), «Mir» (1985), «Kazakhstan» (1961; the first wide-screen movie theater), «Sputnik» (1965), and «Pioneer» (formerly «Kultfront») and «Kultpohod», and in the park named after A. S. Pushkin there was a summer cinema. During the years of independence, the «Aina» shopping center was built on the site of the Oktyabr movie theater, and the Mir cinema was turned into the business center of the same name. The same fate befell the rest of the cinemas.

In 2002, in the building of the House of Culture of Railway Workers, built in 1928 and included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan, the first post-Soviet Aktobe cinema, Lokomotiv, was opened. In 2009, the seven-screen multiplex cinema «Kinopark» was opened in the KeruenCity shopping and entertainment center (formerly MEGA Aktobe).

Parks[edit]

During the existence of the USSR in the territory of Aviator park, Central park after. Lenin (present. Them. The First President) and in the park after A.S. Pushkin were opened amusement parks with various attractions. Currently in the park to them. Pushkin has about 20 attractions, another 10 modern attractions are installed in the town of «Ak bot» in the park.

In the past, an amusement park opened in the city every summer. In the 2010s, as part of the general reconstruction of Aktobe Central Park, which was renamed in honor of Nursultan Nazarbayev, outdated attractions, including the Ferris wheel, were dismantled. Instead, the» Captain Brig» entertainment center was built, worth $ 10 million, on the territory of which carousels and roller coasters were installed, and in the main pavilion with an area of 1150 m² there were children’s game attractions. «Captain Brig» is distinguished by the relative high cost of tickets for paid attractions and a small amount of free entertainment.

Entertainment centers for children are located in the courtyard of the Nurdaulet shopping center and inside MEGA Aktobe. In the Happylon entertainment center in MEGA with an area of 2200 m², about 130 attractions and gaming machines were installed, and on the playground near Nurdaulet, in addition to traditional slides and attractions, about 10 years (until 2016) existed for the only mini-zoo in the city.

Park of Health (Park Zdorovyia) was opened in 2017. There are mini-football pitch, basketball pitch and other athletic facilities.

Architecture[edit]

After the territories of modern Kazakhstan were annexed to the Russian Empire, due to the need for strong points and retail outlets, many cities appeared, one of which was Aktobe. In the architecture of the cities of Southern Kazakhstan, the influence of the Central Asian khanates is traced, and the settlements in the west and north-west were typically Russian provincial cities. These cities were built on the basis of master plans drawn up by Russian topographers. The first master plan of Aktobe was developed in 1874.
Eclecticism is inherent in Aktobe architecture — new buildings are adjacent to houses built in the Soviet period, occasionally there are buildings that have survived from pre-revolutionary times. One of the oldest buildings in the city — the Russian-Kyrgyz women’s school, built in 1894, is located on Aiteke bi. Today this building is occupied by the» Shahrizad «restaurant. The building of the former House of Culture of Railway Workers (now the Lokomotiv Cinema), built in 1928 in the constructivist style, is included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan of republican significance.

Monuments[edit]

The city has a large number of registered monuments, memorial plaques, large and small sculptural forms, and memorials. During the years of independence of Kazakhstan alone, 28 monuments and memorial complexes were erected in Aktobe. There is a real cult of the famous sniper Alia Moldagulova — a memorial complex and a monument were built, one of the central avenues was named in her honor, a personal museum was opened. The monument to Alia Moldagulova (1960) and the bust of cosmonaut Viktor Patsaev (1976) are among the monuments of history and culture of Kazakhstan of republican significance.
One of the noteworthy monuments is the 19-meter granite Obelisk of Glory in honor of Aktobe residents who fell in battles for their homeland during the Civil War and World War II with eternal flame, dedicated to the fighters for the establishment of Soviet power and who died in the Great Patriotic War. In 1983, in front of him, a monument to V.I. Lenin was unveiled on the main square of the city (because of this, the obelisk was moved to another place), which then gave way to the monument to the khan of the Small Zhuz Abulkhair, sculptor E. Sergebaev.
In 2008, the city hosted the grand opening of the monument to the heroes of the trilogy Abdijamil Nurpeisov «Blood and Sweat» — the first monument in Kazakhstan dedicated to literary characters.

