Aktyubinskaya Oblast.
Kazakhstan Oblasts and Regions

The administrative center of Aktyube Region is the city of Aktyubinsk (Aktobe in Kazakh). Its history dates back to 1869 when a military fort was founded on the junction of two rivers: the Kargaly and Ilåê. According to a legend, the hill neighboring the fort was white due to cretaceous sediments.

That is why the city was named Aktobe, the White Hill in Kazakh. The rivers Emba, Uil and Ilek cross the Aktyube region. The well-known Ilek burial mounds are located on the banks of the Ilek river. Archeological excavation of the area provided historians with evidence that modern Aktyube is where the legendary Aryan civilization was born.

Aktubinsk is a large industrial and cultural center of north-western Kazakhstan. It was founded in 1869 on the fortifications of Aktube (the white hill). Local factories produce ferro-alloy, X-ray apparatus, agricultural machinery and oil equipment. There are also medical and pedagogical universities and a summer academy.

Aktubinskaya oblast was founded in 1932. It covers 300,000sqkm; with a population of 678,6 thousands people (44,1%) and a population density of 2,3 men/sqkm. The center of the oblast is Aktubinsk. There are 12 rural localities, 7 towns (1-large, 6-small), 3 settlements, 468 villages and rural districts.

Relief. The majority of the territory is hilly planes with the southern Ural range in the north and the Mugodzhar mountains in the center, a plateau in the west, the sandy massifs of Karakum, Ulken and Kishi Borsyk in the south-east and the Turgai plateau in the north-east.

Soil. The north-western part of the oblast is covered by feather-grass and steppe on dark chestnut soil, the central and north-eastern parts with sandy steppe on light chestnut and grey soil and the southern part with feather-grass sands and sands on the uneven soil with sandy massifs and saline lands.

The largest rivers are the Torgai, Oiyl, Zhem, Irgiz. There are more than 150 lakes, small and salty, some of them dry and forming saline lands. The man-made Kargaly reservoir covers 28,5sqkm with a the capacity of 280mln cubic meters.

The main minerals are chrome (1st place in CIS), nickel-cobalt, phosphorus ores, oil and gas, sulphur pyrite and non-ferrous metals, potassium salts, coal and bauxite.

Transport. The railway covers 1,138km or 8% of the national network. Paved roads cover 60,1% of national average.

Joint project of OrexCA.com and KTA & KAGIR. Information is taken from CD "All about tourism in Kazakhstan"