Akmola Region


Akmola Region is a centrally located region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Kokshetau. The national capital, Nur-Sultan, is enclosed by the region, but is politically separate from the Akmola Region. The region's population is 715,000; Kokshetau's is 157,000. The area is 146,200 square kilometres. It and the Karaganda Region are Kazakhstan's only two regions which do not border other countries. The Akmola Region borders the North Kazakhstan Region to the north, the Pavlodar Region to the east, the Karagandy Region to the south, and the Kostanay Region to the west. Some gold and coal mining occur in the area.

Geography

Relief

The Akmola region occupies the region between the Ulytau Mountains in the south-west and the Kokshetau Heights in the north. The land slopes from east to west and the central part of the region is crossed by the valley of the Ishim river, which runs steeply to the north close to the western border of the region. The Akmola region can be divided into 3 parts: The North-Western plain, the South-Western plain with separate hills and the Eastern elevated region. The North-Western plain, which is adjacent to the Ishim valley where it turns to the North, is a flat plateau divided by dry ravines and gullies. To the Ishim valley, the plateau ends in a ledge. In the South-Western plain of the Akmola region, is an elevated plain extends dotted with numerous flat-topped hills and in the depressions between the hills, lay various shallow salt and fresh lakes. The east of the region, once mountainous, has been levelled by the processes of erosion which preserved a complex of hills, ridges and hummocks with soft outlines in the slopes. The relative heights of these hills are from 5-60m and less often, up to 100m. The shape and size of these hills vary depending on the composition of the composing rocks. The highest hills with rounded tops are usually composed of granite, the hills with more gentle slopes are soft-textured peaks-porphyry and peaked hills are usually composed of quartzite. Closed basins between the hills, ranging in size from several tens of meters to several tens of kilometers in diameter, are often occupied by lakes. The extreme north-eastern part of the Akmola region lies within the West Siberian lowland.

Climate

The climate of the Akmola region is sharply continental and arid, with hot summers and cold winters and daily and annual temperature amplitudes which are very large. The region receives many days of sunlight and the amount of solar heat in the summer is almost as great as in the tropics. Cloud cover is insignificant, with a maximum amount of coverage in June and a minimum in February and annual precipitation decreases from north to south. Snow cover is maintained for an average of 150 days. Winds in the Akmola region are quite strong.

Hydrography

The Akmola region is low in water. Rivers are shallow, non-navigable and fed by meltwater and often underground sources. In summer, rivers will often dry up and their water becomes salty. The main rivers of Akmola region are the Ishim - a tributary of the Irtysh- and its tributaries: the Terisaqqan, the Zhabay and the Qalqutan. Many rivers end in drainless lakes. Dozens of lakes occupy the basins of the small-grasslands and the elevated plains of the Akmola region. The largest of them is the saline Lake Tengiz, roughly 40km wide near the border with the Karaganda region. Due to low-lying shores, the shape of the lake can change in strong winds.
The soil and vegetation cover of the Akmola region is that of steppes and semi-deserts. Depending on the terrain and underlying rocks, soil complexes and plant associations are extremely variegated and diverse. To the north of the Ishim there are grass steppes, while in the south are chernozems with a large number of salt flats on the depressions and skeletal soils on the hills. Vegetation is drought-resistant and accommodates grasshoppers, tipchak, and pine forests which are often found on hills. The western third of the Akmola region extends along the river valley of the Ishim, is occupied by grass steppes on dark chestnut soils. The blackness of the soil here is only 30-40%. To the East of the city of Nur-Sultan, the soil covers a significant role and in vegetation, sagebrush and tipchaks. In the southern part of the Akmola region, in the area of Lake Tengiz, an unclosed cover of sagebrush and tipchaks is spread on salt marshes.