Planetarium[edit]

Aktobe planetarium is the first planetarium in Kazakhstan. For a long time it was the only one in the country. The planetarium building with a domed hall was built by Moscow specialists in Pioneer Park at the intersection of Nekrasov and Frunze Streets. Until 2001, the permanent leader of the planetarium was Nikolai Pavlovich Zafiris.
The «Star Hall» of the planetarium with a 10-meter dome allows visitors to demonstrate various astronomical phenomena: solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers, halo, sunrise and sunset, panorama of Baikonur. This room also hosts lectures on astronomy and astronautics.
From 1967 to 2012, about 1.5 million people visited the planetarium. The main visitors to the planetarium are schoolchildren, then students and adults.

Sports[edit]

The city sent a bandy team to the Spartakiade 2009 ^[14] and is home to football club FC Aktobe.
Football is one of the most popular sports in the city. Fans of the local club «Aktobe» organized the famous ultras group «13th sector». In 2013, according to a survey of the sports information portal Vesti.kz, Aktobe was recognized as «the most football city in Kazakhstan.» Central Stadium. Koblandy batyr was built in 1975 and complies with UEFA standards. On March – October, the city football club «Aktobe» holds matches, which several times in a row became the champion of Kazakhstan and 9 times the most visited club in the country (185.7 thousand spectators visited home and away matches of the club in 2014). The club is financed from the city budget, in 2015 the amount of financing amounted to 3 billion tenge (2.3 billion tenge in 2010). In 2019, the Aktobe football club (for the first time since 1997) was forced to leave the Kazakhstan Premier League and dropped into the first league. One year later, in 2020, FC Aktobe returned to the Premier League

Infrastructure[edit]

Transport[edit]

Aktobe maintains international rail service with Moscow (via Saratov), Bishkek, and Tashkent, as well as daily domestic service to Aktau, Atyrau, Almaty and Astana.

Aktobe Airport offers flights to Moscow, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Shymkent and Aktau.^[15]

Bus service connects Aktobe with villages in Aktobe Region and across the border with Russia.

Energy and utilities[edit]

The Aktobe Field has an estimated reserve of 1.17 billion barrels of crude oil, and is being developed by the CNPC/AktobeMunaiGaz consortium.^[16] Smaller German and American joint ventures are also involved in oil extraction projects in the region.^[17]

Major oil and natural gas pipelines transect Aktobe and the surrounding region.^[18] The 400 km (250 mi) Keniyak-Orsk pipeline, with an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons, carries oil from the Aktobe fields to a refinery in Orsk, Russia.^[17] 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.^[19] Aktobe is connected to the Bukhara-Urals natural gas pipeline.^[20]

Famous people[edit]

• Alexander Mikaberidze (born 1978), Napoleonic historian.
• Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912—1974), International Master and 5-time winner of the Russian Chess Championship^[21]
• Valeri Liukin (b. 1966), 2x gold medallist, Olympic Gymnastics (Seoul 1988) & father/coach to 2008 Olympic Gymnastics Champion Nastia Liukin^[22]
• Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev (1933–1971), Cosmonaut^[23]
• Yury Lonchakov (b. 1965), Cosmonaut^[24]
• Bala (Daniyar Kulumshin) (born 1998), singer. Member of Kazakh boy group Ninety One.^{[citation needed]}
• Dimash Kudaibergen, (born 1994), singer.^[25]
• Zhalgas Zhumagulov, (born 1988), MMA fighter
• Sabina Altynbekova, (born 1996), Volleyball player

Events[edit]

The VII Asian-Pacific Astronomy Olympiad took place in Aktobe in November 2011.^[26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Aktobe — Gorod Slavnoi Istorii. Komitet po upravleniyu zemel’nimi resursami ministyerstva cel’skogo khozyaistva Pespubliki Kazakhstana (Комземресурсы). Astana, Kazakhstan 1999. (Russian)

External links[edit]

• Aktobe city administration. (In Russian and Kazakh)
• Rika TV Portal. News and Information from an Aktobe media outlet. (In Russian)
• Photos of Aktobe city

Актобе́^[2][3], также Актю́бинск (каз. Ақтөбе) — город на западе Казахстана, в его европейской части, административный центр Актюбинской области.

Один из крупнейших индустриальных, деловых и культурных центров страны.

География

Расположен на левом берегу реки Илек — левого притока Урала в центральной части Подуральского плато, представляющего собой равнину высотой 250—400 м.

Граница между Азией и Европой

Во второй половине 20 века принято было проводить границу между Европой и Азией по Мугоджарам до истоков р. Эмба, далее по Эмбе до Каспийского моря. Ранее (до конца 1950-х годов) границу Европы в пределах Казахстана проводили по руслу р. Урал.

