Aktobe

Aktobe (Aqtöbe; Актобе) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2023, it has a population of 560,820. Aktobe is located in the west of Kazakhstan. The area of the city is about 428,469 km2. There are two water reservoirs, Aktobe and Sazdy. It ranks fourth among the cities of Kazakhstan in terms of population, and is the largest city in western Kazakhstan. The city's populace is ethnically diverse, with 79% Kazakhs and 14.8% Russians. The predominant religions are Islam and Christianity. The agglomeration of Aktobe is expected to grow up to 1.3 million people, including nearby settlements. The name "Aktobe" comes from Kazakh "ақ" (white) and "төбе" (hill); the name is a reference to the heights on which the original 19th century settlement was located. Until 1999 it was officially known as Aktyubinsk (Актюбинск). The territory of modern-day Aktobe Region has seen the rise and fall of many Central Asian cultures and empires. The region figured prominently in the history of the Kazakh "Little Horde". The Kazakh warlord Eset Batyr based his campaigns against the Dzungars from this area. His mausoleum is located to the south of Aktobe city. Abulkhair Khan (1693–1748) was also based in this region. In March 1869, a Russian military fort with a garrison of 300 was built at the confluence of the Kargala and Ilek Rivers, along the Orenburg - Kazalinsk caravan route. From that period onward, Slavic settlers began to migrate to the region in order to farm, and very soon, neighbourhoods were built around the fort. In 1874 the fort was expanded in size, and streets were laid out to and from the fort's gate. In 1891 the settlement was labelled a district city, and officially named Aktyubinsk. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the settlement rapidly expanded in size. While the 1889 population was listed as 2,600, by 1909 the population had increased more than four times to 10,716 official residents.