Atyrau (, ; , ; ), known until 1991 as Guryev (), is a city in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and the capital of

Atyrau Region Atyrau Region (; ) formerly known as Guryev Region () until 1991, is one of the regions of Kazakhstan, in the western part of the country around the northeast of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Atyrau, with a population of 355,117; t ...

. Atyrau is a transcontinental city, at the mouth of the

Ural River The Ural, also known as the Yaik , is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea. At , it is the third-longes ...

on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

, between

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, west of

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

and east of the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n city of

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

. Atyrau is famous for its oil and gas industries. It has a population of 355,117 as of 2020. It is predominantly made up of

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...

, the minorities being

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

Koreans Koreans are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. The majority of Koreans live in the two Korean sovereign states of North and South Korea, which are collectively referred to as Korea. As of 2021, an estimated 7.3 m ...

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

and

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

History

The wooden fort at the mouth of the Yaik River was founded in 1645 as ''Nizhny Yaitzky gorodok'' (literally, ''Lower Yaik Fort'') by the Russian trader Gury Nazarov, a native of

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

, who specialized in trade with

Khiva Khiva ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva, Хива, ; other names) is a district-level city of approximately 93,000 people in Khorazm Region, Uzbekistan. According to archaeological data, the city was established around 2,500 years ago. In 1997, Khiva celebr ...

and

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

. The fort was plundered by the Yaik Cossacks, leading the Guriev family to rebuild it in stone (1647–62). Tsar Alexis sent a garrison of

Streltsy The streltsy (, ; , ) were the units of Russian firearm infantry from the 16th century to the early 18th century and also a social stratum, from which personnel for streltsy troops were traditionally recruited. They are also collectively kno ...

to protect the fort from Cossack incursions. Despite these efforts, the Cossack rebel Stepan Razin held the town in 1667 and 1668. The fort gradually lost its strategic significance and was demolished in 1810. Between 1708 and 1992 the city was known as ''Guriev''. The Kazakh name ''Atyrau'' means '

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

'. Two parts of the world have the city. The side of Samarskaya (right side of the river) lies in Europe and the left bank of Bukharskaya is in Asia. It was established in 1615, by the employer Mikhail Guriev, who applied the decree to tzar Mikhail Fedorovich for a monopoly in the mouth of Ural to fish sturgeons.

Origin of the name

Murzaev E. Dictionary of popular geographical terms (1984) states: :"The branched coast of a large lake or sea, on which appeared the bay and islands, the estuaries of rivers and capes. The north-eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, including its alyp, the locals still call Atyrau." A. Nurmaganbetov and M. Khobdabayev states: :"The word atyrau, which earlier means "island", also grasps the concept of the word saga -" the mouth of the river, "and this is natural, whatever the river, at the point where it enters the ocean or the sea, its mouth branches out, and between each branch appears dry We think that this is the main reason for joint use of Atyrau together with the "mouth of the river". Ecological Kazakh–Russian Dictionary (2001) states: :Atyrau is a tract, a cane shoal in the mouth of the Urals.

Geography

Atyrau (together with Aktau) is Kazakhstan's main harbour city on the

, Atyrau at the

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

of the

. Atyrau city is approximately below sea level. The city is considered to be located both in

and

, as it is divided by the

. The city is a hub for the oil-rich Caspian Depression; because of this, many oil wells have been drilled in the Tengiz Field and Kashagan Field areas. An

oil pipeline A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

runs from Atyrau to

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

, where it joins the Russian pipeline system. A separate oil pipeline runs from the Tengiz field to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk.

Demographics

At the beginning of 2020, the population of the city is 290,700 people, 355,117 people in the territory of the city akimat. National composition (at the beginning of 2020): *

– 313 534 people (88.29%) *

– 29 466 people (8.30%) *

– 2 987 people (0.84%) *

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

– 1 934 people (0.54%) *

– 1 320 people (0.37%) *

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

– 709 people (0.20%) *

Karakalpaks The Karakalpaks or Qaraqalpaqs (; ), are a Kipchak languages, Kipchak-Nogai Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Karakalpakstan in Northwestern Uzbekistan. During the 18th century, they settled in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya a ...

– 700 people (0.20%) *

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

– 510 people (0.14%) *

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

– 406 people (0.11%) * Karachais – 357 people (0.10%) * Dargins – 229 people (0.06%) *

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

– 210 people (0.06%) *

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

– 197 people (0.06%) *Others – 2 558 people (0.72%) In total – 355,117 people.

Climate

Atyrau's climate is

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BSk''), just shy of being classified as

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

(Köppen climate classification ''BWk''), with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low throughout the year. Snow is common, though light in winter. The lowest temperature on record is , recorded in 1909, and the highest temperature is , recorded in August 1940. It is much more continental than areas further west on the European continent, with summers characterized by temperatures averaging and lack of precipitation, resembling continental hot-summer

mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

climates, and

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

winters with little snow but with chilling temperatures. These vast temperature swings are more comparable to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n plains. The unofficial record high temperature is 50 °C (122 °F) on 4 July 1911, which would be the highest temperature recorded in Kazakhstan.