В апреле-мае 2010 года экспедиция Русского географического общества пришла к выводу о том, что границу Европы следует проводить по Мугоджарам, по краю Прикаспийской низменности, там, где заканчивается Восточно-Европейская равнина и проходят западные уступы плато Устюрт^[4], то есть ещё южнее, чем сейчас принято считать. До настоящего времени мнение группы учёных из Русского географического общества не прошло оценки такой международной организацией, как Международный географический союз.

Таким образом, западная часть Актюбинской области находится в Европе. Распространённое мнение о том, что Актобе — самый восточный город в европейской части Казахстана^[5], не соответствует действительности, так как восточнее Актобе в европейской части Казахстана расположены ещё 6 городов: Алга, Жем, Кандыагаш, Хромтау, Шалкар, Эмба.

История

Город возник на месте крепости Актюбе, основанной в 1869 году^[6] флигель-адъютантом царского двора полковником Боргом для обеспечения защиты внутренней части Оренбургского края от набегов казахов Малой орды. Ақтөбе по-казахски означает белый холм (ақ — белый, төбе — холм).

Плодородная почва и прекрасное расположение впоследствии привлекут сюда много переселенцев из разных концов Российской империи. Первый генеральный план застройки укрепления был разработан в 1874 году. Поселение делилось на своеобразные микрорайоны: Курмыш, Татарская слобода, Оторвановка. Первые улицы назывались Гарнизонная, Крепостная, Оренбургская, Илецкая, Георгиевская. В 1890 году возле уже обжитого мирными жителями укрепления стали селиться казахи. В 1891 году гарнизонное укрепление Актюбе преобразовали в уездный город Актюбинск Тургайской области. В самом начале XX века через Актюбинск прошла железная дорога Оренбург-Ташкент, которая дала новый толчок к развитию экономики города.

10 марта 1932 года Актюбинск стал центром Актюбинской области. 3 мая 1962 года был образован Западно-Казахстанский край, включающий Актюбинскую область (центр — Актюбинск), Уральскую область (центр — Уральск) и Гурьевскую область (центр — Гурьев) с центром края в г. Актюбинск. 1 декабря 1964 года Западно-Казахстанский край упразднён. В 1977 году Актюбинск стал центром Западно-Казахстанской железной дороги. 11 марта 1999 года Указом Президента Казахстана транскрипция наименования города Актюбинска на русском языке была изменена на город Актобе^[2].

Население

Национальный состав населения многообразен. Преобладают казахи — 68,72 %. Немало русских (19,58 %), также проживают украинцы (5,69 %), татары (2,21 %), немцы (0,92 %), белорусы (0,35 %), корейцы (0,34 %), молдаване (0,26 %), азербайджанцы (0,23 %), чеченцы (0,20 %), узбеки (0,15 %), болгары (0,14 %), башкиры (0,14 %), армяне (0,12 %) и др. (на 1 октября 2010).^[7]

Городской администрации подчиняются, помимо собственно города Актобе с населением 367 220 чел., ещё 5 сельских округов (Благодарный, Каргалинский, Курайлинский, Новый, Саздинский^[8]) с 22 сельскими населёнными пунктами общим населением 48 368 чел.^[1] (на 1 января 2012), что даёт в сумме 415 588 жителей на территории, подчинённой городской администрации.

В данный момент, по численности населения город занимает первое место в Актюбинской области, и является пятым в Казахстане (после Алма-Аты, Астаны, Шымкента и Караганды).

В связи с ростом численности населения, власти разработали проект социально-экономического развития города, и начинают вести работы по корректировке генерального плана, данные меры направлены на достижение Актобе статуса «Город с миллионным населением».^[9] Реализация проекта рассчитана на период с 2011 по 2040 год.

Экономика

Актобе — крупный экономический центр западного Казахстана. Заводы ферросплавов, хромовых соединений, сельскохозяйственного машиностроения, рентгеноаппаратуры и др. Химическая промышленность. Лёгкая, пищевая промышленность, особенно развито производство ликёро-водочной продукции.

Крупнейшие промышленные экспорториентированные предприятия области и города:

• АО «CNPC-Актобемунайгаз»;
• Актюбинский завод ферросплавов АО «ТНК-Казхром», — (Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation);
• АО «Актюбинский завод хромовых соединений»;
• АО «Авиаремонтный завод 406-ГА»;
• АО «Актюбрентген».