History

In the nineteenth century, the tribes of the Middle Zhuz: Argyns, Naiman, Kerei lived on the territory of Akmola region.
On October 14, 1939, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Akmola region was formed from parts of the Karaganda and the North Kazakhstan regions. Its composition included from the Karaganda region, Akmola and the 4 districts of Akmola, Wisniewski, Novocherkassk and Arthritsi and from the North-Kazakhstan region, the town of Stepnyak and the 11 districts of Aryk-balyk, Atbasar, Tselinograd, Pavlodar, Kalinin, Makinsk, Molotov, Ruzaevskiy, Stalin, Shchuchinsk and Enbekshilderskiy. On October 16, 1939, the 16th district-Shortandinsky — was formed.
On March 15, 1944, the Aryk-balyk, Zerendinsky, Ruzaevsky, Shchuchinsky and Embekshelder districts were transferred to the new Kokchetav region.
On September 14, 1954, the city of Stepnyak was transferred from the Akmola region to the Kokchetav region.
On 22 October 1955, the areas of Baranowski and Kiminski were formed.
On July 30, 1957, the Molotovsky district was renamed as the Balkashinsky district.
On December 26, 1960, the Akmola region was abolished, and the territory of the region became part of the Virgin territory.
On March 20, 1961, the city of Akmolinsk was renamed Tselinograd.
On April 24, 1961, the Tselinograd region was established with the region's being in Tselinograd. The region included the areas of Atbasar, Baltasinsky, Baranowski, Wisniewski, Esil, Kalinin, Kiminski, the Kurgaldzhino, Makinsk, Novocherkassk, Stalin, Tselinograd, Shortandy and Arthritsi. On November 18, the Stalinsky district was renamed the Leninsky district.
On January 2, 1963, a new administrative division was introduced. The Tselinograd region was divided into 10 rural district: Alekseyevsky, Astrakhan, Atbasar, Balkashinsky, Derzhavinsky, Ermentau and 1 industrial district.
On December 31, 1964, the Vishnevsky and Makinsky districts were restored and the Zholymbet industrial district was abolished.
On October 19, 1965, the Tselinny Krai was abolished and the region again directly became a part of the Kazakh SSR.
On January 31, 1966, the Shortandinsky district was restored and on May 28, the Zhanadaly district was established.
On November 23, 1970, the Derzhavinsky, Yesilsky, Zhaksynsky and Zhanadalysky districts were transferred to the new Turgay region. On December 4, the Krasnoznamensky district was formed.
On December 25, 1973, the Marinovsky and Seletinsky districts were formed.
On February 15, 1977, the Tengiz district was established.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR of July 18, 1985, the Tengiz district was transferred to the Karaganda region which is now part of the Nurinsky district of the Karaganda region.
On July 9, 1988, the Marinovsky district was abolished and its territory was transferred to the Makinsky district.
In 1992, Tselinograd was renamed to Akmola. From 1998 to 2019 it was renamed Astana, from 2019 Nur-Sultan and the region — to Akmola.
On February 28, 1997, the Seletinsky district was abolished by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 3370 of 28.02.1997 and the territory of the abolished Seletinsky district was transferred to the Yerementau district. On April 22, the Derzhavinsky, Zhaksyn, Zhanadaly, Yessil and Kiyminsky districts were transferred from the abolished Turgay region to Akmola. On 23 July,the Gandlevsky and Kiminski areas were abolished. On November 14, the Alekseyevsky district was renamed Akkol, Balkashinsky — Sandyktau, Vishnevsky - Arshalynsky, Krasnoznamensky - Egindykolsky, Makinsky-Bulandynsky, Derzhavinsky-Zharkainsky.
On April 10, 1999, three southern districts of the North Kazakhstan region with the cities of Kokshetau, Shchuchinsk and Stepnyak were transferred to the Akmola region. At the same time, the administrative centre of the Akmola region was moved from the capital of the country Astana to the city of Kokshetau.

Administrative division

The Akmola region consists of 17 districts and 2 cities of regional significance:
1.  Akkol district
2.  Arshalynsky district
3.  Astrakhan region
4.  Atbasar district
5   Bulandynsky district
6.  Burabaysky district
7.  Egindykolsky district
8.  Birzhan-Sal district
9.  Ereymentau district
10. Esil district
11. Zhaksynsky district
12. Zharkainsky district
13. Zerenda district
14. Korgalzhyn district
15. Sandyktau district
16. Tselinograd district
17. Shortandy district
18. City of Kokshetau
19. City of Stepnogorsk
Districts include:
1.      8 cities of district subordination: Akkol, Atbasar, Derzhavinsk, Esil, Yerementau, Makinsk, Stepnyak, Shchuchinsk
2.      15 villages
3.      245 rural districts

Investment potential

Akmola region is located in the northern part of Kazakhstan.The territory of the region is 146.2 thousand square kilometers.The average population density in the region is 5.1 people per 1 square km.The population of the region is 738.6 thousand people. The region consists of 2 cities of regional significance and 17 districts of regional significance, 8 small towns.
Akmola region is an agricultural and industrial region of Kazakhstan. The tourism and alternative energy industries are also gaining momentum.
Advantages of the region:

Developed transport and transit potential.

