Aktobe (former Aktyubinsk) is the largest city in Western
Kazakhstan, the administrative center of the Aktobe region.
Aktobe is located in the northern part of the Aktobe region, on
both banks of the left tributary of the Ural - the Ilek River,
where the Kargaly River flows into it.
The history of
Aktobe begins on May 28 (May 15, old style) 1869, when a
detachment under the command of the aide-de-camp Count von Borg
founded the Ak-Tyube fortification (Kazakh: Aktobe - White Hill)
on two hills in the tract at the confluence of the Ilek and
Kargaly rivers.
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 a school museum and is considered one of the attractions of Aktobe. The Memorial Museum of Aliya Moldagulova, which opened on April 22, 1985, is located on the avenue of the same name, near the Moldagulova memorial complex and the Alley of Heroes. The Rukhaniyat Museum was opened in 2011 on the ground floor of the Nur Gasyr Mosque. Its activities are aimed at implementing scientific, educational, research and educational activities. The Museum of Fine and Decorative Arts has been located on the central avenue of the city, in the former building of the Civil Registry Office, since November 12, 2013.
There are two professional theaters in Aktobe. The first Kazakh
theater in the city was created on the basis of the railway workers'
drama club in 1935 at the suggestion of People's Commissar Temirbek
Zhurgenov. Later, a Russian drama theater appeared in the city. In 1997,
the theater was named after the writer Takhavi Akhtanov, and in 1998,
the Kazakh and Russian theaters were united into the Aktobe Regional
Drama Theater.
There is also a children's puppet theater
"Alakai". The regional theater of variety and miniatures "Eki ezu" in
2014 became the third troupe of the Akhtanov Theater. The regional
philharmonic society 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 to develop the
cultures, national traditions and native languages of all nations of
the region. It houses a 300-seat concert hall, a ceremonial hall and a
choreography hall, a conference hall, an exhibition and a recording
studio.
The library system is under the jurisdiction of the city department
of culture and language development. The library collection contains
literary works in Russian, German, English and French.
There are
18 libraries in the city. 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
villages subordinate to the city akimat. The Saktagan Baishev Scientific
Library is the largest in the region, a methodological center for city
and district libraries in the region.
In pre-revolutionary Aktyubinsk, there was one cinema hall, one of 13
cinema halls in Kazakhstan. During the Soviet era, the city saw the
opening of the following cinemas: Zhuldyz (1967, formerly Oktyabr), Mir
(1985), Kazakhstan (1961, the first widescreen cinema), Sputnik (1965),
Pioneer (formerly Kultfront), and Kultpokhod, and there was a summer
cinema in the A.S. Pushkin Park. After the collapse of the USSR, the
Aina shopping center was built on the site of the Oktyabr cinema, and
the Mir cinema was converted into a business center of the same name.
The same fate befell the other cinemas.
In 2002, the first cinema
of the post-Soviet period, Lokomotiv, opened in the building of the
Railway Workers' Culture House, built in 1928 and included in the list
of historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan. In 2009, a 7-hall
multiplex cinema "Kinopark" was opened in the Mega Aktobe shopping and
entertainment center (now KeruenCity).
During the existence of the USSR, amusement parks with various
attractions were opened on the territory of the parks "Aviator", Central
named after Lenin (now named after the First President) and named after
A.S. Pushkin. Currently, there are about 20 attractions in the Pushkin
Park, another 10 modern attractions are installed in the Ak Bota town on
the park's territory.
In the past, an amusement park opened in
the city every summer. In the 2010s, as part of the general
reconstruction of the Aktobe Central Park, which was renamed in honor of
Nursultan Nazarbayev, outdated attractions, including the Ferris wheel,
were dismantled. Instead, the $10 million Captain Brig entertainment
center was built, with carousels and roller coasters installed on its
territory, and children's play attractions in the main pavilion with an
area of 1,150 m². Captain Brig is distinguished by the relatively high
cost of tickets for paid attractions and a small number of free
attractions.
Entertainment centers for children are located in
the courtyard of the Nurdaulet shopping center and inside Mega Aktobe.
The Happylon entertainment center in Mega with an area of 2,200 m² has
about 130 attractions and slot machines, and on the children's
playground near Nurdaulet, in addition to traditional slides and
attractions, the city's only mini-zoo existed for about 10 years (until
2016).
In 2012, there were 5 beaches in Aktobe, by 2013 their number had
increased to 7. The city's beaches are located on the banks of the Ilek
River, as well as near the Aktobe and Sazdinsky reservoirs. The entrance
fee to the beach varies from 100 to 1.5 thousand tenge. The swimming
season opens on June 1. By the opening of the season, water rescue
service employees inspect the water areas, clean them of dangerous
garbage and put up warning signs near places dangerous for swimming.
Owners are required to provide beaches with medical stations and must
organize the duty of at least three lifeguards.
In 2012, E. coli
was found on the Zhagazhai beach. Sanitary and Epidemiological
Surveillance specialists recommended that city residents not swallow
river water due to the risk of contracting intestinal infections, viral
hepatitis A, dysentery, salmonellosis and other infectious diseases.
After the territories of modern Kazakhstan were annexed to the
Russian Empire, many cities appeared due to the need for strongholds and
trading points, one of which was Aktobe. The influence of the Central
Asian khanates can be seen in the architecture of the cities of Southern
Kazakhstan, and settlements in the west and northwest were typical
Russian provincial cities. These cities were built on the basis of
master plans drawn up by Russian topographers. The first master plan for
Aktobe was developed in 1874.
The architecture of Aktobe is
characterized by eclecticism - new buildings neighbor houses built
during the Soviet period, and occasionally buildings preserved from
pre-revolutionary times are found. One of the oldest buildings in the
city, the Russian-Kyrgyz girls' school, built in 1894, is located on
Aiteke bi street. Today, this building is occupied by the Shakhrizada
restaurant. The building of the former Railway Workers' Culture House
(now the Lokomotiv cinema), built in 1928 in the constructivist style,
is included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of
Kazakhstan of national significance.
The city has a large number of personal monuments, memorial plaques,
large and small sculptural forms, monuments and memorials. Over the
years of Kazakhstan's independence alone, 28 monuments, memorials and
memorial complexes have been erected in Aktobe. There is a cult of the
famous sniper Aliya Moldagulova: a memorial complex and a monument have
been built, one of the central avenues has been named in her honor, and
a personal museum has been opened. The monument to Aliya Moldagulova
(1960) and the bust of the pilot-cosmonaut Viktor Patsayev (1976) are
among the historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan of national
significance.
One of the notable monuments is the 19-meter
granite Obelisk of Glory in honor of the Aktobe residents who died in
battles for the Motherland during the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars
with the Eternal Flame, dedicated to the fighters for the establishment
of Soviet power and those who died in the Great Patriotic War. In 1983,
opposite it, on the main square of the city, a monument to V. I. Lenin
was unveiled, because of this, the obelisk was moved to another place.
The monument to Lenin then gave way to the monument to the Khan of the
Younger Zhuz Abulkhair by sculptor E. Sergebayev.
In 2008, the
city hosted the grand opening of a monument to the heroes of Abdizhamil
Nurpeisov’s trilogy “Blood and Sweat” – the first monument in Kazakhstan
dedicated to literary characters.
There are six parks in the city. The A. S. Pushkin Park was founded
in 1887-1890 and is the oldest park in Aktobe. In the 1980s, several new
parks appeared in the city, one of them is the Park of the First
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which was previously named
after V. I. Lenin, and then Abay Kunanbayev. When in 2010 it was decided
to rename the park in honor of the President of Kazakhstan, 1 billion
tenge was allocated for the reconstruction and improvement of this park.
In the 2000s, Retro Park was opened near the former Railway Workers'
Culture House by city entrepreneurs.
In 2009, for the 140th
anniversary of the city, a new water-green boulevard of Unity and
Harmony was built with an amphitheater, the Shanyrak monument and two
fountains, one of them with a light and music effect. The boulevard
itself connects the largest in the city, the central mosque "Nur Gasyr"
and the St. Nicholas Cathedral, built in 2008.
As of 2014, the Department of Housing and Public Utilities, Passenger
Transport and Highways of the city is responsible for 21 fountains,
including fountains on Abay Boulevard, near the Nur Gasyr Mosque, in the
Chess Players' Square on Aliya Moldagulova Avenue, in Pushkin Park, on
the Alley of Lovers on Brothers Zhubanov Street, near the Regional
Philharmonic and other places. In addition, the Central Park of Culture
and Recreation named after the First President is responsible for
fountains located on an artificial reservoir on the park's territory,
the fountains "Songs of Aktobe" and "Bowl of Abundance" on the
water-green Boulevard of Unity and Harmony.
In 2010, the then
mayor of the city, Arkhimed Mukhambetov, promised that the number of
fountains in the city would increase to 40, and in the next 2-3 years
there would be 60, but he never kept his word. In 2013, 116 million
tenge were allocated for the reconstruction of the fountains. One of the
fountains being repaired was built only three years ago, but due to
design errors, it was necessary to update the communications.
The
city's fountains operate from 10 am to 11 pm, and a cleaning day is held
once a month.
The 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, and the Carl Zeiss
apparatus was donated by residents of the German city of Jena. The first
lecture took place on January 3, 1967. Until 2001, the permanent
director of the planetarium was Nikolai Pavlovich Zafiris.
The
planetarium's Star Hall with a 10-meter dome allows visitors to see
various astronomical phenomena: solar and lunar eclipses, meteor
showers, halos, sunrise and sunset, and a panorama of Baikonur. Lectures
on astronomy and cosmonautics are also held in this hall.
From
1967 to 2012, the planetarium was visited by about 1.5 million people.
The planetarium's main visitors are schoolchildren, then students and
adults,
Every year on May 28, the City Day (Kazakh: Kala kuni) is celebrated
in memory of the founding of the Ak-Tyube fortification. Cultural events
are held in the park named after the First President, on the water-green
boulevard of Unity and Harmony, in the park named after A.S. Pushkin,
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 fountain season called "Suburkaktyn Shashuy"
(Russian: Splashes of the fountain), the city akimat holds festive
events.
In 2001-2008, under the leadership of the frontman of the
group "Adaptation" Ermen Erzhanov, the festival of independent music
"Sukhovey" was held in the city, which was attended by many guests from
the CIS countries. After its closure, a similar festival called
"Indicator" was organized several times. In 2015, the resumption of
Sukhovey was announced.
By plane
1 Aktobe Airport (UATT: AKX). ☎ +7 (7132) 229550, +7
(7132) 229555. Aktobe International Airport. It is located on the
southwestern outskirts of the city, 3.5 km south of the Aktobe railway
station. There are regular flights from Astana (daily), Almaty (daily),
Aktau (Tuesday through Sunday) and Moscow (Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun).
The city center and the airport are connected by bus route #8 (route map
as of February 4, 2015), which runs from Zhilgorodok via the central
Abilkaiyr Khan Avenue, the 5th microdistrict, the Central Market
(Kolkhozny) and the Sapar bus station.
By train
2 Aktobe
Railway Station, Privokzalnaya, 22. ☎ + 7 (7132) 105 and 211777
(information); + 7 (7132) 975662 (baggage department). Soon after the
Tashkent Railway was laid from Tashkent to Orenburg, the first railway
station in the city was built in 1905. The modern Aktobe Railway Station
was built in 1975 (the old one was demolished). Public toilets and a
baggage department are located on the ground floor of the station. On
the first floor there are ticket offices and machines for issuing
tickets ordered via the Internet. Also on the first floor there is a
grocery store, kiosks with newspapers and magazines, a canteen and
cafeterias. On the second floor there is a waiting room and several
cafeterias. On the third floor there is a rest room, which is available
to anyone.
