Stepnogorsk ( kk, Степногорск, translit=Stepnogorsk; russian: Степногорск) is a town in

Akmola Region Akmola Region ( kz, Ақмола облысы, translit=Aqmola oblysy; russian: Акмолинская область, Akmolinskaya oblast) is a centrally located region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Kokshetau. The national capital, Astana, is en ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

History

Stepnogorsk was established in 1959, and has been a town since 1964. It is located about 200 km North-East of

Nur-Sultan Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

. It began as a

closed town A closed city or closed town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied so that specific authorization is required to visit or remain overnight. Such places may be sensitive military establishments or secret research ins ...

with code names Tselinograd-25 (russian: Целиноград-25), Makinsk-2 (russian: Макинск-2). The town is known as a nuclear and biochemical site,Report includes interview with a microbiologist who "ran a huge bioweapons production plant in Stepnogorsk"
/ref> which was known as the

Stepnogorsk Scientific and Technical Institute for Microbiology The Stepnogorsk Scientific and Technical Institute for Microbiology, also known as the Scientific Experimental and Production Base, was one of the premier biological warfare facilities operated by the Soviet Union. It was the only Biopreparat faci ...

Population

References

External links

STEPNOGORSK Online - Unofficial web site since 1999mirror
(in Russian)
Advertising and Information Portal town Stepnogorsk Kazakhstan
(in Russian) Cities and towns in Kazakhstan Populated places in Akmola Region Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1959 {{Kazakhstan-geo-stub Weapons test sites 1959 establishments in the Soviet Union