The region has an international airport Kokshetau, six-lane 205-kilometer highway Nur-sultan-Shuchinsk.Funding for improving the condition of local roads is increased annually. The region has a developed railway network. 4 branches of Railways pass through the city of Kokshetau. The region has the highest density of railways in the country - 10.66 km per 1000 square km of territory.:ru:Акмолинская область|Акмолинская область

Access to sales markets

The capital of the state, Nur–Sultan, is located on the territory of the region.The region borders with 4 regions-Kostanay, North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar and Karaganda regions. Nearby regions of the Russian Federation: Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, and Sverdlovsk regions that can be reached by road within one day.

Rich natural resources

The region is rich in minerals and occupies one of the leading places in the mineral resource complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan.The region contains unique reserves of gold ', uranium ', molybdenum , technical diamonds, kaolin, muscovite and dolomite ', iron ore ', coal , common minerals, mineral waters.
The total land fund is 14.6 million ha, including agricultural land-10.8 million ha: arable land-6 million ha, pastures-4.4 million ha.The area of the forest Fund is 522.7 thousand ha, and the water Fund is 201.2 thousand ha.:ru:Акмолинская область|Акмолинская область

Agricultural industry

Akmola region accounts for more than 25% of grain, 7% of milk, 8% of meat and 16% of eggs produced in the Republic.The region's share in the country's gross agricultural production is about 10%.
Akmola region in the Republic is the largest harvesting wedge in the country - 4.8 million ha, including cereals and legumes-4.4 million ha.
The average annual production of grain is 5.0 million tons, the average annual export of grain is 2 million tons, over the past 3 years, and the share of crop production has averaged 70%.
In all regions of the region there are opportunities for the development of animal husbandry.The most promising areas for attracting investment are Arshaly, Atbasar, Burabay, Zerenda, Yerementau and Tselinograd districts.
Major projects:
- the first stage of the broiler poultry farm with a capacity of 50 thousand tons of poultry meat per year, the launch of the second stage is planned for 2020.The total investment amount for the project is more than 53 billion tenge;
- reconstruction of a meat processing plant with a capacity of 5 tons per day. The investment amount is 4.5 billion tenge .

Industry

In the industrial sector, the region specializes in the extraction of gold-containing ores, uranium, mechanical engineering and chemical industry. Akmola region accounts for 100% of railway bearings produced in the country, 36.3% of trucks, 30.2% of unprocessed gold, 12.1% of processed milk and 9% of flour. In the structure of industrial production, the main share is taken by the manufacturing industry - 80.4%, where products worth 533.1 billion tenge were produced.The manufacturing industry of the region is represented by food production, light and chemical industry, production of rubber and plastic products, production of other non-metallic mineral products, non-ferrous metallurgy and mechanical engineering.
Backbone enterprises of the region are a factory for the production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks «Kokshetauminvody»JSC, gold factory, «AltyntauKokshetau»JSC, «MMC «Kazakhaltyn» JSC, «KazakhaltynTechnology"LLP, company for production and processing of agricultural products «Agrofirm TNK» LLP, bearing plant JSC «EBC-Stepnogorsk» JSC.
Major projects:
- cement plant with a capacity of 2 million tons per year.The investment amount is 63.1 billion tenge.
- gold-extracting factories at Aksu, Bestobe, and Zholymbet mines. The total investment amount is 30.6 billion tenge.

Culture

There are 694 cultural objects of different variety in the Akmola region, 663 of them state-owned,
31 other varieties include:
- 276 clubs ;
- 378 libraries ;
- 11 museums;
- 2 theaters;
- 21 state archives;
- the regional Philharmonic society;
- the center for the protection and use of historical and cultural heritage;
- the regional center of folk art and cultural leisure activities;
- 3 private cinemas.
There are 2,513 club varieties in the region.
In the region, there are 81 people with a national rank, and 18 with the "Exemplary" rank.
There are 99 teams: choreographic — 31, quire — 18, folk — 18, vocal groups — 14, amateur theatres — 4; family ensembles, circus, ensembles of Russian folk instruments, ensembles of song and dance, ensemble of Kazakh folk instruments — 2; vocal instrumental ensemble, photography, orchestra of Russian folk instruments, poetic — 1.:ru:Акмолинская область|Акмолинская область

Education

Pre-school education and training

There are 614 pre-school education organizations in the Akmola region, including 240 kindergartens and 374 pre-school mini centers which serve 37,955 students.

General secondary education

There are 579 schools in the region, including 560 state day schools, 10 evening schools, 5 special correctional schools, 2 non-departmental, 1 non-state and 1-Nazarbayev Intellectual school which serve 124,228 students.

