Atyrau

The wooden fort at the mouth of the Yaik River was founded in 1645 as Nizhny Yaitzky gorodok (literally, Lower Yaik Fort) by the Russian trader Gury Nazarov, a native of Yaroslavl, who specialized in trade with Khiva and Bukhara. The fort was plundered by the Yaik Cossacks, leading the Guriev family to rebuild it in stone (1647–62). Tsar Alexis sent a garrison of Streltsy to protect the fort from Cossack incursions. Despite these efforts, the Cossack rebel Stepan Razin held the town in 1667 and 1668. The fort gradually lost its strategic significance and was demolished in 1810. Between 1708 and 1992 the city was known as Guriev. The Kazakh name Atyraý means 'river delta'.

Atyrau (together with Aktau) is Kazakhstan's main harbour city on the Caspian Sea, Atyrau at the delta of the Ural River. Atyrau city is approximately 20 metres (66 feet) below sea level. The city is considered to be located both in Asia and Europe, as it is divided by the Ural River.

The city is a hub for the oil-rich Caspian Depression; because of this, many oil wells have been drilled in the Tengiz Field and Kashagan Field areas. An oil pipeline runs from Atyrau to Samara, where it joins the Russian pipeline system. A separate oil pipeline runs from the Tengiz field to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk.

At the beginning of 2020, the population of the city is 290,700 people, 355,117 people in the territory of the city akimat.

National composition (at the beginning of 2020):

• Kazakhs - 313 534 people (88.29%)
• Russians - 29 466 people (8.30%)
• Koreans - 2 987 people (0.84%)
• Tatars - 1 934 people (0.54%)
• Uzbeks - 1 320 people (0.37%)
• Ukrainians - 709 people (0.20%)
• Karakalpaks - 700 people (0.20%)
• Azerbaijanis - 510 people (0.14%)
• Germans - 406 people (0.11%)
• Armenians - 357 people (0.10%)
• Dargins - 229 people (0.06%)
• Belarusians - 210 people (0.06%)
• Bulgarians - 197 people (0.06%)
• Others - 2 558 people (0.72%)

In total - 355,117 people.

Murzaev E. Dictionary of popular geographical terms (1984) states:

"The branched coast of a large lake or sea, on which appeared the bay and islands, the estuaries of rivers and capes. The north-eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, including its alyp, the locals still call Atyrau."

A. Nurmaganbetov and M. Khobdabayev states:

"The word atyrau, which earlier means "island", also grasps the concept of the word saga -" the mouth of the river, "and this is natural, whatever the river, at the point where it enters the ocean or the sea, its mouth branches out, and between each branch appears dry We think that this is the main reason for joint use of Atyrau together with the "mouth of the river".

Ecological Kazakh-Russian dictionary (2001) states:

Atyrau is a tract, a cane shoal in the mouth of the Urals.

Atyrau's climate is semi-arid (Köppen climate classification BSk), just shy of being classified as arid (Köppen climate classification BWk), with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low throughout the year. Snow is common, though light in winter. The lowest temperature on record is −37.9 °C (−36.2 °F), recorded in 1909, and the highest temperature is 42.7 °C (108.9 °F), recorded in 1984.[1] It is much more continental than areas further west on the European continent, with summers characterized by temperatures averaging 33 °C (91 °F) and lack of precipitation, resembling continental hot-summer mediterranean climates, and subarctic winters with little snow but with chilling temperatures. These vast temperature swings are more comparable to Siberia and the North American plains.

Atyrau University

The city is home to the basketball team BC Barsy Atyrau. The team competes in the international FIBA Asia Champions Cup and the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship. It plays its home games at the Sports and Recreation complex Atyrau.

On August 28, 1965, the first real reinforced concrete bridge in the city, passing through the Ural River, was built and put into operation. The bridge is 259 meters (847.9 feet) long and 10 meters (32.8 feet) high. The bridge connects Satpayev Avenue and Abay Street. On the right European coast on Satpayev Avenue, the akimat (mayor's office) of the city and akimat (governor) of the Atyrau region adjoin the bridge.

In 2001, a unique pedestrian suspension bridge was built. The 551-meter (1807.7 feet)-long bridge is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest pedestrian bridge in the world. From the middle of the bridge over the Urals there are views of Azattyk Avenue and its surroundings.

In 2009, the Sultan Beibars was opened - a four-lane bridge with a throughput capacity of 5–7 thousand cars a day, 800 meters (2624.6 feet) long with access roads, 380.74 meters (1249.1 feet) long and 22 meters (72.17 feet) wide. The width of the roadway is 16 meters (52.49 feet), plus two walking paths of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) each.

• Beibarys Atyrau
• Atyrau Football Club
• Atyrau Airport
• Radio Tandem

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Atyrau.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atyrau.

• City administration website
• Information site on Kazakhstan
• Photos Atyrau (in Russian)