В 2008 году в обрабатывающей промышленности объём продукции составил 186 млрд тенге (~1,54 млрд долл. по курсу 2008 года), в том числе завод ферросплавов 116,6 млрд тенге. B горнодобывающей промышленности 52 млрд тенге^{[источник не указан 494 дня]}.

В Актюбинской области имеются крупные эксплуатируемые и неэксплуатируемые месторождения нефти и газа, в Жанажольском районе действует газотурбинная электростанция.

Главными воротами города являются железнодорожный вокзал, 2 автовокзала. Аэропорт Актобе имеет статус международного.

Культура и отдых

В городе имеется 4 музея (некоторые общереспубликанского значения):

• Актюбинский областной историко-краеведческий музей;

• Актюбинский областной мемориальный музей А. Молдагуловой;

• Актюбинский областной музей художественного и декоративно-прикладного искусства;

• Актюбинский областной музей «Руханият».

Действуют 9 ВУЗов, теннисный центр, ипподром, Дворец Спорта и Центральный Стадион, соответствующий стандартам УЕФА. На нём играет своя футбольная команда, чемпион страны последних лет.

Показывает спектакли драматический театр им. Т.Ахтанова основанный в 1935 году^[6], действует областная филармония, детский кукольный театр «Алакай», Актюбинский областной планетарий, Дом дружбы.

Имеются парки: парк «Ретро», парк «Авиатор», парк имени А. С. Пушкина, парк имени первого президента Республики Казахстан Н. А. Назарбаева (11 мкр. парк им. Ленина), а также множество аллей, скверов и бульваров. В 2009 году (к 140-летию города) был построен новый Водно-Зелёный бульвар Единства и Согласия с амфитеатром, монументом «Шанырак» и двумя фонтанами, один из них со светомузыкальным эффектом. Сам бульвар соединяет самые большие в городе центральную мечеть «Нұр Ғасыр» и Свято-Никольский кафедральный собор, построенные в 2008 году.

В городе установлено множество культурных композиций и памятников в честь известных людей.

Действуют три мечети (Актюбинская областная центральная мечеть, Центральная мечеть города Актюбинска, Мечеть «Нурдаулет») три православных храма (Святителя Николая Алматинского, святого Архангела Михаила, Святого Князя Владимира), католический приход («Доброго Пастыря»)^[10]. Деятельность протестантских деноминаций (евангельские христиане-баптисты, пятидесятники, Свидетели Иеговы и т. д.) не носит легального характера, иногда возникают конфликты с властями^[11].

Районы города

Существует два основных географических деления Актобе: Город (под этим словом жители подразумевают старую часть, то есть район бывшей крепости, которая и была построена на светлом холме) и Новая часть города (этот термин в разговорной речи актюбинцы употребляют редко, предпочитая уточнять район).

• Районы Старого города: Старый центр, Курмыш, Москва, Гормолзавод, Татарка, Оторвановка, Малышка.
• Районы Новой части города: Сингай, Шанхай, Космос, Сазда, 5, 8, 11, 12, Болашак, Кен Дала микрорайоны.
• Другие районы: Жилгородок, Авиагородок, Юго-Запад, Заречный, Каргалинское (Жилянка), Кирпичный.

Многие названия используются исключительно в разговорной речи.

Образование

• Актюбинский государственный университет имени К. Жубанова, бывш. Актюбинский государственный педагогический институт
• Актюбинский государственный педагогический институт, отделился от АГУ им. К. Жубанова в 2004 году
• Западно-Казахстанский государственный медицинский университет имени Марата Оспанова
• Военный институт Сил воздушной обороны имени дважды героя Советского Союза Т.Я. Бегельдинова бывш.Актюбинское высшее летное училище Гражданской авиации (АВЛУГА)
• Казахско-Русский Международный Университет «НУР»
• Актюбинский университет «Дуние»
• Алматинская академия экономики и статистики (филиал)
• Актюбинский университет имени Академика Сактагана Баишева
• European University Aktobe, Kazakhstan

Всего 8 ВУЗов.

