Kostanaiskaya Oblast.
Kazakhstan Oblasts and Regions
To many people Kostanai Region is associated with the concept of "virgin lands". Today it is the largest grain supplier in Kazakhstan. The region also has well-developed processing and food industries. This area is one of the largest in Kazakhstan. It is located at the junction of the Ural mountains, West Siberian Plain and Turgai Plateau. The biggest rivers flowing across Kostanai region are the Tobol and Turgai. The Tobol river is of the most interest because of many legends associated with it.
Especially popular with local residents are such activities as gathering mushrooms and berries, hunting and fishing. In winter people like skiing and in summer - hiking and camping. Kostanai City is the administrative, trade, industrial, social and cultural center of the region. It is situated in the steppe zone, on the bank of the Tobol. Its population is 223.600 people or 22% of the total population of the region. There are four more large settlements in the area: Rudnyi, Lisakovsk, Zhetyraga and Arkalyk, former administrative center of Turgai Region.
Kostanai is one of the largest industrial and cultural centers of the northern Kazakhstan. It is situated on the left bank of the Tobol River. The Russian and Ukraine peasant-settlers founded it in 1879. From 1893 Kostanai is the main center of Turgai oblast, where annually two fairs were held. Kostanai is the Motherland of the Kazakh pedagog-enlightener Ibrai Altynsarin (1841-1889). The meat tinned factories, confectioneries, shoe-manufacturing and sewing factories represent the light and food industries.
Arkalyk as the town was founded in 1956 with the development of extraction of bauxite deposits. There is Naurzumsky preserve, which was founded in 1931. It is situated in 250 km south of Kostanai, not far from motorway Kostanai-Arkalyk. The center of the Naurzumsky preserve is the Dokuchaevka village, named so in 1946 in honor of the Russian naturalist Dokuchayev V.V. It is the zone, where Turgai birds of passage fly over. More than 150 kinds of birds one can see during the mass migration of birds in spring.
Joint project of OrexCA.com and KTA & KAGIR. Information is taken from CD "All about tourism in Kazakhstan"
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