Aqtau
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This article is about the city of Aqtau, formerly called Shevchenko. For the nearby town of Fort Shevchenko, see Fort Shevchenko.
Aqtau or Aktau (Kazakh: Ақтау - Aqtaw; Russian: - Aktau) is a city in Kazakhstan and a seaport on the Caspian Sea. The absolute location of Aqtau is latitude . The population is 143,400 (1999 census). It is the capital of Mangghystau Province. Aqtau means "white mountain" in Kazakh, so named after the cliffs overlooking the sea.
Aqtau was created by Soviet engineers after large amounts of crude oil was discovered. Because Aqtau was first a military city, its streets have no names and all addresses in Aqtau consist of three numbers: the block number, the building number and the apartment/suite/room number.
Ironically, as well as being a site for uranium and nuclear weapons development, the city was also used as a beach holiday destination for the Communist Party elite.
In 1964, Aqtau's name was changed to Shevchenko (Шевченко) to honour the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, who was once sent away to this remote location because of his liberal political activities. The city was renamed Aqtau in 1992 after Kazakhstan gained its independence from the Soviet Union.
Aqtau was once the site of a nuclear power station. The BN-350 FBR went online in 1973, and closed in 1999. In addition to providing power for the city, BN-350 was also used for producing plutonium and for desalination to supply fresh water to the city.
The area code of the city is 3292.
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