The station square is occupied by a car park. Taxi
drivers are also on duty here, and they slightly inflate their prices
(the real price is 300-400 tenge). The ground floors of the adjacent
buildings are almost entirely occupied by various shops, cafes and
canteens. Nearby is the bus stop "Railway Station", which can be reached
by buses No. 1, No. 2, No. 7, No. 15, No. 16, No. 18, No. 19, No. 21,
No. 24, No. 26, No. 27, No. 28, No. 29, No. 35, No. 37, No. 39 and No.
42. On the way to the stop, you can almost always meet women offering to
rent rooms and apartments.
By car
Main routes:
M32 Highway
The A24 Highway is one of the main highways in northwestern Kazakhstan,
102 km long. The road connects Aktobe and Orenburg.
The A27 Highway
is a main highway in Kazakhstan, 871 km long. The road connects the
cities of Aktobe and Atyrau, and then reaches the border with Russia.
In 2013, the construction of a section of the Western Europe -
Western China highway in the Aktobe region was completed. A total of 358
km of roads were laid in the region, of which 39.3 km were the "Northern
Bypass of Aktobe" worth 12.1 billion tenge. The construction of this
section allowed transit transport to follow its routes without entering
the city itself.
By bus
3 Sapar Bus Station, 312th Rifle
Division, 4. ☎ +7 (7132) 212661. Sapar Bus Station, built in the Soviet
era, is used to organize bus service to settlements of the Aktobe region
that are not of tourist interest. Several times a day, there are trips
to Orenburg, Orsk and Novotroitsk.
Sapar Bus Station is located
in a spacious two-story building. On the first floor there are ticket
offices, a waiting room, several shops and terminals for topping up your
phone balance and other transactions. Boarding for regular buses takes
place in the courtyard of the bus station. A public toilet (paid) is
located in the bus station building, but there is a separate entrance
for it. In the vicinity, private cabbies in cars are on duty, offering
to take you to the nearest settlements. Sometimes it is most expedient
to use them, because they have no waiting time (they leave as soon as
the required number of passengers is collected) and the fare is slightly
more expensive than bus tickets. It is worth considering that after the
departure of the last bus, the fares for such cabbies increase several
times.
4 Express Bus Station, 312th Rifle Division, 9zh. ☎ +7
(7132) 545476. Express Bus Station is located on the outskirts of the
city to the north of Aliya Moldagulova Avenue. Long-distance routes on
comfortable buses depart from this station to such large cities of
Russia and Kazakhstan as St. Petersburg (1st and 2nd Friday of the
month), Orenburg (4 times a day), Orsk (3 times a day), Samara, Kazan
(on Friday and Sunday), Novotroitsk, Kostanay and Astana.
Bus
Yaroslav Drobinin. Buses. Full city navigation. Version 2018
// Diapazon, 10/17/2018.
Today, buses are the only type of public
transport in the city (until 2013, there was a trolleybus depot). The
first bus in the city began operating in 1927. In total, by 2020, Aktobe
had about 50 bus routes operated by Avtopark LLC and Aktobe Passenger
Motor Transport Enterprise LLC (PATP, former Trolleybus Park). In total,
more than 300 buses operate on the routes. Large and roomy buses are
used on the main routes. Medium-capacity buses are mainly used on
secondary routes. There are also several routes with Gazelle minibuses
(the so-called route taxis).
In 2018, the cost of travel on buses
reached 80 tenge (40 tenge for children aged 7 to 15). On routes owned
by PATP LLP (No. 1, 2, 5, 8, 23, 40, 45, 46, 48, 51, 52), it is possible
to pay with bank cards.
Avtopark LLP, Sankibay Batyr Ave., 22. ☎
+7 (7132) 54-55-91. 80 KZT.
Passenger Motor Transport Enterprise
of Aktobe (PATP LLP), Sankibay Batyr Ave., 10. ☎ +7 (7132) 55-83-22. 80
KZT.
Bicycle transport
Every year, cycling is becoming more and more
popular among Aktobe residents, but there are very few separate bicycle
paths in the city — cyclists are forced to move along sidewalks next to
pedestrians, since riding on the roadway together with cars is unsafe.
City residents have the opportunity to move not only on their own
bicycles, but also on rented two-wheeled transport, fortunately, with
the growing popularity of bicycles, entrepreneurs have appeared who rent
out this type of transport. According to the adjusted general plan of
the city, the first separate bicycle paths were supposed to appear in
2017 along Abilkaiyr Khan Avenue and in the First President Park. On
July 5, 2014, at the intersection of Sankibay-batyr and Aliya
Moldagulova Avenues, a park with the first bicycle path in the city was
opened.
Street and road network
The length of the city's roads
is 651 km, of which 300 km have asphalt concrete pavement (2019).
According to 2016 data, 59.3% of the roads (369.9 km) are in
satisfactory condition, 40.4% (251.1 km) are in unsatisfactory
condition.
To date (2013), there are 626 streets in the city, of
which 163 are equipped with street lighting (2016). Most of the streets
are not designed for large numbers of cars. With initial traffic
intensity calculations of 1,000 cars per day, the actual intensity is
about 40,000 cars per day. The problem with congestion is aggravated by
the slowness of the traffic police - participants in traffic accidents
have to wait for hours for traffic inspectors, interfering with traffic.
To solve the problems with congestion and traffic jams on the city's
roads, work is underway to widen streets and build separate right turns
in busy areas. Every year, significant funds are allocated from the city
budget for the repair of asphalt road surfaces (2.77 billion tenge
allocated for 2020), but due to the lack of storm sewer systems on most
streets, roads quickly become unusable, and puddles that form after
precipitation interfere with traffic. The condition of the roads
annually becomes the subject of criticism from car owners, whose
vehicles are sometimes damaged due to potholes in the roadway. According
to officials, the sections of roads that fall into disrepair are mainly
those that were commissioned more than 10 years ago, but there are also
those that were commissioned less than three years ago. If defects
appear on the road surface before the expiration of the warranty period,
contractors may be forced to redo the work through the court. The
longest overpass in Aktobe (453 m) was built in 2014 and connected the
11th microdistrict of the city and the Kurmysh district. Other large
overpasses with intensive traffic are located in the Selmash district
and near the 5th microdistrict. The overpass in Selmash, built back in
1972, is planned to be demolished and a 139-meter overpass with 4-lane
traffic will be built in its place.
Aktobe is one of the few cities with a wide network of supermarkets.
They contribute to affordable prices by applying a trade markup of no
more than 10%. The city has large retail chains such as Anvar and Dina.
Food markets include the Central Market, Altai, Anuar, Arai,
Zhilgorodskoy, the Tabys communal market, and the AgroCity and BatysAgro
2008 wholesale markets.
Cheap
1 Zhastyk, Abay Avenue, 19. ☎
+7 (7132) 54-28-28, +7 (775) 987-49-66. 09:00-23:00. The cultural center
(restaurant, banquet hall, summer cafe, and culinary store) "Zhastyk"
offers dishes of Eastern and European cuisine at reasonable prices. The
Chaykhana hall is equipped with air conditioning, and semi-closed booths
are available for those who want privacy. It is worth considering that
due to the large number of visitors, the waiting time for an order may
be long. The nearest public transport stops, which are served by a
significant number of bus routes, are the Dom Veteranov (House of
Veterans) on Yeset Batyr Street and Elektron (Abilkayir Khan Avenue).
Expensive
2 Afsona, Abilkayir Khan Avenue, 67. ☎ +7 (7132)
41-97-82 (administration), +7 (7132) 90-98-08 (food delivery). Mon–Sun
10:00–02:00. 3000–4000 KZT. The Afsona restaurant is located in the
heart of the city, along the central Abilkaiyr Khan Avenue, near the
Central Stadium and the Stadium public transport stop. It mainly offers
Eastern (Central Asian) cuisine - pilaf, manti, lagman, tsomyan and much
more. Prices for dishes are 1.5-2 times higher than the city average.
Reviews are mostly positive, sometimes there is negativity related to
the price level and quality of service. The interior is decorated in an
oriental style and is pleasing to the eye. The tables are wide, the
seats are comfortable, the windows offer a beautiful view of the central
avenue, in the right wing there are tapchans (wide oriental benches).
There is a children's room for small children.
Since 1891, when the Ak-Tyube fortification (Russian pre-ref.
Ak-Tyube or Ak-Tyubya) became a district town of the Russian Empire,
until 1999 the city was called Aktyubinsk (Russian pre-ref. Aktyubinsk)
in Russian. On March 11, 1999, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan
Nazarbayev issued a decree "to change the transcription of the name in
Russian of the city of Aktyubinsk in the Aktyubinsk region to the city
of Aktobe." This naming was accepted by Rosreestr for official use as
corresponding to the "Russian transmission of Kazakh names."
The
Kazakh name of the city in its modern Cyrillic orthographic form
("Aktөbe") has existed since 1940, when the Cyrillic-based alphabet was
adopted. Previously, in 1929-1940, this name was written in the Kazakh
alphabet based on the Latin yanalif ("Aqtɵbe"), and even earlier - in
the Kazakh alphabet based on the Arabic-Persian script ("اقتوبە"). Now
the Kazakh name based on Arabic script is used by information resources
in the Kazakh language, which are focused on the Kazakhs of China (the
largest overseas Kazakh community) and the countries of the Near and
Middle East, which continue to use the traditional alphabet. After the
approval of a new version of the Kazakh alphabet based on the Latin
alphabet in 2018, a gradual transition to the use of the Latin version
of the city's name began (first - Aqtóbe, since 2021 - Aqtöbe).
The name of the city, formed from the words ak (from the Turkic aq -
white) and töbe (töpü - hill), means "white hill". For this reason,
Aktobe was sometimes called the "City on a White Hill" or
"Belovershinsk" (Бѣловершинскъ). The word ak in the Kazakh language, in
addition to meaning "white", also means "undefiled", "clean",
"innocent".
Turkic toponyms etymologically similar to "Aktobe"
are quite common both in Kazakhstan and beyond (see also Aktyuba,
Akhtuba, Aktepa).
The first coat of arms of Aktobe was approved on October 18, 1968
(author: S. T. Simonov). 20 years later, on December 24, 1988, the City
Council of People's Deputies adopted a new coat of arms based on the
design of the artist M. F. Lutsin.
In 1998, for the 130th
anniversary of the founding of Aktobe, a competition for a new coat of
arms of the city was announced. The jury, consisting of scientists,
architects and media representatives, recognized the sketch of Aktobe
artist, member of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan Sagintay Alimbetov
as the best of 50 competition works. The coat of arms was officially
approved at the 23rd session of the city maslikhat on July 24, 1998.
The coat of arms has a round shape, symbolizing the "eternity of the
universe". The inscription "Aktobe" is made in white - the color of
"purity and holiness", the blue ornaments mean "the eternal movement of
water", and the red ornaments are stylized tulips (the tulip is an
unofficial symbol of the city). In the center of the coat of arms is
depicted a winged creature with an eagle's head (a griffin).
