Qonayev ( ), also known as Konaev () and by other names, is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in southeastern

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 ...

. It is the seat of government for the

Almaty Region Almaty Region ( ), formerly known as the Alma-Ata Region until 1993, is a region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. It surrounds, but does not include, the eponymous city of Almaty. Its capital is Qonaev. Geography ...

. The population was and

Names

is the Latin form of the Kazakh name ; is the

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

name . Both derive from

Dinmukhamed Kunaev Dinmukhamed Akhmetuly "Dimash" Kunaev (also spelled Kunayev; , ; – 22 August 1993) was a Kazakh Soviet communist politicianVronskaya, Jeanne (24 August 1993"Obituary: Dinmukhamed Kunayev" ''The Independent'' London, Gazette Section, p. 18. w ...

, a former first secretary of the Communist Party of the

Kazakh SSR The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Located in northern Centr ...

during Soviet rule. The city was renamed in his honor on 17 March 2022. The first Russian settlement in the area was Fort Ili or Iliysk (), named for the area's major river. During the construction of the (), (), or () dam during the 1960s, the town was moved and renamed Novoiliysk (). Following the dam's completion, Novoiliysk was renamed Kapshagay in its honor on 9 July 1970.

Geography

Fort Ili was established by the Russians at the

head of navigation The head of navigation is the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Determining the head of navigation can be subjective on many streams, as the point may vary greatly with the size or the draft of the ship b ...

on the

Ili River The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan. It ...

for their river boats travelling upstream from

Lake Balkhash Lake Balkhash, also spelt Lake Balqash (, , ), is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the eastern part of Central Asia and sits in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, ...

. When the town of Iliysk that grew up around the fort was set to be flooded, the settlement was relocated to the planned western shore of the Kapshagay Reservoir. The present town is connected by railway with

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 ...

to its south.

Climate

History

Fort Ili was established during the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

's conquest of Central Asia. It strengthened their control of the lower

Ili Ili, ILI, Illi may refer to: Abbreviations * Indian Law Institute * Influenza-like illness * Intelligent Land Investments * Intensive lifestyle intervention, a type of lifestyle medicine * International Law Institute, a non-profit organization ...

, whose upstream valleys in present-day

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

included the major settlement of Kulja (now

Yining YiningThe official spelling according to ( zh, s=伊宁), also known as Ghulja () or Kulja (Kazakh language, Kazakh: ), is a county-level city in northwestern Xinjiang, China. It is the administrative seat and largest city of Ili Kazakh Auton ...

). The Ili Region was claimed by the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

but lost during the 1860s and 1870s Dungan Revolts, after which the entire area was occupied by the Russians until the 1881 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, which accepted Russian control of the area around

. File:64 Map of the Semirechye Oblast.jpg , 1871 Russian map of

Semirichenskoy Oblast The Semirechyenskaya Oblast () was an oblast (province) of the Russian Empire. It corresponded approximately to most of present-day southeastern Kazakhstan and northeastern Kyrgyzstan. It was created out of the territories of the northern part of ...

including the Ili and "Ft. Iliysskoe" File:Zentralasien, Stielers Hand-Atlas, Blatt Nr. 59.jpg , 1874 German map of "

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

" including the Ili and "Ilijsk" File:Semirechye.jpg , Russian map of

Semirechenskaya The Semirechyenskaya Oblast () was an oblast (province) of the Russian Empire. It corresponded approximately to most of present-day southeastern Kazakhstan and northeastern Kyrgyzstan. It was created out of the territories of the northern part of ...

including the Ili and "Iliyskoe" File:Map of Semirechensk Oblast, 1913.gif , 1913 Russian map of Semirechenskaya including the Ili and "Iliyskiy" File:Alma-Ata NK-43 (1948) - panoramio.jpg , 1948 US Army map of the region including the river and city "Ili" Following the establishment of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the area became part of the

and was selected for a major hydroelectric project as part of Soviet industrialization and

energy policy Energy policies are the government's strategies and decisions regarding the Energy production, production, Energy distribution, distribution, and World energy supply and consumption, consumption of energy within a specific jurisdiction. Energy ...

. The

Kapchagay Dam The Kapshagay Hydroelectric Power Plant (, ''Qapshaǵaı sý elektr stantsııasy''; , earlier Капчагайская ГЭС) is a hydroelectricity power plant on the Ili River in Almaty Province of Kazakhstan. Constructed between 1965 and 197 ...

was erected in the late 1960s, Iliysk's population being forced to relocate ahead of the creation of the

Kapchagay Reservoir Kapchagay (, ) or Qapshaghay Reservoir (, ), also known as the Qapshaghay Bogeni Reservoir and sometimes referred to as Lake Kapchagay, is a major reservoir in Almaty Region in southeastern Kazakhstan, approximately north of Almaty. The long lak ...

. The city was then renamed after the hydro project. Many of Kapchagay's

inhabitants fled the city during the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in the early 1990s, but its population saw a resurgence in the 2000s and has since returned to predissolution numbers. The city was renamed Qonayev and made the capital of

on 17 March 2022 as part of Kazakh president

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakhstani politician and diplomat who has served as the second president of Kazakhstan since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 ...

's reforms. The former Almaty capital

Taldykorgan Taldykorgan (, , ; ), formerly spelled Taldy-Kurgan until 1993, is the capital (called an administrative center) of Jetisu Region, Kazakhstan. According to the 2010 Kazakh Census, the population is 143,407. The town was founded in the 19th centu ...

was made the capital of the newly established Zhetysu Region. Lake Kapchagay is now a popular weekend destination for tourists from

Administrative divisions

# the city of Qonayev; # Zarechny rural district; # Shengeldinsky rural district.

References