Atyrau
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Atyrau (ah-tih-rauh) is a city in Kazakhstan, and the capital of Atyrau Province. It is located 2700 kilometers west of Almaty and 350 kilometers east of the Russian city of Astrakhan. Other transliterations: Aterau, Atirau, Atyraw, Atırav, Atıraw.
Major - Bergey Ryskaly (from 1st February 2006)
Demography
It has 142,500 inhabitants (1999 census), almost 80% ethnic Kazakh. (The rest being mostly Russians and other ethnic groups: Korean, Bulgar, etc)
History
The city was founded as Nizhny Yaitzky gorodok (nizh-nih ya-itz-kih goh-roh-dok) in 1645. After Russian trader Mikhaylo Guryev named Guriev, whose name the city bore from 1708 until 1992. It was a Russian military outpost due to its strategic location.
Geography
Atyrau is Kazakhstan's main harbour city on the Caspian Sea at the delta of the Ural River. Atyrau city is approximately 20 meters below sea level. The city is located both in Asia and Europe, as it is divided by the Ural River (by local tradition; by international sources the border between Asia and Europe is by Emba river).
See also
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