The ancient tribes that inhabited this territory were engaged in cattle breeding. They belonged to the Andronovo culture, were close to the tribes of Northern Kazakhstan, but belonged to different ethnic groups. An example of the latitudinal orientation of rectangular and oval burial grounds can be the burials of Syntas and Besoba near Aktobe. In the steppes near the city, ring-shaped stone fences and burial mounds were found, which date back to the Bronze Age. Finds dating back to the Middle Bronze Age were discovered near the Kargaly River near modern Aktobe.
In May 1869, a detachment of two infantry companies, hundreds of
Cossacks and 14 guns headed to the area between the Ilek and Khobda
rivers, commanded by the aide-de-camp Count von Borg (Yuri Alexandrovich
Borkh). At the insistence of the military governor of the region Lev
Balluzek, on May 15 (28) (or May 14 (27)), the Aktyubinsk fortification
(Ak-Tyube) was founded on two hills in the tract at the confluence of
the Ilek and Kargaly rivers. Guard platforms, a guardhouse, an armory,
and cellars for storing food and ammunition were built.
According
to the data of the Materials on Kyrgyz land use collected during the
expedition of F.A. Shcherbina in 1898-1899, the territory where the city
of Aktyubinsk was later founded was previously inhabited by the Tama
clan. After the founding of the city, the Taminians settled in the area
between the Dambar and Alabaytal rivers flowing into the Zhaksy-Kargaly
River. The territory of present-day Aktobe was controlled by the
Aryngaziyev brothers, nephews of the Khan of the Younger Zhuz Aryngazy,
whom Balluzek described in his reports as unreliable. After the
detachment's arrival, almost all local residents migrated to the
territory of the Ural region, although Balluzek noted their loyalty, and
among those who remained were only the Aryngaziyev sultans and the rebel
detachment under the command of Ayzharyk Bekbauov (Kazakh: Ayzharyk bi
Bekbauuly), who ceased resistance after the first defeat by the
Cossacks. In the first decades, the life of the settlement was closely
connected with the Kazakhs - nomadic cattle breeders. The first general
plan for the development of Aktobe was developed in 1874. The settlement
was divided into several districts: Kurmysh, Tatarskaya Sloboda,
Otorvanovka. The first streets of the young settlement were
Garnizonnaya, Krepostnaya, Orenburgskaya, Iletskaya and Georgievskaya.
On March 25, 1891, by the "Regulations on Management in the Steppe
Regions", the Ak-Tyube settlement, like Kustanay, was transformed into a
district town of the Turgay Region of the Russian Empire and was named
Aktyubinsk.
Unlike Kustanay, which showed rapid growth at an
early stage, but then entered a period of population decline and
decline, Aktyubinsk managed to maintain a stable, slow pace of
development. By July 1886, the number of households in Aktyubinsk
reached 177, but during the hungry years of 1891-1892, many residents
left the city. Since 1893, the population began to grow again. By 1895,
the city had 2,263 residents, including 1,041 Orthodox and 202
Mohammedans (Muslims). In 1896, about 100 families arrived, mainly from
the Little Russian provinces.
In 1902, the Tashkent railway from
Orenburg to Tashkent was built through the city, which contributed to
the further development of the economy of Aktyubinsk.
In
1905-1907, popular demonstrations and strikes were repeatedly held in
the city. In 1905, a group of the RSDLP emerged in the city, and on June
3, 1907, the first council of workers' deputies in Kazakhstan was
elected.
During the Civil War, Aktyubinsk became the center of the
revolutionary forces of the Turgai region. On January 8 (21), 1918,
Soviet power was established in the city. The Reds conducted a policy of
terror against the Orenburg Cossacks. It is reliably known that in the
summer of 1918, 10-12 people were shot per night in Aktyubinsk. In early
July of the same year, the Aktyubinsk Front emerged, blocking the path
of Kolchak's army to Turkestan. On April 16 (or April 18), 1919,
Aktyubinsk was stormed by units of the White Separate Orenburg Army.
On September 1, 1919, the Reds began an attack on Aktyubinsk, which
had become a temporary base for the Southern Army (Eastern Front), from
the village of Vsesvyatskoye (southwest of the city). On September 2,
two squadrons of the Reds took the railway station, and two other
squadrons, led by the commander of the 9th Regiment, killed the prison
guards and freed several hundred captured Red Army soldiers and
Bolsheviks, who took part in the capture of Aktyubinsk. Artillery fire
was opened on the city, an airplane flew over it, dropping bombs. A
strong panic began, most of the residents began to hastily leave
Aktyubinsk in a southwesterly direction, but the Red cavalry that
arrived in time cut off some of the retreating forces. At 12 o'clock on
September 2, Aktyubinsk passed into the hands of the Reds.
In 1920-1925, Aktobe was part of the Kirghiz ASSR of the Russian
SFSR, then in 1925 it was renamed the Kazakh ASSR of the RSFSR, and in
1936 the city was included in the Kazakh SSR separated from the RSFSR.
During the Soviet period, Aktobe managed to be the center of several
administrative-territorial units: Aktobe Governorate (1921-1928), Aktobe
District (1921-1922, 1928-1933, 1970-1997), Aktobe County (1922-1928),
Aktobe Okrug (1928-1930) and Aktobe Region (since 1932).
In
1919-1922, the city's population, like the entire region, suffered from
famine, the exact number of victims of which is unknown. By November
1921, 55 percent of the livestock in the Aktobe province had died. Due
to the lack of food, the population left their places of residence on
their own or in an organized manner. Up to 23% of the population left
the Aktobe province. It is known that 361,051 people were starving in
the province in January 1921. The famine was such that the population,
as indicated in documents, ate birch bark and even some types of clay.
In November 1921, 469 adults and 320 children died in the city of
Aktobe, during the same period, 294 people died of hunger in the city
hospital. The famine was repeated in 1932-1933. According to police
archives, 4,373 people who died of starvation were buried in the Aktobe
region from November 1932 to July 1933. This is only official data.
Cases of cannibalism were recorded.
On March 10, 1932, the city
became the center of the newly formed Aktobe region of the Kazakh SSR.
After that, the first 10.5 km long water pipeline was installed, 25
water columns were installed. During the first ten years in the status
of the regional center, 2 power plants were built in the city, 250
lighting fixtures appeared on the streets. Work was carried out to green
the city, pedestrian paths appeared.
During the Great Patriotic
War, the 312th rifle division, the 101st national rifle brigade, the
129th mortar regiment and other military units and subdivisions were
formed in Aktobe. Of the 11,000 soldiers of the 312th Rifle Division,
9,500 died on the battlefield. The division commander, Alexander Naumov,
became the first recipient of the title "Honorary Citizen of
Aktyubinsk", and 29 Aktyubinsk residents became Heroes of the Soviet
Union.
The close proximity to sources of raw materials led to the
creation of industrial enterprises in the city and the transformation of
Aktyubinsk into one of the major industrial centers of the Kazakh SSR.
In the 1940s - 1960s, large industrial enterprises appeared in
Aktyubinsk: ferroalloy plants, chromium compounds, X-ray equipment,
agricultural machinery, meat and dairy plants, knitwear, furniture,
clothing factories, etc. Many of them were evacuated during the Great
Patriotic War from the occupied regions of the Soviet Union. In August
1941, equipment from the ferroalloy plant arrived in the city from
Zaporozhye, and in the autumn of the same year, the Bolshevik artel was
transported from Dnepropetrovsk. The Elektroschetchik enterprise, the
Moscow X-ray plant, wool spinning factory No. 14, and others were
evacuated from Moscow to Aktyubinsk.
Since the 1960s, Aktyubinsk
has been actively built up with residential areas and microdistricts. On
May 3, 1962, the West Kazakhstan Territory was formed, including the
Aktyubinsk region (center - the city of Aktyubinsk), the Uralsk region
(center - the city of Uralsk) and the Guryev region (center - the city
of Guryev) with the center of the region in Aktyubinsk. On December 1,
1964, the West Kazakhstan Territory was abolished. In 1977, the city
became the center of the West Kazakhstan Railway.
During the
Soviet period, Aktobe turned into an industrial city with many
enterprises, became the industrial and cultural center of the region and
remains so to this day.
After the collapse of the USSR, economic activity in Kazakhstan
shifted from industrial centers (Karaganda, Shymkent) to the centers of
the oil regions in the west of the country: Aktobe, Aktau and Atyrau.
In the late 1990s - early 2000s, the city experienced a population
decline due to the repatriation of representatives of deported peoples
and specialists who arrived in the Kazakh SSR in the 1970s - 1980s.
In the 2000s, the city experienced a construction boom: in terms of
construction rates, Aktobe and the Aktobe region (279.5%) even surpassed
Astana (212%). In 2005, it was planned to commission 137.1 thousand m²
of housing, but by the end of the year, 289,773 m² of housing was
commissioned. Individual construction exceeded the planned figures by
five times. Overall, 2.8 times more housing was built in 2005 than in
2004.
Due to the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the subsequent
global economic crisis, real estate and rental prices in Aktobe dropped
significantly. Land plots in the city depreciated by 30%. Residents'
salaries dropped, some businesses cut their health insurance costs, and
demand for household appliances and electronics fell. Passenger traffic
at the Aktobe airport fell by 13%, and car sales in the city's car
dealerships began to decline due to the devaluation of the national
currency.
The 2010s were marked by a rise in religious extremism
in Western Kazakhstan. On May 17, 2011, a 25-year-old suicide bomber,
Rakhimzhan Makhatov, detonated a bomb near the KNB Department in Aktobe,
which was the first such incident in modern Kazakhstan. On July 26 of
the same year, a shootout between police officers and four murder
suspects occurred in one of the multi-story buildings. Despite the fact
that there was no official confirmation of the criminals' involvement in
religious movements, the public immediately linked this incident with
the liquidation of a gang of extremists in the Temirsky district, which
began on July 1 and cost the lives of four law enforcement officers.
Soon, on the outskirts of the city, as a result of an explosion in one
of the unfinished buildings, three people died, one of whom was an
operative of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Aktobe region for
combating extremism.
Due to the depreciation of the Russian ruble
against the tenge at the end of 2014, the demand for Russian currency in
the city increased many times over, and there was a shortage of Russian
cash at exchange offices. The number of cars with transit numbers of the
Russian Federation increased. This led to an increase in the number of
traffic jams on the roads of Aktobe.
On August 20, 2015, the
tenge exchange rate was sent into free floating and subsequently the
national currency of Kazakhstan depreciated almost twice: on August 19,
the US dollar cost 188 tenge, and by January 19, 2016, it rose to 374
tenge. Following this, in the city, as well as throughout the country,
prices for goods and services increased. On January 1, 2016, the state
stopped regulating the price of the so-called "social bread", which led
to its rise in price in Aktobe.
On June 5, 2016, armed Islamists
(takfiris) attacked the Pallada and Panther gun stores in Aktobe. After
that, the terrorists headed for military unit No. 6655 of the National
Guard of Kazakhstan. As a result of the attack on the military unit,
three servicemen were killed and six more were wounded. The city was
placed on a red terrorist alert, and during the counter-terrorism
operation, most of the terrorists (18 people) were killed, while the
rest were detained by law enforcement agencies. Three servicemen and
four civilians were killed by the militants.
In 2019, the 150th
anniversary of the city's foundation was celebrated. In honor of this
date, several hundred international, national, and regional events were
held in Aktobe. Districts of the Aktobe region arranged 9 alleys and
squares on the central streets of the city.