Industry

Oil industry

The third biggest refinery in Kazakhstan is located in Atyrau. Atyrau Refinery is operated by KazMunayGas and has a capacity of 16,600 m³/day (2012). A deep oil refining complex is under construction which is the final stage of complete reconstruction of Atyrau Oil Refinery. This project is designed to process 2.4 million tons/year of raw materials (oil and vacuum gas oil). The project will increase the depth of the oil processing at the refinery by 2016 to 85%. The volume of oil refining will reach 5.5 million tons per year. Atyrau is located near Tengiz field, which is operated in part by Chevron. Most families of Chevron employees live in Dostyk village, a compound that includes housing, recreational facilities, and an

international school International schools are private schools that promote education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterised by a multinational student body an ...

. Atyrau also has expatriate populations working for

Agip Agip S.p.A., acronym for Azienda generale italiana petroli, was an Italian automotive gasoline, Diesel fuel, diesel, Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926 and Subsidiary company, subsidiary ...

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

, and ConocoPhillips.

Environmental problems

As a result of the oil industry, the air in the city is polluted with toxic

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...

gas. The air in the city was found to regularly exceed the maximum permissible concentration and constantly had a 'rotten eggs' smell.

Education

There are three major institutions of higher education in Atyrau (all state-owned): Atyrau Institute of Engineering and Humanities, Atyrau University of Oil and Gas named after Safi Utebayev, and Atyrau University named after Khalel Dosmukhamedov.

Sports

The city is home to the basketball team BC Barsy Atyrau. The team competes in the international

FIBA Asia Champions Cup The Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia), formerly the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, is an annual continental club men's basketball competition organised by FIBA Asia. It is the highest level club competition for basketball in Asia. Introduce ...

and the

Kazakhstan Basketball Championship The Kazakhstan Basketball Championship () is the highest professional basketball league in Kazakhstan, organised by the National Basketball Federation Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is a member of FIBA Asia, as the country lies partly in Asia, and Kazak ...

. It plays its home games at the ''Sports and Recreation complex Atyrau''. There is a multi-use stadium called Munaishy Stadium, which is mostly used for football matches and it is home to the football club FC Atyrau. The stadium's capacity is 8,900 spectators.

Transportation

Air

Atyrau Airport serves the city of Atyrau. The airport is located 8 km northwest of Atyrau. The airport hosts 6 airlines, mostly operating domestic flights, and is the focus city of the flag carrier airline Air Astana. In 2019, it was the 5th busiest airport in Kazakhstan, as 937,032 people had passed the airport in that year. There are some international destinations, such as flights to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, operated by

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, both operated by Air Astana.

Railway

There is a railway station, located northeast of Atyrau. There are mainly domestic routes, such as routes to large cities

, Aktobe and

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

, but there's also international routes, such as a route to

n cities

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

i cities Kulob, Khujand,

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

and

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

's capital

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

International relations

Twin towns

Atyrau is twinned with: * Aktau,

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or ora ...

* Aktobe,

* Shirvan,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

* Borjomi,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

* Syktyvkar,

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population is curre ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Ashgabat Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

Notable people

Arts, literature, and entertainment

Timur Bekmambetov Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov (, ; ; born 25 June 1961) is a Kazakh-born Russian film director, producer, screenwriter, and tech entrepreneur. He is best known for the fantasy epic '' Night Watch'' (2004) and the action thriller '' Wanted' ...

(1961), a Kazakh-

n film director, producer,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and tech entrepreneur

Bridges of Atyrau

On August 28, 1965, the first real reinforced concrete bridge in the city, passing through the Ural River, was built and put into operation. The bridge is long and high. The bridge connects Satpayev Avenue and Abay Street. On the right European coast on Satpayev Avenue, the akimat (mayor's office) of the city and akimat (governor) of the Atyrau region adjoin the bridge. In 2001, a unique pedestrian suspension bridge was built. The bridge is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest pedestrian bridge in the world. From the middle of the bridge over the Urals there are views of Azattyk Avenue and its surroundings. In 2009, the Sultan Beibars was opened – a four-lane bridge with a throughput capacity of 5–7 thousand cars a day, long with access roads, long and wide. The width of the roadway is , plus two walking paths of each.

References

External links

City administration websiteInformation site on KazakhstanPhotos Atyrau
{{Coord, 47, 07, N, 51, 53, E, region:KZ_type:city, display=title Populated places in Atyrau Region Ural Oblast (Russian Empire) Populated places established in 1640 Populated places on the Caspian Sea 1640 establishments in Russia Cities and towns in Kazakhstan Transcontinental cities Port cities and towns of the Caspian Sea