Jezkazgan Region
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Zhezkazgan, or Jezkazgan ( ) is a city and the administrative centre of
Ulytau Region Ulytau Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the region is the city of Jezkazgan. The area split off from Karaganda Region in 2022. The region's borders roughly correspond to the western half of the old Jezkazgan R ...
,
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 ...
. Population: Its
urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
includes the neighbouring mining town of Satpayev, for a total city population of 148,700. 55% of Jezkazgan's population are
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 ...
and 30%
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 ...
, with smaller minorities of
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Chechens The Chechens ( ; , , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kistin, Kisti'' and ''Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian languages, Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus. ...
and
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 ...
.


Geography and climate

Jezkazgan is situated by river
Karakengir The Karakengir (; ), also known as Kengir, is a river in the Ulytau District, Ulytau Region, Kazakhstan. It has a length of and a drainage basin of .Google Earth It is one of the most important tributaries of the Sarysu. The city of Zhezkazgan ...
, in the heart of the
Kazakh Uplands The Kazakh Uplands or the Kazakh Hummocks, known in Kazakh as the ( , ; ), is a large peneplain formation extending throughout the central and eastern regions of Kazakhstan.
. A reservoir was built on the river at the time 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 ...
. The city is near the
geographic center In geography, the centroid of the two-dimensional shape of a region of the Earth's surface (projected radially to sea level or onto a geoid surface) is known as its geographic centre or geographical centre or (less commonly) gravitational centre. In ...
of Kazakhstan. It has an extremely continental
cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BSk''); rain is frequent but never heavy and monthly rainfall has never reached . The average temperature ranges from in July to in January, whilst extremes ranges from in June 1988 to in February 1951.


History

The city was created in 1938 in connection with the exploitation of the rich
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
deposits. In 1973, a large mining and metallurgical complex was constructed to the southeast to smelt the copper that until then had been sent elsewhere for processing. Other metal ores mined and processed locally are
manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...
and
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
. Also in 1973, the city became the administrative center of the newly formed Dzhezkazgan Oblast, created out of
Karaganda Oblast Karaganda Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Karaganda. The region borders Akmola and Pavlodar Region to the north, Abai Region to the east, Jetisu, Almaty, and Zhambyl Regions to the south, and Kostanay and Ulytau regions ...
. In 1997, Dzhezkazgan (at this point Jezkazgan) Oblast was liquidated and the city became part of Karaganda Oblast once again. On 16 March 2022, It was announced by 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 ...
that Jezkazgan would become the administrative center of the new
Ulytau Region Ulytau Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the region is the city of Jezkazgan. The area split off from Karaganda Region in 2022. The region's borders roughly correspond to the western half of the old Jezkazgan R ...
. His decree came into force on 8 June 2022, thus making Jezkazgan the administrative center of a
Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
once again. During the Soviet era, Jezkazgan was the site of a
Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...
,
Kengir Kengir (, ''Keñgır'') is a village in central Kazakhstan. During the Soviet era, a prison labor camp of the Steplag division of Gulag in Kazakhstan was set up adjacent to it. The camp, which was situated near the central-Kazakhstan city of Dz ...
, mentioned in
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...
's book ''
The Gulag Archipelago ''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'' () is a three-volume nonfiction series written between 1958 and 1968 by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet dissident. It was first published in 1973 by the Parisian ...
'', and
Alexander Dolgun Alexander Michael Dolgun (29 September 1926 – 28 August 1986) was an American inmate in the Soviet Gulag who wrote about his experiences in 1975 after being allowed to leave the Soviet Union. Pre-Gulag years Alexander Dolgun was born on ...
's "''An American In The Gulag''", and the period of forced resettlement of Koreans from the
Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...
.


Industry

Today the city is the headquarters of the copper conglomerate
Kazakhmys Kazakhmys Group is a vertically integrated holding company whose key assets are concentrated in the mining industry and non-ferrous metallurgy. It was established and registered in the form of a joint-stock company in August 1997. On 14 January ...
, the city's main employer. The company has subsidiaries in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
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 ...
and the
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 ...
and is listed on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
. There is a power station, Kazakhmys Power Plant, with generation capacity of 207 MW and a 220-meter-tall main chimney.


Transport

Jezkazgan has a
rail line Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film *Rails (film), ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini *Rail ( ...
to the regional capital city
Karaganda Karaganda (, ; ), also known as Karagandy (, ; ; ) (also sometimes romanized as Qaraghandy), is a major city in central Kazakhstan and the capital of the Karaganda Region. It is the fifth most populous city in the country, with a population o ...
. Jezkazgan is connected by road to
Karaganda Karaganda (, ; ), also known as Karagandy (, ; ; ) (also sometimes romanized as Qaraghandy), is a major city in central Kazakhstan and the capital of the Karaganda Region. It is the fifth most populous city in the country, with a population o ...
via
European route E018 E018 is a European class B road in Kazakhstan connecting the cities Zhezkazgan – Karagandy - Pavlodar - Uspenka. In the International E-road network, a class B road is a branch, link or connecting road of or between two or more class A main ...
and
Kyzylorda Kyzylorda ( , formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-central Kazakhstan, capital of Kyzylorda Region and former capital of the ...
and
Arkalyk Arkalyk or Arqalyq (, ', ; ) is a city in Kostanay Region, northern Kazakhstan. Earlier, it was the centre of Torgay Region, which was abolished in 1997. Established in 1956, it acquired the status of the city in 1965. The distance from the town ...
via
European route E123 European route E123 is a Class A north-south reference European route that connects the Ural region with Central Asia, spanning . Route The E123 routes through four Asian countries: *: Chelyabinsk - Troitsk - border with Kazakhstan *: ...
. The city is accessible by air via the
Zhezkazgan Airport Zhezkazgan Airport ( / ; IATA: DZN, ICAO: UAKD) is an international airport, serving the city of Zhezkazgan in Ulytau Region of Kazakhstan. At the moment, it has one asphalt and concrete runway, and other four unpaved runways. The pavement class ...
.