The first case of
COVID-19 in Kazakhstan was recorded on March 13, 2020. At the same time,
all cultural events in the city were cancelled ahead of the Nauryz
holiday. On March 22, the infection was first detected in a resident of
Aktobe who arrived by air from abroad. On March 31, the chief sanitary
doctor of the region introduced a number of measures to contain the
coronavirus infection: entry and exit from Aktobe was prohibited, heads
of state bodies and organizations were advised to transfer employees to
remote work, city residents were restricted from moving without extreme
necessity, large shopping centers, kindergartens and other institutions
suspended their work. On the evening of April 6, a quarantine was
introduced in the city. At that time, 11 cases of COVID-19 were detected
in the entire region. Permission to work was received by grocery stores,
pharmacies, industrial enterprises, life support services, medical and
preventive organizations, gas stations and service stations. Public
transport hours were reduced, residents were prohibited from going
outside unless absolutely necessary and from moving in groups of more
than three people. The movement of personal vehicles was also
restricted. People over 65 were required to self-isolate. The quarantine
was lifted by a decree of the chief sanitary doctor of the region on
June 1, 2020, but a number of restrictive measures remained in effect.
In October 2017, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev
announced the desirability of the city reaching a population of 1
million residents: “At the beginning of independence, there were 240
thousand people in Aktobe. Now there are almost half a million. I want
there to be a million here.”
It is planned that by 2030 the
city's population will increase to 625 thousand people, and in 2040 it
will exceed the mark of 1 million residents. By this time, the area of
the city should increase from 29,739 hectares to 72,965 hectares
(42,847 hectares according to the 2003 general plan). Aktobe will expand
to the east. Individual housing construction within the city will be
limited, construction zoning in the new general plan is oriented towards
multi-storey development of multi-apartment residential buildings.
Aktobe is the only city in Kazakhstan that is divided into old and new
parts. The Moscow district is planned to be built up with multi-storey
residential areas with the corresponding infrastructure and made the
unifying center of the city.
The city is located in the northern part of the Aktobe region, on both banks of the left tributary of the Ural, the Ilek River, where the Kargaly River flows into it, in the central part of the Sub-Ural plateau, which is a plain 250-400 m high. A characteristic feature of the Sub-Ural plateau is that under the soil lies a chalk mineral substrate, covered in depressions by Paleogene clays, which leads to the fact that in places where the soil layer has been destroyed by erosion, white chalk deposits are exposed.
The issue of determining the border between Europe and Asia is very controversial. If the border between these parts of the world is drawn along the Ural River, then Aktobe will undoubtedly be a city located in Asia. However, according to the most common opinion among geographers, the border of Europe runs along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, along the Emba River and further along the Mugodzhars. Thus, Aktobe turns out to be a city located in Europe. However, despite the geographical location, the countries of the former Soviet Union are often considered by modern Western geographers as a separate territorial unit, distinct from both Europe and Asia.
The city is located in the place where the Kargaly River flows into
the Ilek River and its valley widens to 15 km. The left tributary of the
Ilek, the Sazdy River, flows directly through the center of the city,
and in the northwest - the left tributary of the Ilek, the Zhinishke
River. Since the bed of the Sazdy River runs in the central part of
Aktobe and large shopping and entertainment centers are located along
it, since 2010 the city akimat has been working on improving the
embankment. In the southern part of the city are the lower reaches of
the left tributary of the Ilek, the Tamda River, but during the
low-water period this bed dries up, forming several stretches. The
Peschanka River, a left tributary of the Kargaly River, flows along the
northern edge of the Zarechny district, beyond which is the village of
Kargaly. To the west of the Kirpichny district, separating it from the
village of Akzhar, flows the lower part of the right tributary of the
Kargaly, the Butak River.
10 km southeast of the city is the
Aktobe Reservoir with a capacity of 245 million m³, called the "Aktobe
Sea" by locals; it was put into operation in 1988. The Sazdinskoye
Reservoir, 8 km southwest of the city, is a traditional recreation area
for city residents and was built in 1967, while the Kargalinskoye
Reservoir, which is the largest artificial reservoir near Aktobe, is
located outside the territory subordinated to the city akimat, with a
volume of 280 million m³, was commissioned in 1975 and is located 60 km
northeast of the city.
The city has a sharply continental climate. This is due to the city's
location in the interior of the Eurasian continent and its significant
distance from the oceans. The sharp continental climate is manifested in
temperature contrasts between day and night, between winter and summer,
as well as in the abundance of solar radiation and aridity.
In
winter, the weather in Aktobe is influenced by a deep cyclone over
Iceland (the Icelandic minimum) and a powerful Siberian anticyclone
centered over Mongolia. Under the influence of these factors, large
baric gradients are formed, directed from the southeast to the
northwest.
The total solar radiation in Aktobe averages 108 kcal
per day, the average annual duration of sunshine in the city is 2316
hours.
Summer is hot and long. Summer (the period with an average
daily air temperature above +15 °C) lasts about four months from mid-May
to mid-September, winter is moderately cold, short-term thaws are
possible. The highest snow cover is observed in February (31 cm). The
number of clear, cloudy and overcast days per year: 174, 148 and 43,
respectively. The average annual cloudiness is 5.7 points. The maximum
amount of precipitation falls in June: 35 mm, the minimum - in
September: 19 mm.
Average annual temperature: +5.3 °C;
Average
annual wind speed: 2.4 m/s:
Average annual air humidity: 68%.
The environmental situation in Aktobe is considered unfavorable.
According to Kazhydromet data for 2013, the air pollution index in
Aktobe was 4.2 units, which is several times less than in Alma-Ata (11.5
units), which was recognized as the city with the dirtiest air.
Increased levels of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde in the air are
observed throughout the city, and in the area of industrial
enterprises such as AZHS, AZF, Aktobe TPP and near the village of
Kirpichny, the indicators exceeded the norm by three times. An objective
assessment of the environmental situation is hampered by the small
number of meteorological stations; there are only 3 stations in the city
instead of the required 23.
According to research in 2013, when
the sanitary and epidemiological supervision analyzed the air in the
city for the presence of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen
sulfide and other substances, the main cause of air pollution was
recognized as the city's sewage system. The concentration of hydrogen
sulfide in sewer networks can reach 2-16%, and wastewater also contains
a large amount of sulfides. Because of this, at night and in the
morning, residents of several districts and central avenues of the city
experience problems with the smell in the air. In addition to the sewer
network, sources of hydrogen sulfide in the city air are waste from
alcohol production (stillage) in the fields of the former meat
processing plant, the landfill of TOO "Aktobe Taza Kala" and the old
landfill. Motor transport makes its contribution, the number of which in
2013 reached 178 thousand units. The Ilek River, on the banks of which
the city is located, has long been polluted by boron waste from the
Alginsky Chemical Plant and hexavalent chromium from the Aktobe Chromium
Compounds Plant, and this, in turn, leads to the pollution of the Urals,
and then the Caspian Sea. In addition, JSC Akbulak discharges about 10
million m³ of untreated wastewater per year into the river due to
outdated treatment facilities. The company pays a fine every year for
exceeding discharge standards, but administrative measures have not led
to a positive result.
Back in the late 19th century, the region where Aktobe is located was described as being practically devoid of forest flora, but at the same time very rich in steppe vegetation. The cutting down of willow groves in what was then Aktobe County led to the spread of sand from the neighboring Irgiz County and the disappearance of the previously rich vegetation. During the Soviet era, measures were taken to create a green belt around the city to protect it from winter snowstorms and summer dust storms. The city’s territory is part of the Aktobe floristic district, which occupies more than half of the Aktobe region and the northeastern part of the West Kazakhstan region (160 thousand km² between 51°45′00″ N 51°30′00″ E and 47°30′00″ N 61°30′00″ E). The following plant species are widespread in Aktobe and its environs: common kumarchyk, perforated bugleweed, common sage, desert sage, distichenous sedge, auberna slapstick, small-flowered campion, lezeliyev's sedge, short-legged milk vetch, variegated vetch, prescott's buten, russian valerian, hop dodder, common velcro, purple deadnettle, rough cornflower, triangular bulrush.
The territory of Kazakhstan consists of 22 zoogeographical areas.
Aktobe city and the entire northern part of Aktobe region belong to the
western steppe area, which, unlike other steppe areas, is inhabited by
representatives of European forest species. In addition, the desert
fauna in the western steppe area is richer than in the other steppe
areas. The widespread desert species of marbled polecats is found here
only occasionally, from the Mongolian fauna, the Eversmann's hamster can
usually be found. Kazakhstani desert species also live here, and near
Aktobe, you can find the Turanian species of tamarisk gerbils.
As
in other cities, stray dogs and cats are found on the streets of Aktobe.
Dogs often attack city residents (over 300 cases in the first half of
2014), most often this happens in the spring and autumn. The most
dangerous in this regard are the Central Market area, the old part of
the city and summer cottages. Several thousand animals are caught per
year, mainly dogs. Hunters of homeless animals shoot them with a silent
gun with darts (the use of firearms for this purpose has been prohibited
since 2013) filled with drugs (ditilin). The carcasses of the animals
are taken to a cattle burial ground. Well-groomed and obviously domestic
animals are not shot, but sent to a private shelter owned by the head of
the local animal protection society.
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 from fifth to fourth place by the number of
residents in October 2019, when the city's population reached 497,381
residents, overtaking Karaganda (496,701 people) by this indicator. By
the end of 2019, the city's population exceeded 500 thousand people and
as of October 1, 2022, it was 556,976 people. The population density in
the territory of the city administration (2.3 thousand km²) is 242
people per km².
There are several reasons for this change in
position. Firstly, the statistical authorities began to take into
account 59 thousand residents of rural districts near Aktobe, disbanded
in 2018 and included in the city. Secondly, the natural population
growth in Aktobe for 9 months of 2019 amounted to 6807 people, while in
Karaganda for the same period the natural growth reached 2712 people.
Thirdly, during the same period, Aktobe saw a migration increase of 2580
people, while Karaganda saw a migration decrease of 3741 people. Aktobe
is one of the fastest growing cities in Kazakhstan, with the population
increasing by 50% in 2003-2013. For comparison, the population of the
cities of Turkestan, Zhanaozen and Kaskelen, which showed the most
impressive growth rates, grew by 78% over the specified period. The
city's population growth is facilitated by the increase in the birth
rate and the decrease in the number of infant mortality.
The main
sources of population growth in the city are natural growth and
migration. Thus, according to data for the territory subordinated to the
city akimat, for the period from January 1, 2011 to October 1, 2015, the
natural population growth was 36,158 people, and the positive balance of
migration growth was 3,798 people, but the latter figure hides the
multidirectional migration flows:
migration outside the CIS (mainly,
the departure to Germany of ethnic Germans, as well as Russians as
members of mixed families) is insignificant, its balance was 76 people,
while the migration outflow to Germany was 103 people, the migration
exchange with other countries outside the CIS was slightly positive;
Migration within the CIS had a slight positive balance (371 people), but
this is the result of mutual compensation of two significant migration
flows: the outflow of Russians (migration balance of 1,221 people,
mainly to Russia) and the influx of ethnic Kazakhs (migration balance of
1,173 people, mainly from Central Asian countries);
migration
exchange with other regions of Kazakhstan had a negative migration
balance of 5,437 people, mainly an outflow of ethnic Kazakhs (balance of
-5,073 people);
intraregional migrations formed a migration influx of
9,685 people.
At the beginning of 2020, 500,757 people lived in the territory subordinated to the city akimat, of which 236,939 were men and 263,818 were women. 150,179 people were in the 0-15 age group (77,710 males and 72,469 females). 299,062 people were of working age 16-62 years for men (144,527 people) and 16-57 years for women (154,535 people). People of retirement age - 51,516 people, of which 14,702 were men and 36,814 were women.