Technical and professional, post-secondary education

The region is organized through a network represented by 33 institutions with a total population of 21,600 people. Out of 33 colleges, 26 are public and 7 are private. Training is conducted in 94 professions and 139 qualifications in subjects such as agriculture and forestry, construction and utilities, pedagogy, medicine, mining, service, art and culture, energy, engineering technology, transport operation.

Religion

According to official data as of January 1, 2020, in the Akmola regionthere are 191 registered religious associations:
90 Islamic
45 Orthodox
11 Catholic
43 Protestant
1 Baha'i
1 society of Krishna Consciousness of Akmola region
10 unregistered religious associations of Evangelical Christians-Baptists

Tourism

The recreation and tourism industry is one of the priority sectors of Akmola's economy. The tourist industrycomprises more than 700 tourism enterprises which includes 375 accommodation facilities, 45 health resorts, 266 roadside service entities, 68 travel agencies and the state national parks of "Kokshetau", "Burabai", "buiratau", Korgalzhyn state nature reserve,"Burabai Damu" LLP.
The cultural and historical segment of the cluster is represented by 900 monuments, most of which are under state protection and are used for providing sightseeing programs.
There are about 80 tourist routes in the region that are successfully operated by tour operators and included in the state register of tourist routes. Among them, 10 tour operators have developed and use tourist routes to the historical and sacred places of Kokshetau, Burabay, Zerendinsky, Korgalzhyn and yerementau districts and Birzhan Sal district of Akmola region. Among them are 8 approved routes to sacred places.
According to statistics, in the first quarter of 2019, the number of accommodation units amounted to 375 units with a total capacity of the Fund — 5,159 rooms with a one-time capacity of 13,327 beds.
There are 9 certified accommodation facilities in the region.
As part of Kazakhstan's digitalization process, there is a 3-language Internet resource and the mobile app "Visit Aqmola", which include a QR code scanning of popular places in the region which are synchronized with the electronic information kiosks available at the international airport "Nursultan Nazarbayev", in the village of Borovoe-based on the visit center of "Burabay Damu" LLP and installed in the building of "Nurly Zhol" railway station in Nur-Sultan.
To ensure the availability of the tourist product in the region, the official tourist card "Burabay PASS" has been launched. There are more than 600 registered sales on the market.

Sport

There are 2,408 sporting facilities for physical activities and sports in the Akmola region, 1,690 of them located in rural areas. Compared to last year, 53 new facilities have been created.
Around 2,108 people work in the field of physical activity and sports, including 1,177 people in the villages. They include 1,117 secondary school teachers, 160 secondary special and higher educational institutions teachers, and 414 coaches. 171 full-time sporting instructors work in rural districts and businesses, 160 of them in rural areas, which is 68.7% of the provision of rural districts.

Health

568 healthcare facilities provide medical assistance to the population: 23 hospitals, ambulance stations, blood centers, 537 organizations that provide outpatient care:.
There are also 6 other medical organizations.

Domestic policy

In the Akmola region, there are 6 regional branches of political parties "Nur Otan", "CPPK"," "Auyl","  "AK Zhol", "Birlik", “NSDP" and 2 socio-political associations.
There are 3 public Cossack organizations on the territory of the Akmola region: the Akmola branch of the Union of Cossacks of the Steppe region, the Akmola Department of Siberian Cossacks, and the Akmola Cossack society.
718 non – governmental organizations are registered in the Akmola region, 514 of them  active.
44 ethno-cultural associations operate in the Akmola region, including ethno-cultural associations.
There are 18 ethnic groups, as well as Slavic and Cossack associations.
Ethnic and cultural associations were established in 12 districts and cities of Kokshetau and Stepnogorsk. 18 associations were registered in the districts of the region, 33 in Kokshetau, and 2 in Stepnogorsk.
There are also 4 Houses of Friendship, and the Sunday school of language learning "Shanyrak" is located at the Akmola Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, where 9 languages are studied.
There are 37 mediation offices in the Akmola region: 14 mediation offices are located at the local executive institutions, 22in the court, 1in the Akmola Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan.