Soyuz emergency landings

The Soyuz 33 spacecraft returning
cosmonauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spacecraft. Although generally reserve ...
from outer space landed in the remote flat countryside surrounding Jezkazgan in 1979. The
Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...
lies to the southwest and, by tradition, every cosmonaut plants a tree on Jezkazgan's Seyfullin-Boulevard to mark his or her safe return from space. Again on 11 October 2018 the
Soyuz MS-10 Soyuz MS-10 was a crewed Soyuz MS spaceflight that aborted shortly after launch on 11 October 2018 due to a failure of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle boosters. MS-10 was the 139th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. It was intended to transport two mem ...
/56S landed near Jezkazgan when a booster failed during launch. Luna 16's samples from the Moon returned close to here on 24 September 1970.


Economical and ecological challenges

Zhezkazgan is a monocity. The city is economically unstable since the city functions only because of one enterprise (resource), which constrains its development

Zhezkazgan has a great potential to become the logistics center of Kazakhstan, as it connects North and South, West, and East. Raw materials and people can be transported more efficiently through the Zhezkazgan via transit. But infrastructure and roads do not allow it. The profit of Zhezkazgan is mainly spent on the development of such large cities as
Nur-Sultan 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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Karaganda Karaganda (, ; ), also known as Karagandy (, ; ; ) (also sometimes romanized as Qaraghandy), is a major city in central Kazakhstan and the capital of the Karaganda Region. It is the fifth most populous city in the country, with a population o ...
, etc. And a small percentage is used by Zhezkazgan itself. Monotowns are very dependent on their enterprise and price fluctuations in the world market. Changes in these aspects can lead to severe economic problems in the city. Civil servants have understood this and are trying to create and develop different sources of income. For example, “Zhezkazgan-Beyneu” was built to link Europe and the Persian Gulf and export products

The railway line connects West and East, North and South, creating an opportunity for tourists to visit Zhezkazgan. Investments must also be made in green technologies and methods to meet international standards. In Zhezkazgan, falling water levels, poor drinking water quality, and
air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
damage the health of urban residents and the environment. According to KAZHYDROMET RMK, air pollution in Zhezkazgan is very high

And the Kengir reservoir has class 5 pollution, which is the highest indicator

Sulfurous anhydride Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...
,
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
,
nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide * Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), o ...
in a gaseous and liquid state can be found in huge quantities in the atmosphere. But the amount of these harmful gases is becoming less and less every year. For example, the emission of these gases decreased by 33.7% in the period 2012-2016

The factories in Zhezkazgan are located in the South, West, and East of the city. In the area of these plants, you can find a high concentration of inorganic dust (which contains sulfuric copper,
lead sulfide Lead sulfide refers to two compounds containing lead and sulfur: *Lead(II) sulfide Lead(II) sulfide (also spelled '' sulphide'') is an inorganic compound with the formula Pb S. Galena is the principal ore and the most important compound of lead ...
),
nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide * Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), o ...
,
sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...
,
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
,
coal dust Coal dust is a fine-powdered form of coal which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizer, pulverization of coal rock. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created by mining, transporting, or mechanically handling it. ...
, parts of
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
,
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
,
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
and
aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
,
wood dust Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as sawing, sanding, milling and routing. It is composed of very small chips of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, portable po ...
,
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 ...
, carbon-sulfur, etc. Mostly people from the eastern and southern parts of the city suffer from this the most. The factories are located very close to the town, which violates international sanitary and environmental standards. The farthest factory is located 4900 meters, and the closest one is 500 meters from the city

This pollutes the water, air, soil of the earth and causes disease among residents.


People associated with Jezkazgan

*
Pyotr Klimuk Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk (; ; born 10 July 1942) is a former Soviet Union, Soviet astronaut, cosmonaut and the first Belarusians, Belarusian to perform space travel. Klimuk made three crewed space mission, flights into space. From 1991 to 2003, he he ...
, cosmonaut (an
honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...
, not a local) *
Kaisar Nurmagambetov Kaisar Nurmaganbetov (born August 5, 1977 in Zhezqazghan) is a Kazakhstani sprint canoer who has competed since 1995. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, he was eliminated in the semifinals of both the C-2 500 m and the C-2 1000 m events. F ...
, flatwater canoer *
Vitaliy Savin Vitaliy Anatolyevich Savin (; born 23 January 1966) is a former Soviet athlete from Kazakhstan and winner of the gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics. At the Seoul Olympics, Vitaliy Savin reached the quarterfinal of 100 m an ...
, former Soviet athlete *
Oleg Yankovsky Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (; 23 February 1944 – 20 May 2009) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian actor who excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectuals. In 1991, he became, together with , the last person to be nam ...
, Russian actor * Sergei Zhukov, Russian cosmonaut


References


External links


City website






{{coord, 47, 47, N, 67, 42, E, display=title Cities and towns in Kazakhstan Populated places established in 1938 Populated places in Ulytau Region Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union 1938 establishments in the Soviet Union Ulytau Region