The ethnic composition of the city's population is diverse. According to the 2009 census, the largest ethnic group in the Aktobe city administration area were Kazakhs. They were followed, but with a significant gap, by Russians, who had previously been the predominant group in the city. The share of Ukrainians, Tatars, Germans, Koreans and other national minorities is insignificant.
The official language of Kazakhstan is Kazakh. Historically, the
western dialect of Kazakh is widespread in the Aktobe region and,
accordingly, in the city of Aktobe, which has some differences from
other dialects of the Kazakh language. The Russian language, which
became the language of interethnic communication during the Soviet era,
continues to perform this function in modern Kazakhstan. There are no
territorial dialects in the Kazakh version of the Russian language. In
addition to those who speak Kazakh and Russian, a small number of
speakers of other languages live in the city. At the Friendship House
(Kazakh: Dostyk uiyi), representatives of various ethnic groups have
been provided with conditions for studying their language, traditions
and customs. According to the 2009 census, 92.5% of the 461,050 people
in the urban population of Aktobe region (statistics that take into
account the population of only the city of Aktobe were not published;
the population of Aktobe makes up 75% of the urban population of the
region) considered the language of their nationality to be their native
language. Kazakh was named as their native language by 97.6% (338,711)
of Kazakhs, and Russian was native for 96.2% of Russians (78,164). Among
representatives of other nationalities, this figure is lower: only 16%
of Ukrainians, 47.9% of Tatars, 18.8% of Germans and 35.1% of Koreans
named their national language as their native language.
Of the
265,545 urban Kazakhs over 15 years old, 97.6% understood spoken Kazakh,
94.1% and 89.6% could read and write fluently, respectively. Among the
68,406 Russians in this age category, 42.8% understood spoken Kazakh,
12.4% and 9% could read and write fluently, respectively. As for
proficiency in Russian, 94.4% of Kazakhs in the specified age category
understood spoken Russian, 86.1% and 80.2% could read and write freely,
respectively. 97.7% of Russians understood Russian, 95.7% could read
freely, 93.5% could write freely.
According to the study
“Language situation in Aktobe region” (2014), 34.1% of respondents -
residents of Aktobe believe that Russian and Kazakh languages are used
equally, 27.1% of respondents considered Russian to be dominant without
prejudice to Kazakh, and the proportion of those who believe that Kazakh
dominates without prejudice to Russian was 22.9%. The number of those
who acknowledged the dominance of the Kazakh language to the detriment
of the Russian language was higher (12.1%) than the number of those who
consider Russian to be dominant to the detriment of the Kazakh language
(9.2%). 94.6% of the city residents surveyed believe that all conditions
have been created for mastering and implementing the state language,
while the share of those who believe that such conditions do not exist
was 5.4%. The frequency of use of the Kazakh and Russian languages in
work collectives and educational institutions of the city was 47% and
50.8%, respectively (English - 2.3%), which is slightly different from
the regional indicators, where the dominant language in this area is
Kazakh (59.5%), followed by Russian with a share of 39.3% (English -
1.2%). According to the results of the above-mentioned study, Kazakh is
the "native" language for 83.3% of Aktobe residents, followed by Russian
(13.2%), Ukrainian (2%), Tatar (1.1%), German (0.5%) and other
languages. Kazakh was named as the language in which they think by 47.2%
of respondents, Russian by 29.9% of respondents, and 23% admitted that
they think in both languages. The proportion of respondents who know
Kazakh better than Russian and Russian better than Kazakh was
distributed approximately equally - 50.7% and 45.8%, respectively. The
proportion of those who know Kazakh better than their national language
was 2.6%. Russian is spoken by 77.9% of those respondents in Aktobe for
whom Russian is not their native language (10.8% speak both Russian and
English). For the Kazakh language, this figure is much lower: only 8.1%
of those for whom Kazakh is not their native language speak it (2% speak
both Kazakh and English).
The Aktobe urban agglomeration project (Kazakh: Aktobe aglomeratsiyasy) includes the city of Aktobe, its suburbs and a number of administrative districts surrounding the territory of the city administration. The total population is 541 thousand people (January 2014). Plans to transform the city of Aktobe into a modern urban center were voiced by the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in January 2014. Back in September 2013, it became known about plans to create two more million-plus cities in Kazakhstan, similar to Almaty and Astana. According to experts from the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning of Kazakhstan, in the long term the demographic capacity of the Aktobe agglomeration will be 1.3 million people. Initially, it was planned that the agglomeration would include 31 settlements of the Alginsky, Kargalinsky, Martuksky, Mugalzharsky and Khromtausky districts (Khromtau, Alga, Kandyagash, etc.), but by 2014 their number had increased to 46 settlements within an hour's drive from Aktobe.
Aktobe region ranks 7th (▼ 3 places) in competitiveness among 16
regions of Kazakhstan (2015). The region occupies a leading position in
Kazakhstan in labor productivity in mechanical engineering and
agriculture, the region shows high growth in wholesale and retail trade.
It is planned that the result of state support for the development of
the Aktobe agglomeration will be an increase in gross regional product
(GRP) by 6.6% and investments in fixed assets by 20% by 2020. In 2015,
investments in fixed assets amounted to 114.3 billion, of which 65.9%
came from the city's own funds. Despite the fact that small and medium
businesses in Aktobe are relatively poorly developed, the city is highly
attractive to investors.
In terms of GRP, Aktobe region ranks
sixth among the regions of Kazakhstan. The volume of GRP per capita in
Aktobe (2013) is 1490.7 thousand tenge (9893 US dollars), which is lower
than the regional average of 2263.7 thousand tenge (15,023 US dollars).
The city's economic growth is ensured by the accelerated development of
the industrial complex, the construction industry, as well as the
service sector - trade and transport. For 9 months of 2013, the city's
GRP reached 1,193,256.3 million tenge (in 2013, the GRP of the Aktobe
region was 1,816,346.2 million tenge).
Assistance in employment of unemployed citizens of Aktobe, provision
of information on the state of the labor market and similar functions
are performed by the City Department of Employment and Social Programs.
According to the city administration reports, the officially
registered unemployment rate in Aktobe is 0.2% (420 people registered
with employment agencies, March 2015), which is slightly lower than the
regional figures of 0.3%; at the same time, the unemployment figures in
the region calculated using the International Labor Organization
methodology were 4.9%, and 5% for Kazakhstan as a whole. It is worth
noting that, according to some analysts, the data on the number of
unemployed in Kazakhstan may be greatly understated.
The average
monthly nominal wage in the city in 2014 was 110,640 tenge. When data
was made public in 2015 that on average Aktobe residents earn over 100
thousand tenge per month, many residents were skeptical about such
figures.
In general, in Aktobe region in 2015, the inflation
growth rate was lower than the national average (12.2% versus 13.6%).
The same applies to food prices - 10.3% versus 10.9% on average in the
country. According to the data of the Statistics Committee of the
Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan on prices of basic food
products in February 2015, prices in Aktobe for none of the products
from the presented list were included in the list of the cheapest or
most expensive.
Aktobe is a large industrial center, closely connected with chromite
deposits to the east of the city. It is home to ferroalloy, chromium
compounds, agricultural machinery, X-ray equipment, and other plants.
The chemical, light, and food industries are well developed.
In
1930, construction began to the south of the city of one of the first
and largest chemical industry enterprises in Kazakhstan, the Aktobe
Chemical Plant, near which the city of Alga later grew. After the
collapse of the USSR, production at the 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.
Commissioned in 1943, the Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant became the first
ferrous metallurgy enterprise in Kazakhstan.
The value of the
city's enterprises' output in 2014 reached 257.9 billion tenge (1.44
billion US dollars) and amounted to 20.7% of the regional total, which
is 1.7% lower than the previous year's figures. The metallurgical
industry accounts for more than 30% of all output in the city, and the
chemical industry for 10.3% of the total.
The city's largest
enterprises are the Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant, the Aktyubrentgen Plant,
the Aktobe Chromium Compounds Plant and a number of food industry
enterprises. AZF produces 22% of Kazakhstan's ferroalloys. AZHS is the
only enterprise in the country that produces chromium oxide, chromic
anhydride, tannins, and sodium dichromate.
Aktobe is home to
large food industry enterprises producing flour, confectionery, pasta,
vegetable oil and other products.
Aktobe region is one of four
regions of Kazakhstan where the production of alcoholic beverages is
concentrated. Local vodka producer Geom LLC (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
LLC, Aray CJSC, Centaur LLC, Aktobe Crystal Liquor and Vodka Factory,
Kazakh-German joint venture Omirbek and Transmars LLC. Omirbek and Geom
companies have been included in the list of the largest taxpayers of
Aktobe region several times.
At the end of 2014, 319 agricultural enterprises were registered in
the territory subordinated to the Aktobe city akimat, which produced
goods worth 11,998.7 million tenge (▼ 5.4%). Of these, crop production
accounted for 4,112.5 million tenge, and livestock farming - 7,582.8
million tenge. In total, in 2014, they produced 4.8 thousand tons of
meat, 24.9 thousand tons of milk, 121.2 million eggs.
Despite the
allocated subsidies in the amount of 360 million tenge, urban livestock
farmers were only able to satisfy the need of Aktobe residents for eggs.
In 2014, farmers produced 2.9 thousand tons of meat and 20 thousand tons
of milk, while the demand 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 required.
In
the territory subordinated to the city akimat in 2012, 32,021 garden
plots were registered as part of collective gardening, as well as 1,101
vegetable plots as part of collective vegetable gardens. Some of the
so-called garden plots are used not only for backyard gardening and
vegetable gardening, but also for temporary (seasonal) residence for
recreation and as an individual residential sector for permanent
residence, the number of residents who use buildings on garden plots for
permanent residence is estimated at 40 thousand people. According to the
city leadership, dachas hinder the development of Aktobe. The issuance
of permits for the construction of summer cottages has been suspended,
and existing garden plots are planned to be freed up for the
construction of multi-storey buildings. In the future, summer cottage
communities will be located 10-20 km from the city.
The main trading venues in the city have long been markets (bazaars),
the number of which reached 28 in 2014. The largest of them is the
Central Market (Kolkhozny Market). The city administration is working to
open communal mini-markets for products of local producers and
gardeners.
The annual growth of retail turnover continues. 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 converting open-air bazaars into indoor
pavilions and building shopping and entertainment centers. In 1998, the
entrepreneurs Baizharkinov built one of the first large shopping centers
in the city - "Nurdaulet". In the following years, many more large
shopping centers appeared: Mega Shygys (2002), Aina, Aqtobe Mall (2007,
formerly Alatau), KeruenCity (2009, formerly Mega Aktobe), Aliya Center
(2011), Arai, CITY Shopping Center (2015), Kökjar (2022), Dalida (2022).
There are currently two large supermarket chains operating in the
city: Anvar and Dina. The first hypermarket in Aktobe was Olzha (6,500
m²), which opened in 2009. In 2011, the second Olzha hypermarket opened,
occupying the entire first floor (5,500 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 7,500 m², and at the end of
2015, the Anvar chain opened a hypermarket. The Olzha hypermarkets,
which were the first of their kind not only in Aktobe, but in all of
Western Kazakhstan, are now closed.
