Semey

Semey (Семей, Semei, سەمەي; Семей ), until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk (Семипала́тинск) and between 1917–1920 as Alash-kala (Алаш-қала, Alaş-qala), is a city in eastern Kazakhstan, in the Kazakh part of Siberia. When Abai Region was created in 2022, Semey became its administrative centre. It lies along the Irtysh River near the border with Russia, north of Almaty and southeast of the Russian city of Omsk. Its population is The first Russian settlement in the area dates from 1718, when Russia built a fort beside the river Irtysh, near the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery, where seven buildings could be seen. The fort (and later the city) was named Semipalatinsk (Russian for "Seven-Chambered City") after the monastery. The fort suffered frequent flooding caused by snowmelt swelling the Irtysh. In 1778 the fort was relocated upstream to less flood-prone ground. A small city developed around the fort, and largely served the river trade between the nomadic peoples of Central Asia and the growing Russian Empire. The construction of the Turkestan-Siberia Railway in the early 20th century added to the city's importance, making it a major point of transit between Central Asia and Siberia. On 19 May 1854, Semipalatinsk was designated as the capital of the Semipalatinsk Oblast within the Russian Empire. Between 1917 and 1920, the city operated as the capital of the largely unrecognized Alash Autonomy, a state (1917–1920) established after the outbreak of the October revolution in Russia. The city was called Alash-qala during the Alash Autonomy years. Red Army forces loyal to Petrograd took control of the area in 1920. It was the center of the ru until 17 January 1928, then of the Eastern Kazakhstan Oblast between 17 January 1928 and 14 October 1939 and finally of the Semipalatinsk Oblast between 1939 and 1997. In 1949 the Soviet atomic bomb programme selected a site on the steppe west of the city as the location for its weapons testing.