• Актюбинский финансово-экономический колледж
• Актюбинский медицинский колледж
• Актюбинский колледж нефти и газа
• Актюбинский политехнический колледж
• Актюбинский кооперативный колледж
• Актюбинский медицинский колледж
• Колледж Казахской академии транспорта и коммуникаций им. Мухамеджана Тынышпаева
• Актюбинский технический колледж
• Актюбинский сельскохозяйственный колледж
• Актюбинский государственный технический универсальный мультипрофильный колледж
• Актюбинский колледж
• Гуманитарный колледж имени героя Алии Молдагуловой
• Актюбинский колледж связи
• Актюбинский колледж транспорта коммуникаций и новых технологий
• Актюбинский колледж экономики и статистики
• Актюбинский строительно-монтажный колледж
• Актюбинский колледж «Дуние»
• Актюбинский колледж имени С.Баиешева
• Актюбинский музыкальный колледж им. А. Жубанова

Всего 26 колледжей.

Город сегодня

В 2005 году в городе начался строительный подъём. Акимом были запланированы новые районы и дома. На месте старых кинотеатров «Жулдыз» и «Мир» в 2006 году были построены два новых крупных объекта: ТЦ «Айна» и БЦ «Мир».

По новому проекту завершается расширение 11-го и 12-го микрорайонов, строится новая набережная и ряд жилых комплексов. На ближайшие годы запланировано строительство транспортных развязок и нескольких подземных и надземных пешеходных переходов.

Дальнейшее строительство города также ведётся в сторону Юго-Запада, вдоль проспекта Алии Молдагуловой (кобдинское направление: мкр. Батыс-2), а также Северо-Востока (орско-хромтау­ское направление: район под названием «Нур Актобе» («Актобе-Сити»), рассчитанный на проживание 200-300 тыс. человек — т.е. приблизительно половина нынешнего Актобе). Ведётся повсеместное благоустройство.

В городе имеются крупные торговые и развлекательные центры:

• Комплекс «Нурдаулет» — включает в себя торговый и бизнес-центр, мечеть. На его территории расположены детские аттракционы и мини-зоопарк;
• ТД «Гранд» — помимо торговой части включает в себя детскую развлекательную игровую зону;
• ТЦ «Мега Шыгыс» — один из крупнейших ТЦ в городе;
• ТЦ «Алия center» — современный ТЦ включающий: продуктовый гипермаркет, гипермаркет бытовой техники, рестораны быстрого питания, лаунж бар, и др.;
• ТРК «Алатау»;
• ТРЦ «MEGA Aktobe».

Также широкое развитие получили сети отечественных и зарубежных супер- и гипермаркетов:

• Анвар (супермаркеты, строится гипермаркет);
• Дина (супермаркеты, 1 гипермаркет);
• Дастархан (супермаркеты);
• Олжа (2 гипермаркета);
• METRO Cash & Carry (центр мелкооптовой торговли).

Многочисленные рестораны и кафе национальной кухни — казахской, украинской, армянской, корейской, китайской, японской, итальянской, турецкой и др.

А также гостиницы, развлекательные ночные клубы, и кинотеатры.

Климат

Климат в городе резко-континентальный. Лето тёплое: пять месяцев в году средняя дневная температура превышает 20 °С; зима умеренно холодная, максимальный снежный покров наблюдается в феврале (31 см). Количество ясных, облачных и пасмурных дней в году — 174, 148 и 43 соответственно.

• Среднегодовая температура — +5,3 C°
• Среднегодовая скорость ветра — 2,4 м/с
• Среднегодовая влажность воздуха — 68 %

Часовой пояс

Актобе находится в часовом поясе, который отличается на 5 часов от Всемирного времени (UTC+5) и на 1 час — от Московского времени (MSK+1).

Актюбинские СМИ

Телекомпании: «31 Канал-Актобе», «Рика-ТВ», «Казахстан-Актобе», также два кабельных канала.

Радиостанции: «Русское Радио» (100.6 МГц), «Актобе Радио» (101.4 МГц), «Love Radio Актобе» (103.1 МГц), «Радио Тандем» (104.7 МГц), «Радио Ностальжи» (106.8 МГц)

Газеты: «Актюбинский Вестник», «Актобе», «Диапазон», «Эврика», «Актобе-таймс», «Керек-инфо»

Известные уроженцы и жители

Актобе — родина 37 героев Советского Союза. Многие выдающиеся личности так или иначе связаны с Актобе.