There are branches of all
major Kazakhstani chains of household appliances and electronics stores:
Alser (3 branches), Fora (2 branches), Mechta (4 branches), Sulpak (4
branches), Tekhnodom (4 branches), and Belyi Veter (4 branches).
The level of development of small and medium-sized businesses in the
city leaves much to be desired[180]. The limiting factors are limited
access to financing, underdeveloped industrial infrastructure, and
entrepreneurship support programs.
In 2014, the number of small
businesses in Aktobe reached 40.9 thousand units (37.9 thousand in
2014), of which 33.7 thousand units were active (23.7 thousand in 2014).
In 2014, tax revenues from them reached 94.1 billion tenge (▲ 5.6%). In
2013, the number of people employed in small businesses was 83.8
thousand people (▲ 2.8%; in total in the Aktobe region - 120.2
thousand). In 2014, President Nursultan Nazarbayev criticized the
implementation of state programs in the Aktobe region and drew attention
to the fact that 80% of subsidized small and medium business projects
are in Aktobe.
There are branches of many of the largest Kazakh and foreign commercial banks in the city: CenterCredit, VTB Bank, Freedom Finance Bank, Eurasian Bank, Otbasy Bank, Home Credit Bank, Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan, Nurbank, Bereke Bank, JSC DB Bank of China in Kazakhstan, ForteBank, Jýsan bank, Kaspi Bank, Bank RBK.
The city's housing stock consists of 1,615 apartment buildings
(2015). Typical buildings in the New City are 4- and 5-story
Khrushchev-era buildings. Rarer types of buildings are 2-5-story
Stalin-era buildings and 9-10-story Brezhnev-era buildings, built in the
late Soviet period. Khrushchev-era buildings are mainly located along
Abilkaiyr Khan and Yeset Batyr Avenues, in the 5th and 8th
microdistricts, and in the Bread Factory area. Stalin-era buildings are
located in the Central Market and Zhilgorodok area, while modern
multi-story buildings from 10 to 25 stories are mainly located in the
11th and 12th microdistricts, in the Bolashak microdistrict,
Aviagorodok, and the Nur Aktobe area under construction. The main type
of housing in the districts of Shanghai, Kurmysh and Moscow are
single-story residential buildings and cottages. Until 2006, land plots
within the city limits were issued without taking into account the
city's general plan. Because of this, some houses were built on the
sites of future schools and roads. Such errors are corrected through
litigation with the owners.
According to the city akimat, about
30% of the city's housing stock needs major repairs. A state program for
the modernization of housing and communal services is being implemented,
and by 2015 it was planned to reduce the share of such houses to 20% of
the total.
Electricity supply to consumers in the city of Aktobe is carried out
centrally from 110-35 kW networks, which are on the balance sheet of
Aktobeenergosnab LLC, which supplies electricity to the entire Aktobe
region. Aktobeenergosnab was formed in 2004 by dividing the Aktobe
Regional Electric Grid Company (REC) in accordance with paragraph 1 of
Article 25 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Electric Power
Industry".
The city has its own energy capacities concentrated at
Aktobe TPP OJSC and Ferrochrome OJSC. The total installed capacity of
the stations is 207.8 MW. Aktobeenergosnab operates several substations:
Aktobe-Sazdinskaya, Gormolzavod (GMZ) and Iletskaya. The
Aktobe-Sazdinskaya substation has been operating since 1969, its
networks cover 80% of the city. In 2014, 124.6 km of power supply
networks were put into operation. According to the city's general plan,
it is planned to replace the outdated equipment at the Ilek substation
(replacement of 2×20 MVA transformers with 2×25 MVA), build a 110/10 kV
Batys substation with a capacity of (2×10 MVA) to supply electricity to
consumers of the residential area of the same name. It is planned to
expand the 35/10 kV Novy and Kirpichny Zavod substations and replace the
existing transformers at the Kargalinskaya substation.
Currently (2013) Aktobe is supplied with water from the Ilek (right
and left bank), Tamdinsky, Verkhne-Kargalinsky and Kundaktykyrsky water
intakes, from which 90 thousand m³ of water are supplied to the city
daily. Until recently, about 40% of all produced water was lost due to
the deterioration of water supply networks (3 million m³ per year).
Every year, 4-5 km of pipes are replaced in the city, and 80 billion
tenge are required for the complete replacement of water supply
networks.
The enterprise JSC "Akbulak", which is engaged in
providing the city with drinking water and wastewater drainage and
treatment, employs 1,137 people. The total length of water supply
networks is 814.4 km, and the length of sewer networks is 482.79 km. As
part of the implementation of the "Road Map" in 2009, 4 billion tenge
were allocated for the repair and reconstruction of the city's water
supply and sewerage systems. It is planned to replace 43.5 water supply
networks, of which 19 km are the Kundaktykyr water pipeline.
The
total consumption of drinking water in 2006 was 55,895 m³ per day, in
2015 this figure should reach 109,010 m³ per day. The volume of water
disposal in the city in 2006 was 62,227 m³ per day.
The outdated
sewer system (339 out of 482 km of networks are worn out), the main part
of the collectors of which was built in the 1950s - 1960s, was
recognized by environmentalists in 2013 as the main cause of air
pollution in the city. The districts of Akzhar, Akzhar-2, Kyzylzhar,
Zhilyanka, Zhastar, Bauyrlastar, private houses in the districts of
Gormolzavod, Shanghai, the village of Kirpichny, Moscow are not
connected to the central sewerage system. Because of this, 5.6 million
m³ of wastewater annually enters the city sewerage system without
preliminary treatment, which is the cause of air pollution. 2020 is set
as the date when the problems with financing the renewal of sewer
networks will be resolved. As of today (2013), about 20 thousand
subscribers do not have access to sewerage.
Due to the fact that most of the city has no sewage systems, few
irrigation ditches and places for collecting water, during prolonged
rains, especially in the spring, many city residents experience problems
with flooding of streets and houses. The most dangerous in this regard
are the streets Krasnoshchekova, Ozernaya, Nekrasova, Altynsarina,
Zavodskaya and others. On some streets, sewage systems and storm drains
were built, but due to the lack of proper maintenance, they become
clogged with garbage and are inactive. During floods, floods are
possible in the floodplain of the Ilek River. However, more than 1.4
million Kazakhstanis live in the zone of dangerous flood impact. In
order to protect the territory of the city located in the floodplain
part from flooding by flood waters, the general plan of the city
outlines measures to increase the marks of the territory of building
sites, as well as a partial increase in the marks of the existing road
laid along the river bed. Prospective sections of the road, which are
planned to be laid from the river side on new construction sites, are
proposed to be built in embankments in order to protect against
flooding.
The existing districts of Moscow, Kurmysh, Gormolzavod,
the 11th and 12th microdistricts, and the projected territory, which is
located in the floodplain of the Ilek and Kargaly rivers, are subject to
flooding by groundwater. Dewatering in the areas under consideration
will be carried out by constructing vertical drainage.
With a precipitation rate of 45 mm in Aktobe, the amount of snowfall
exceeds the norm by two or more times almost every year. In 1997, the
norm was exceeded by 278%, in 1998 - by 233%, and in 2007 and 2014 - by
254%. Due to the abundance of snow, there is a high probability of
flooding the city with flood waters. The volume of snow removed from
Aktobe during flood control measures is growing every year. By the
spring of 2014, a record amount of snow had been removed — 200 thousand
tons.
11 specialized enterprises are engaged in snow removal on
the city streets. In 2015, 92.6 million tenge were allocated for these
purposes, the number of special equipment used (motor graders, loaders,
KamAZ trucks) reached 250 units (180 units in 2014). First of all,
central streets with heavy traffic are cleared of snow. In total, the
enterprises are in charge of about 200 streets with an area of 3.4
million m². In the winter of 2015, one snow landfill operated on the
territory of the solid municipal waste landfill, two additional
landfills were organized near the village of Akzhar-2 and in the
direction of the Novo-Aldzhansky flour mill.
The city's gasification began in the 60s of the 20th century. By
1967, several enterprises in Aktobe were using natural gas. Today,
almost all apartment buildings and private residential buildings in the
city are supplied with gas. Problems with gas supply are mainly
experienced by residents of nearby villages on the territory of the city
administration. In 2014, 34.8 km of gas supply networks were put into
operation.
Aktobe gas supply is handled by the monopoly JSC
KazTransGas Aimak, a subsidiary of the national operator in the field of
gas and gas supply JSC KazTransGas.
The main operator-supplier of heat and hot water to homes and
businesses in the city is JSC Transenergo, which has been operating for
over 40 years. A total of 76,279 subscribers (including 1,994 legal
entities) use Transenergo services. The organization is responsible for
210 km of main and distribution heating networks (140 km of which need
to be replaced), 21 boiler houses, 6 pumping stations and 79 group
points.
The main source of heat in the city is the Aktobe Thermal
Power Plant (JSC Aktobe Thermal Power Plant) with a capacity of 1,139
Gcal. In addition, there are 90 industrial and municipal boiler houses,
as well as autonomous heating systems and heating stoves. New
cottage-type construction areas are provided with heat from autonomous
heat sources. Individual development areas are provided with gas-fired
stove heating. Areas of new multi-storey construction require the
installation of new heating networks with the replacement of the head
sections of existing heating networks. In the future, it is planned to
completely modernize the existing thermal power plant.
The main
problem of the city's heating systems is the imbalance due to the
re-equipment of in-house heating and hot water supply networks by
residents of houses, as well as the negligent attitude of the chairmen
of the housing cooperatives and condominiums to the preparation of
in-house networks.
For a long time, two organizations were engaged in garbage removal in
the city: Taza Kala LLC and Akzhol LTD. In 2018, Taza Kala LLC was
liquidated, and Akzhol LTD LLC stopped providing services to the
population. Instead, ten other organizations were supposed to start
garbage collection: UK 19 LLC, UK 1 LLC, Sultanov S.K. IP, UK 5 LLC,
Tama LLC, UK 27 LLC, Nur-Kom 2020 LLC, Kokvest Agrofirma LLC, Neo Plus
LLC and UK 30 LLC. However, they were unable to ensure the timely
removal of solid household waste, and spontaneous dumps soon began to
appear in the courtyards of Aktobe residents. The garbage collapse in
Aktobe lasted for several months. According to the Center for Assistance
to Sustainable Development, 3 million tons of garbage have accumulated
at the old landfill and, despite the opening of a new landfill in 2007,
the problem of waste disposal is relevant for the city. The percentage
of recycled garbage is still low and amounts to 7-8%.
Garbage
from those areas where special containers are provided is removed within
3 days at sub-zero temperatures and 1 day at normal temperatures.
Garbage from the private sector is removed according to the established
schedule by garbage trucks by going around the streets.
Every
spring, the city Akimat organizes a two-month improvement campaign from
April 1 to May 31, in which state institutions, universities and private
enterprises take part. The goal of the two-month campaign is to clean
the city and rural districts of the city administration from garbage and
spontaneous dumps accumulated over the winter. During this period,
garbage is accepted free of charge at the landfills. In 2013, during the
two-month period, 300-400 tons of waste were delivered to the landfill,
in 2014 the amount of garbage increased to 400-500 tons per day. In
total, 17,608 tons of garbage were removed in 2014.
Soon after the first settlers appeared in Ak-Tyube, the first
cemeteries appeared: a cemetery at the eastern foot of the Small Hill,
the Railway Cemetery on the site of the prison, and a cemetery behind
Otorvanovka. There was also a Muslim cemetery, but its location is
unknown.