Language development

The share of the adult population that speaks the state language in 2019 is 76%, which is 6% more than in 2017.
The share of the adult population that speak the Russian language in 2019 is 84.3%.
9% of the population of the region  speak English.
5.5% speak three languages.
The share of ethnic groups with ethnic and cultural associations covered by methodological assistance for the study of Kazakh and native languages in 2019 is 27%.
There are 614 pre-school institutions in the Akmola region with around 37,675 children, of which 23,835 are brought up in the Kazakh language.
There are 560 general education schools in the region, including 159 where Kazakh language is used, 217 - mixed language, and 184 - Russian. The total number of students is around 121,521, including 58,393 students in Kazakh classes. 48% of children are taught in Kazakh classes, 1% than in 2015.
Today, there are 33 colleges in the region. These colleges have 21,351 students, 29.1% study in Kazakh groups.
To date, there are 20 language learning centers in the region. 18 centers teach Kazakh and English languages. In the 2017-2018 academic year, 5,320 students studied the state and English languages, including 4,761 studying the state language.

Youth policy

Around 148,996 young people live in the Akmola region, which is 20.2% of the total population of the region.
According to the Statistics Committee of Kazakhstan, the youth unemployment rate for the 4th quarter of 2019 was 3.1%, which is 0.8% lower than the national level.
As of January 1, 2019, the share of youth that are non-students, non-working and not in training was 5.9%, which is 1.1% lower than the national level.
Within the framework of the "Embek" program for the development of productive employment and mass entrepreneurship for 2017-2021, since the beginning of 2020, 2,059 youth representatives, including 1,167 from villages, have become participants. 82 people are involved in social jobs, and 179 people were sent to youth practice. Overall, employment agencies have found employment for 1,251 people since the beginning of 2020.
In order to create conditions for the employment of the population, and to support the inflow of human resources to rural areas in the region, the program "With a Diploma in the Village"is being implemented.
As of May 1, 2019, 211 people have received allowances in the amount of 372.9 million tenge, including specialists: education — 169 people; health — 25 people; social security — 1; culture — 2; sports — 7; agriculture – 7.
Budget loans were granted to 502 people in the amount of 374.5 million tenge, including education specialists — 72 people, 21 – health, 5 – culture, 4 — agriculture.
There are 20 councils for the implementation of state youth policy in the region, headed by Mayors.
There are 24 active youth associations in the region. In order to support youth organizations and attract them to participate in social programs and projects, the office for youth policy annually provides funds for the implementation of the state social order.
To support young people from the socially vulnerable category, to encourage them to receive high-quality professional education in the region, the region's Mayor has established personal scholarships. In the 2018-2019 academic year, the number of participants reached 275. In 2019-20, 102.0 million tenge was allocated from the regional budget for the award of scholarships.

Agricultural industry

In 2020, spring sowing is planned on an area of 4.9 million hectares, including 4.4 million hectares for grains and legumes.
It is planned to plant oilseeds on an area of 254.0 thousand hectares, plant potatoes on16.1 thousand hectares, and vegetables on 3.4 thousand hectares.
Spring sowing of forage crops is planned on an area of 181.0 thousand hectares.
More than 16.1 thousand units of grain drills and 1,222 units of high-performance sowing complexes will be used in the sowing campaign in 2020. 65% of the grain wedge is planned to be sown in 2020, which will bring the area of sowing by moisture-saving technologies to 3.3 million hectares.
According to statistics, the total number of cattle in all categories of farms in the region as of April 1, 2020 is 502.1 thousand heads, including 221.7 thousand cows.
The number of horses is around 201.6 thousand heads, poultry — 7589.3 thousand heads.
The number of sheep and goats is around 632.2 thousand heads, pigs 125.0 thousand heads.

Archaeology

The Neolithic Atbasar culture was named after the site of the first excavations near the city of Atbasar in the Atbasar district.
A burial ground of the Andronovo culture was found near the village of Alekseyevka. Reconstruction of the appearance of the Andronovo man using a skull found in this burial ground was carried out by M. M. Gerasimov.

Mayors

Brown, Andrey Georgievich
Karibzhanov, Zhanybek Salimovich.
Hartman, Vladimir Karlovich
Kulagin, Sergey Vitalievich
Esenbayev, Mazhit Tuleubekovich
Rau, albert Pavlovich
Dyachenko, Sergey Alexandrovich
Kozhamzharov, Kairat Perneshovich
Aitmukhametov, Kosman Kairtayevich
Kulagin, Sergey Vitalievich
Murzalin, Malik Kenesbaevich
Marzhikpayev, Ermek Boranbayevich from March 19, 2019

Literature

·        Akmola region // Kazakhstan. National Encyclopedia. - Almaty: Kazakh encyclopedias, 2004. - T. I. -
·        Aitzhan Nurgalieva. Toponymic legends of the Akmola region.
·        Information about changes in the administrative division of the Akmola region.

Demographics

Ethnic Kazakhs account for 53.4% of the population in the 2017 census, compared to 33.7% for Russians.

Notable residents