- published: 03 Apr 2014
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Atyrau Oblast (Kazakh: Атырау облысы, Atıraw oblısı) is a province of Kazakhstan. It is situated in the west of the country around the northeast of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Atyrau, with a population of 142,500 people; the province itself has 480,000 people. Kazakhs make up more than 80% of population.
With an area of 118,600 square kilometers, it is the second-smallest province in Kazakhstan (South Kazakhstan Province is the smallest). It borders the neighboring country Russia to the west, as well as the fellow Kazakh provinces Aktobe Province(to the east), Mangystau(to the south), and the West Kazakhstan Province(to the north).
A large part of the province is situated in the oil-rich Caspian Depression; because of this, many oil wells have been drilled in the Tengiz Field and Kashagan Field areas. An pipeline runs from Atyrau to Samara, where it joins the Russian pipeline system. A separate oil pipeline runs from the Tengiz field to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk.
Atyrau (Kazakh: Атырау, pronounced [ɑtərɑ́w]; Russian: Атырау [ɐtᵻˈrau]), known as Guryev (Russian: Гурьев [ˈɡurʲjɪf]) until 1991, is a transcontinental city in Kazakhstan, and the capital of Atyrau Province. It is located at the mouth of the Ural River, 2700 kilometers west of Almaty and 350 kilometers east of the Russian city of Astrakhan. Other transliterations include Aterau, Atirau, Atyraw, Atyraou, Atırav, Atıraw.
Modern Atyrau is famous for its oil and fish industries. It has 154,100 inhabitants (2007, up from 142,500 (1999 census)), 90% ethnic Kazakhs (up from 80%), the rest being mostly Russians and other ethnic groups such as Tatars and Ukrainians. Since October 2006, its mayor is Salimzhan Naqpayev.
The wooden fort at the mouth of the Yaik River was founded in 1645 as Nizhny Yaitzky gorodok (literally, Lower Yaik Fort) by the Russian trader Gury Nazarov, a native of Yaroslavl, who specialized in trade with Khiva and Bukhara. The fort was plundered by the Yaik Cossacks, leading the Guriev family to rebuild it in stone (1647–62). Tsar Alexis sent a garrison of Streltsy to protect the fort from Cossack incursions. Despite these efforts, the Cossack rebel Stepan Razin held the town in 1667 and 1668. The fort gradually lost its strategic significance and was demolished in 1810. Between 1708 and 1992 the city was known as Guriev.
RADIO STATION | GENRE | LOCATION |
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Nostalgie Almaty 101.8 | Oldies | Kazakhstan |
Tengri FM | Rock | Kazakhstan |
Radio TMK | Adult | Kazakhstan |
Radio NS | 90s | Kazakhstan |