Today, there is only one functioning cemetery in the
city near the village of Kirpichny, the cemeteries in the area of
Gormolzavod, Shanghai and VOKhR are mothballed and not serviced. In
addition to those listed, there is a burial site for German prisoners of
war in the city, supervised by the German embassy. All the cemeteries
are in a deplorable state, spontaneous dumps have appeared on their
territory, there are problems with the numbering of the streets of the
necropolis, there are no regular bus routes. It is planned that the
cemetery in the Kirpichny area will be closed, and a plot for a new
cemetery of 200 hectares will be allocated in the Rodnikovka area. The
exact date of the opening of the new cemetery is unknown.
Greening the city, in connection with the increasing impact of
chemical and metallurgical enterprises on public health, is called the
most important component of Aktobe's development. In Soviet times, trees
were planted around the city every year to create a green belt that
would protect Aktobe during winter snowstorms and summer dust storms.
Residents of private houses were given seedlings for planting in the
adjacent territory.
The city administration annually allocates
significant funds for greening, but often these measures do not lead to
anything, and the planted trees soon die due to poor care. The main pest
of trees in the city is the elm leaf beetle. In 2009, it was planned to
plant about 50 thousand seedlings of different tree species (only 20% of
them at the expense of the budget, the rest - at the expense of
sponsors), 15 billion tenge were allocated for these purposes. Since the
late 2000s, certification of trees has been underway throughout the
city.
In 2011, plans were announced to plant 1 million trees
throughout the Aktobe region, of which 434 thousand were planned to be
planted in the spring and 200 thousand in the fall in Aktobe itself.
According to Murat Uteshkaliev, director of the branch of the Forestry
Research Institute, 90% of the trees in Aktobe are dry-topped and will
soon die, the capacity of local nurseries to provide the city with
seedlings is not enough, and imported trees cannot withstand the Aktobe
climate. During the Soviet period, 1.5 thousand hectares of forest were
planted in the region per year, and now only 350 hectares.
As of
2015, 27 thousand trees, 16 thousand m² of flower beds, 7.8 hectares of
lawn and 487 linear meters of hedges were being maintained.
The main religious groups in the city are Muslims and Christians. The
2009 census was the first since the 1937 census to ask respondents about
their attitude to religion. No detailed religious affiliation was
collected, but it can be assumed that Sunnism (Hanafi madhhab) dominates
among Muslims in the city, as well as in the country as a whole, while
Orthodoxy dominates among Christians.
According to the 2009
census, 278,191 Muslims (73.3% of the total population) and 88,597
Christians (22.6%) lived in the territory subordinate to the city
akimat, 222 people (0.06%) were Jewish believers, 306 people (0.08%)
were Buddhists, and 89 people (0.02%) named other religions. 12,600
people (3.2%) identified themselves as non-believers, 2,664 people
(0.7%) refused to answer their religious affiliation. The share of
Muslims, Christians, as well as non-believers and those who refused to
answer the question about religion in Aktobe is close to the average for
the region, however, the city is home to the overwhelming majority of
Jews (81%) and Buddhists (86%) in the region, as well as 69% of those
residents of the region who indicated other religions.
At the moment, the city has several large mosques (the Nur Gasyr
Mosque, the Central Mosque, the Nurdaulet Mosque), three Orthodox
churches (St. Nicholas of Almaty, St. Archangel Michael, St.
Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir), and the Catholic parish of
the Good Shepherd. In addition to them, there are the Seventh-day
Adventist Church, churches and religious organizations of Evangelical
Christians-Baptists (Truth, Light, Hope, Shinayi Omir, Father's
Blessing, Shanyrak), the Pentecostal Church "Source of Life", the Church
"New Life", the Society for Krishna Consciousness, and the community of
Jehovah's Witnesses. Protestant denominations (Baptists, Jehovah's
Witnesses, etc.) and Krishnaites (Society for Krishna Consciousness)
sometimes have conflicts with the authorities.
The overwhelming
majority of mosques are under the jurisdiction of the Spiritual
Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan, and Orthodox churches are
united under the leadership of the Aktobe Diocese of the Kazakhstan
Metropolitan District of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The first terrorist attack in the city was committed on February 24,
2011, near the KA-168/2 prison, where three prisoners were serving their
sentences, convicted along with Azamat Karimbayev, who died in Arkalyk
prison under mysterious circumstances for preparing terrorist acts in
the region. On May 17, 2011, 25-year-old Aktobe resident Rakhimzhan
Makhatov blew himself up near the KNB Department on the grounds of
religious extremism. This incident was the first terrorist attack of
this kind in Kazakhstan. In October of the same year, four members of an
extremist group were sentenced to varying terms in Aktobe; most of the
members were killed during a counter-terrorist operation in the Temir
district of the Aktobe region. On June 5, 2016, "radical adherents of
non-traditional religious movements" robbed two gun stores in different
parts of the city, then attacked military unit 6655 of the National
Guard. The terrorists' victims were servicemen, police officers, and
several civilians.
The events in Aktobe and other cities of the
country are associated with the spread of religious extremism in the
mass consciousness. The popularity of radical branches of Islam is due
to a combination of internal and external factors.
The Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Akimat of the
Aktobe Region is responsible for the development of physical culture and
sports, training of athletes and sports reserves in Aktobe. The city had
460 sports facilities for 59 sports, in 2011-2014, 67 sports grounds
with artificial turf were built near educational institutions and in the
courtyards of residential buildings in the city. According to official
data, 33.3% of Aktobe residents are involved in sports and physical
culture on a regular basis.
The city has the Central Stadium, the
Aviator Stadium, the AZF Sports and Health Complex, the Tennis Center,
the Chaika Swimming Pool, the Hippodrome, the Konys Sports Palace, the
Dostyk Water Sports Center and various sports halls and fitness clubs.
In the distant future, it is planned to build a new stadium with a
capacity of 28-30 thousand spectators.
Football is one of the most popular sports in the city. The fans of the local club "Aktobe" organized the famous ultras group "13th sector". In 2013, according to the results of a survey by the sports information portal Vesti.kz, Aktobe was recognized as the most football city in Kazakhstan. The same opinion was expressed by Mikhail Gurman, who was then the chairman of the Professional Football League of the country. The Central Stadium named after Koblandy Batyr was built in 1975 and meets UEFA standards. From March to October, the city football club "Aktobe" plays there. It has become the champion of Kazakhstan several times in a row and was the most visited club in the country 9 times. 185.7 thousand spectators attended the club's home and away matches in 2014. The club is financed from the city budget; in 2015, the funding amounted to 3 billion tenge (2.3 billion tenge in 2010). At the end of 2015, it turned out that the club's losses had been increasing every year for the last 5 years, and the complete lack of income did not prevent the club's management from buying expensive foreign legionnaires. In 2019, the Aktobe football club was forced to leave the Kazakhstan Premier League for the first time since 1997 and dropped to the first league.
In addition to football, boxing and various martial arts are popular.
The city has 11 youth sports schools for training young athletes in
sports such as boxing, Greco-Roman wrestling, judo, fencing, chess,
cycling, volleyball, basketball, athletics, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and many
others.
The largest number of titled MMA fighters came from
Aktobe:
Zhanibek Tynyshtyk;
Bagdat Zhubanysh
For winter
sports enthusiasts, there are 10 hockey rinks and 25 skating rinks. A
new ice palace has been built in the Batys-2 microdistrict, where the
Aktobe hockey club plays. Also, an indoor ice box for the Youth Sports
School has opened in the 11th microdistrict.
According to the 2009 national census, 80,115 people (20.5%) out of 391,669 residents of Aktobe had higher education. Incomplete higher, secondary specialized and primary vocational education were held by 15,383 (3.9%), 106,138 (27.1%) and 6,426 (1.6%) people, respectively. The number of those who limited themselves to primary, basic secondary and general secondary education was 27,870 (7.1%), 31,533 (8.1%) and 64,439 (16.1%) people, respectively.
By 1886, the city had only one two-grade Russian-Kyrgyz school with
53 students (23 Russians and 30 Kyrgyz). In 1891, a parish school was
opened. As of 2019, there were 83 day and two evening comprehensive
schools in the city, with 82,208 students (for comparison: 35 schools
and 27 thousand students in 1969). Most students study in two shifts.
The problem of three-shift schools, the number of which increased in
2010-2012, was solved by 95% in 2014, according to official data. One of
the schools that still teaches in three shifts is School No. 18, where
595 students study, while the norm is 160 students. To solve this
problem, three schools were built in the residential areas of Ukrainka,
Kurashasai and Bekkul-baba and three extensions were erected to existing
schools. The provision of schools with modern subject rooms that help
improve the effectiveness of classes is unsatisfactory. There is a
passive attitude of the city's education departments to create
appropriate material and technical conditions for physical access and
education of children with disabilities in mass educational
organizations.
Despite the fact that according to the Law of the
Republic of Kazakhstan "On Education", the state must provide students
with textbooks, in the past there were not enough of them for everyone.
Free textbooks were primarily allocated for children from large,
low-income families and orphans, the number of which is about 3-3.5
thousand. In 2016, it was announced that almost all students in city
schools were provided with textbooks, with the exception of grades 2, 7
and 9. There are also problems with overcrowding in classes, in some of
them 35 children are studying while the norm is 25 students.
The number of preschool organizations in 2014 reached 90, attended by 18,906 children (43 and 11,775, respectively, in 2009). In 2014, 63 thousand children under 7 were registered in the city, and about 24 thousand children were on the waiting list for kindergartens. The problems of preschool education are mainly related to the fact that there are not enough places in kindergartens for everyone. The minimum number of students in groups reaches 40 children, sometimes they enroll more than 60 children. Several buildings of former kindergartens are owned by other state institutions, and there are plans to return them back.
There are six higher education institutions and 27 vocational
educational institutions in the city. In 2009, 20,470 and 18,060 people
studied in them, respectively.
Aktobe Regional State University
named after K. Zhubanov (ARSU) was formed on the basis of Aktobe
Pedagogical Institute, founded in 1958. West Kazakhstan State Medical
University named after Marat Ospanov (WKSMU) was opened in 1997 on the
basis of Aktobe State Medical Institute and trains personnel not only
for the Aktobe region, but also for the West Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda and
Kostanay regions of Kazakhstan. The city also has branches of the Almaty
Academy of Economics and Statistics and the European University.
Aktobe is a major scientific center. According to the Department of
Statistics of 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 costs amounted to 476 million
tenge (489 million tenge in the region), including: 8 million tenge on
fundamental research, 465 million tenge on applied research, and 2
million tenge on scientific and technical services. The city's
enterprises created 20 new technologies and technical facilities.
The level of innovation in production is low: 290 out of 303 city
enterprises did not have any innovations (innovation 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. City enterprises spent 909,147 thousand
tenge on technological innovations, which is significantly lower than
the figures for previous years.
The Health Department of the regional akimat regulates the protection
of citizens' health, medical and pharmaceutical science and education,
circulation of medicines, and quality control of medical services in
Aktobe and the Aktobe region. All regional, city and district medical
and preventive institutions, organizations and healthcare enterprises
are subordinate to the Department.
The first city hospital opened
in 1912. As of 2019, there were 28 hospitals and 143 outpatient clinics
and polyclinics in the city, employing 2,281 doctors and 4,002 medical
personnel. With a growing population, the number of doctors and medical
personnel remained almost at the same level as in 2018.
Aktobe
doctors have the opportunity to treat various types of diseases,
including heart and kidney diseases. In 2014, the regional hospital
performed the first operations to transplant donor kidneys to patients
with renal failure.