• В Актюбинске перед Великой Отечественной войной жила герой Советского Союза Алия Молдагулова
• Родился лётчик-космонавт СССР Виктор Иванович Пацаев
• Жил и трудился знатный просовод Чиганак Берсиев
• Учился и окончил школу лётчик-космонавт Юрий Лончаков
• Гайданов, Олег Иванович — Государственный советник юстиции, кандидат юридический наук, профессор, бывший заместитель Генерального прокурора России и и.о. Генерального прокурора России
• Есенбай Дуйсенбаев — поэт, почëтный гражданин г. Актобе
• Мир-Хайдаров, Рауль Мирсаидович — писатель, заслуженный деятель искусств, лауреат премии МВД. Широкую известность писателю принесла серия «Черная знать», в которую входит тетралогия романов: «Пешие прогулки», «Двойник китайского императора», «Масть пиковая», «Судить буду я» и тематически примыкающий к ним роман «За всё — наличными». Книги из серии «Черная знать» имели по десятку изданий каждая, и на сегодня их тираж составляет пять миллионов экземпляров.
• Нежметдинов, Рашид Гибятович — международный мастер по шахматам, мастер спорта по шашкам.
• Кузнецов, Николай Дмитриевич — академик, конструктор авиационных двигателей, дважды Герой Социалистического Труда.
• Владимир (Котляров) — епископ РПЦ.
• Аркадий Стругацкий — в годы Великой Отечественной войны проходил обучение в Актюбинском миномётном училище. Однако в отличие от большинства курсантов был направлен не на фронт, а на Дальний Восток.
• Джаманова, Роза Умбетовна — певица-(сопрано), народная артистка СССР (1959).
• Люкин, Валерий Викторович — гимнаст, двукратный олимпийский чемпион.
• Ахмет Жубанов — казахстанский музыкант, советский музыковед, композитор, дирижёр, народный артист Казахской ССР (1944), академик АН Казахской ССР (1946).
• Кудайберген Жубанов — казахский ученый-языковед, филолог, общественный и государственный деятель, один из организаторов первой казахской Академии — Казахского филиала Академии наук СССР.
• Газиза Жубанова — казахский композитор, лидер композиторской школы Казахстана. Народная артистка СССР (1981), народная артистка Казахской ССР (1973).
• Марат Оспанов — политический деятель, первый Председатель Мажилиса Парламента Республики Казахстан.
• Ермен «Анти» Ержанов — основатель популярной казахстанской рок-группы «Адаптация».
• Андрей Еськин («Базука») — известный казахстанский боксер, чемпион СНГ и славянских стран по версии WBC, и интерконтинентальный чемпион Asia Pacific по версии WBO.
• Тахауи Ахтанов (1923-1994) — народный писатель и поэт Казахстана, переводчик (казахский и русский языки), участник Великой Отечественной войны.
• Мусин, Аслан Еспулаевич, государственный деятель Казахстана, Председатель Счетного комитета по контролю за исполнением республиканского бюджета Республики Казахстан.
• Даулбаев, Асхат Кайзуллаевич, казахстанский государственный деятель, Генеральный Прокурор Республики Казахстан.
• Логвиненко, Юрий (футболист) — футболист, защитник клуба «Актобе» и сборной Казахстана.
• Нокин, Серик Кенесович — государственный деятель Казахстана, Председатель Агентства Республики Казахстан по делам строительства и жилищно-коммунального хозяйства.

События

В сентябре 2008 года в городе проводился V Форум межрегионального сотрудничества России и Казахстана, город впервые посетили президенты сразу двух стран — ими стали Дмитрий Медведев и Нурсултан Назарбаев^[12].

В ноябре 2011 года в Актобе прошла VII Азиатско-Тихоокеанская астрономическая олимпиада.

В июле 2012 года состоялся республиканский праздник «Сабантуй», с участием премьер-министра Татарстана Ильдара Халикова^[13].

В Актобе ежегодно проводится фестиваль независимой музыки «Суховей», на который приезжает множество гостей из стран СНГ.

Интересные факты

В Актобе в 1986 году был снят фильм «Чужая Белая и Рябой». Фильм снимался в Актобе, где происходили описанные в повести события, и в Баку. Для воссоздания зрительной картины послевоенного города режиссёр выбирал старые сохранившиеся кибитки и землянки. Главного героя — Ивана Найденова «поселили» в такой землянке в пригородном поселке Акжар. А эпизоды с трамвайными путями снимали в Баку, так как в Актобе трамваев не было^[14].

Примечания

Ссылки

• Актюбинск // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона: В 86 томах (82 т. и 4 доп.). — СПб., 1890—1907.

• Официальный сайт Электронного акимата города Актобе
• Карта Актобе

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