Western Kazakhstan: history, population, economy

West Kazakhstan is one of the economic and geographical regions of the same republic. In addition to this part of the country, the Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern regions are distinguished in this state, each of which has a whole set of features that distinguish it from the rest (geographic location, climate, topography, features of the economy, etc.)

a brief description of

The western region, as the name implies, is located in the western part of the country and is the only economic and geographical territory of Kazakhstan, which has access to a large reservoir (the Caspian Sea). In the west and north, the region is bordered by the Russian Federation, in the south - with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and in the east - with the Northern, Central and Southern regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Location Features

A distinctive feature of this region is the fact that Western Kazakhstan is located on the border of Europe and Asia. The greater part of the region is located on the territory of the East European Plain and the Caspian lowland. Thus, the peninsula Mangyshlak, territorially belonging to the Caspian lowland, is located at an altitude of 132 m above sea level (the Karagiyi depression). In the north of the economic-geographical region there are southern spurs of the Urals, which are a small mountain chain called Mugodzhary, the highest point of which is Mount Boktybai (657 m).

Climatic conditions

Western Kazakhstan has a climate mainly sharply continental, for which hot summer and frosty winters are characteristic. However, on the territory near the Caspian Sea, weather conditions are softer with an average January temperature of -5 ° C.

Water and natural resources

The region has an extensive coastal line of the Caspian Sea and a river network of internal drainage (the Ural River, Emba, Volga, etc.), as well as a variety of small salt lakes. Western Kazakhstan has large reserves of oil and gas in its bowels (Tengiz, Kashagan, etc.), chromium, nickel, zinc, copper and coal.

The presence of oil and gas makes the region represented the largest oil and gas region in Kazakhstan, which plays an important role in the economic life of the state.

Industry

On the territory of Western Kazakhstan are the Aktyubinsk paint factory, the Aktyubinsk plant of chrome compounds, the Atyrau oil refinery and the chemical plant of the city of Alga. All enterprises are in working order.

Recently, the region has been greatly developed machine building, light and food industries. Also, the territory of Western Kazakhstan became famous for its agriculture, represented by animal husbandry, plant growing and fishing industry.

Infrastructure

The long coastline of the Caspian Sea causes the presence of ports in the region, the largest of which is located in the city of Aktau. Several airports have airports (Atyrau, Aktau, Aktobe, Uralsk), a well-developed road network, represented both by road and railways. The gas and oil pipeline network is serviced by KazTransOil, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and others.

In the region there are several branches of the republican banks and the National Bank of the State. The economy of Western Kazakhstan is associated with the construction of a gas processing plant, a new gas pipeline and the Beineu-Jezkazgan railway line.

History of the region

Historically, the territory of Western Kazakhstan was at the crossroads of the Silk Road. At the end of the XIX century large fairs appeared in the region (Temirskaya, Urdinskaya and others). Many cities of Western Kazakhstan have preserved their historical heritage, expressed in the life of the countryside and the architecture of cities. The history of Western Kazakhstan is intertwined with the history of an ancient town called Saraichik, which was on the trade route from Europe to China. Here are the historical part of Uralsk, Beckett-Ata Mausoleum, the objects of the USSR defense complex, located in the city of Emba.

The western region is currently

At present, this region includes 4 regions: West Kazakhstan, Aktyubinsk, Atyrau and Mangistau. Most people live in the Aktyubinsk region (830 thousand), and least in Atyrau (555 thousand). The largest cities are Aktobe (440 thousand), Uralsk (230 thousand) and Atyrau (217 thousand). The population of Western Kazakhstan according to the data for 2012 is approximately 2.5 million people, which, in terms of the number of people / area of the region, makes the density of the represented economic and geographical area the lowest in the country. In the national composition there are Kazakhs (more than 1.8 million) and Russians (300 thousand). Also in the territory of the region live Tatars, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Azerbaijanis and other nationalities.

Thus, Western Kazakhstan is a territory with a rich historical and natural heritage that allows developing the economy of a particular region and the whole country. In terms of potential this area is considered to be one of the strongest, as there are all conditions for further development in different spheres of industry and not only. At least in this will help the extraction of various natural resources. Some of them are able to firmly hold the economy of Western Kazakhstan and create all the conditions for the establishment of a powerful region, which is planned to be done in the coming years.