Most of the crimes committed in the Aktobe region are committed in
the city of Aktobe. The most crime-ridden areas of the city are the
areas near the railway station and the Central Market. In 2009, 2,774
criminal offenses were committed in the city (1,807 were solved). By
2019, this figure reached 8,337 crimes. More than 150 police officers
are engaged in maintaining public order in the city every day.
The increase in the number of crimes is not associated with the general
deterioration of the crime situation in the city, but with the fact that
in previous years, crime rates were deliberately embellished to improve
statistics. In 2012, 93 crimes were discovered that were concealed by
employees of the Aktobe City Department of Internal Affairs. All the
perpetrators were brought to strict disciplinary responsibility.
The main causes of crime among the city's teenagers are conflicts
between local and visiting students, between senior and first-year
students. Schoolchildren and students mainly commit thefts, robberies
and assaults, sometimes hooliganism and murder, and there are frequent
cases of extortion of money from schoolchildren. Crime prevention among
teenagers is organized at an unsatisfactory level.
There are four correctional institutions in the city: pretrial
detention center KA-168/1 (popularly known as "five"), prison KA-168/2
("six"), KA-168/3 in Promzona and KA-168/4.
In correctional
institutions of the city, there are frequent cases of riots by prisoners
and their relatives. In 2013, three people were sentenced to terms
ranging from 5 to 15 years for organizing a riot in the "five" on July
11, 2012. During this incident, 20 people committed self-harm, and
damages amounted to 540 thousand tenge. In November 2013, rumors spread
about beatings of prisoners and the introduction of troops into the
territory of prison KA-168/2. Many relatives of those serving their
sentences gathered at the gates of the institution. 26 people were
brought to administrative punishment, 15 of them were arrested for 15
days. Exactly the same situation arose on June 1, 2012, when similar
rumors spread. There were also corruption scandals related to the
management of these institutions.
Until recently, there were only two fire stations in the city, on Turgenev Street (No. 1) and Grishina Street (No. 26). The largest fire station, No. 1, had 75 firefighters. On December 15, 2015, a new fire station was opened on Sankibay-batyr Avenue. It has 150 employees. In the future, it is planned to open a fire station in the new Nur-Aktobe district, for which a 1.5-hectare site has been allocated.
The first emergency medical care station in Aktobe appeared in 1927. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the city already had 3 emergency medical care stations and 4 ambulances. In 1960, the number of emergency medical care employees was only 18 people. By 1981, the number of employees had increased to 73 doctors and 94 medical personnel, and the number of ambulances had reached 15 units. In 2012, the city ambulance station employed 77 doctors, 195 paramedics and 144 drivers, a total of about 500 people. As of 2015, the city has 33 ambulance teams: 8 resuscitation, 7 pediatric and 18 paramedic. There are four ambulance substations in different parts of the city. On average, the ambulance service receives about 500 calls daily, and on the busiest days, the number of calls reaches 700-800 per day. In order to reduce the waiting time for ambulance doctors to 15 minutes, additional teams have been introduced to take calls during the busiest hours.
The first local printed publication, the magazine "Aktyubinsk City
Herald", was published from March 1913 to 1915. The circulation of the
first issue was 50 copies. The editor and publisher of the magazine was
Vasily Ivanovich Moshchensky, a descendant of the first settlers and the
first elected city mayor of Aktyubinsk.
The oldest of the
currently existing newspapers in Aktobe is "Aktyubinsky Vestnik", which
has been published since June 19, 1918. The circulation of "Aktyubinsky
Vestnik" in 2009 was 11,500 copies. The Aktobe newspaper (Kazakh:
"Ақтөбе" gazeti) has been published since June 7, 1924, and during this
time has changed several different names: "Kedey" (1924-1930), "Alga"
(1930-1932), "Socialist Zhol" (1932-1962), "Batys Kazakhstan"
(1962-1965), "Communism Zholy" (1965-1990).
According to research
by Taylor Nelson Sofres (2012), the most popular printed publications in
the city are two Russian-language newspapers "Eureka" and "Diapazon"
(published since 1996), with an audience of 112.3 thousand (38%) and
107.8 thousand (36.5%) people, respectively. They are followed by the
newspapers "Diapazon Sreda" (41.2 thousand, 14%), "Iz ruk v ruki" (29
thousand, 9.8%), "Karavan" (22.8 thousand, 7.7%), "Aktyubinsky Vestnik"
(19 thousand, 6.4%), the magazine "Liza" (18 thousand, 6.1%), "Arguments
and Facts" (16.4 thousand, 5.6%), "Aktobe" (14.5 thousand, 4.9%) and
others.
In 1960, the first television center was created in the city. In the
same year, regular broadcasting of television programs began, on October
28, the first program of the Aktyubinsk studio was released. After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, this TV studio became a branch of RTRK
"Kazakhstan" under the name "Kazakhstan-Aktobe". The first and only
independent TV channel in Aktobe is "Rika TV", which has been
broadcasting since December 31, 1991. The city also has a branch of
Channel 31 "Channel 31-Aktobe". Aktobe residents have access to 11
analog TV channels for free viewing: "First Channel Eurasia", 24KZ,
"Khabar", "Kazakhstan", "Kazakhstan-Aktobe", "Rika TV", "Channel 31",
"Seventh Channel", "NTK", "KTK", "Astana". In the course of the study by
Taylor Nelson Sofres (2012), it was found that the channel "Rika TV" has
the largest audience in the city, 49.8% of respondents admitted that
they watched it the day before the survey. More modest figures were
shown by the national channels (32.1% for KTK, 30.6% for Khabar, 30.4%
for Channel One Eurasia) and the local Kazakhstan-Aktobe (29.4%).
Digital television was launched in the city in December 2013.
Residents can watch 26 digital TV channels. Analog television was
switched off in 2015.
The first radio station in Kazakhstan appeared in 1912 in
Fort-Aleksandrovsk, and by 1920 a radio station appeared in Aktobe. In
1995, the radio station Rifma (68.27 MHz) began broadcasting - the first
independent radio station in the city. On June 26, 2002, the radio
station ceased operations due to the revocation of its broadcasting
license by a decision of the Aktobe Regional Court.
According to
the research of Taylor Nelson Sofres (2016), the average daily audience
of radio listeners was 305.91 thousand people. The most popular were
Radio Retro (49.21 thousand), Russian Radio Asia (38.52 thousand) and
Aktobe Radio (32.74 thousand).
According to data for 2012, 93% of all Kazakhstani media were financed by the state, and the total amount of allocated funds was 22.75 billion tenge. A number of media outlets of the Aktobe region received a total of 244.64 million tenge from the regional authorities: 74.47 million tenge to Shamshyrak LLP (Aktobe and Aktyubinsky Vestnik newspapers), 55.49 million tenge to Kazakhstan-Aktobe TV company, 18.03 million tenge to Rika media holding (Aktobe Radio, Rika TV channel, Evrika newspaper), 10 million tenge to Nur-Media LLP (Aikyn and Liter newspapers), 5 million tenge to First LLP (Kerek Info newspaper), 5 million tenge to Zhas Alash newspaper, 5 million tenge to Egemen Kazakstan newspaper and 71.64 million tenge to other media outlets of the Aktobe region. The only newspaper in Aktobe that does not fulfill the state order is the newspaper "Diapazon".
The first post office in Kazakhstan appeared in 1860 in the city of Verny (modern Alma-Ata), and the first post station in Aktobe appeared in 1881 or 1882. The largest postal operator in the city is JSC Kazpost. At present, in addition to the central regional branch (postal code 030000), there are 21 Kazpost offices throughout the city (postal code range: 030001-030021).
Aktobe has six-digit telephone numbers. The area code is 7132. As of
January 1, 2003, there were 63,530 telephone numbers registered in the
city. It was planned that by 2008 this figure would reach 86,500
numbers, and by 2015 — 113,500 numbers.
Telegraph communication
in the Aktobe region appeared in 1928. On March 19, 1932, the Aktobe
Regional Telecommunications Directorate was formed on the basis of the
Aktobe District Communications Office. In the late 1990s — early 2000s,
the transition to digital stations began. Aktobe became the second city
in the country to completely switch to a digital telecommunications
network. In 2008, the city implemented the possibility of access to a
wireless CDMA network, which made it possible to provide telephone
communications to suburban areas of Aktobe. According to the general
plan of the city, it is planned to increase the capacity of existing
automatic telephone exchanges, build electronic automatic telephone
exchanges and telephone sewerage in the direction of new areas of the
city and relocate overhead lines to cable sewerage.
The main
operator of fixed telephone communications is the Aktobe Regional
Directorate of Telecommunications JSC Kazakhtelecom. There are also
several fixed-line operators: Svim LLC, Aktobetranstelecom JSC, Nursat
JSC, Aksikom LLC, and Astrix Telecom Company LLC.
The first
payphones were installed in the city in 1999. As of 2017, there were 66
payphones in Aktobe, which can only be used with special cards. Despite
the decline in the number of users due to the widespread use of mobile
phones, Kazakhtelecom does not intend to get rid of payphones on the
streets of the city in the near future.
In 1996, the Alsi company opened the Alsi-Asia-Page paging network, which united 25 cities of Kazakhstan, including Aktobe. In the early 2000s, pagers, due to the spread of cell phones and the reduction in the cost of mobile communication services and SMS, almost disappeared from use.
Cellular communication services in the city are provided by several
national operators: JSC Kcell (Kcell and Activ); TOO KaR-Tel (Beeline
Kazakhstan brand); TOO Mobile Telecom-Service (Tele2 Kazakhstan and
Altel), as well as the virtual operator izi. All of the listed operators
support third-generation (3G/UMTS) and fourth-generation (4G/LTE) mobile
communication technologies and provide mobile Internet services (see the
Internet section).
From 1994 to 1999, JSC Altel had exclusive
rights to provide mobile communication services in Kazakhstan. By 2000,
cellular communication was available in 10 major cities of the country,
including Aktobe. After the cancellation of the exclusive rights of JSC
Altel, the Government of Kazakhstan organized a tender and other
operators appeared on the mobile communications services market.
On May 15, 2014, JSC Altel (a subsidiary of Kazakhtelecom) launched the
first multi-technology 4G/3G/2G network in Kazakhstan in several cities
of the country, including Aktobe.
The main Internet provider in the city, as well as in Kazakhstan as a
whole, is JSC Kazakhtelecom (Megaline, iD TV, iD Net). Also, mobile and
wired Internet services are provided by the following providers: 2 Day
Telecom (TOO 2 Day Telecom), Astel (JSC Astel), Beeline (TOO Kar-Tel),
DigitalTV (TOO Digital TV), Altel 4G (JSC Altel), Kcell (JSC Kcell),
Nursat (JSC Nursat), RB-K (TOO Radiobaylanys), etc. Kazakhtelecom JSC,
Astel JSC, Nursat JSC and several other companies have their own data
transmission channels, while other providers lease channels from
first-tier companies.
The number of Internet users in the Aktobe
region in 2014 reached 75.6 thousand people (69.2 thousand in 2013).
With a share of 3.6% of the total number of users, the Aktobe region is
in 11th place in the country. According to the results of the 2009
national census, it became known that 97,746 residents of Aktobe (77% of
the regional total) knew how to use the Internet and e-mail.
Due
to the fact that most of the networks were built in the 1980s, residents
of the outskirts of the city have problems with the speed of Internet
access. To solve this problem, fiber-optic networks are being built