Kyzylorda

History

A settlement existed under Seljuk, the founder of the Seljuk dynasty. The modern city began in 1817 as the site of a Kokand fortress known as Ak-Mechet, or white mosque. The later-famous Yaqub Beg was once the fort's commander, but he was not in command during the final battle. In 1853, during the Russian conquest of Turkestan, the fort was taken by Russian troops under General Vasily Perovsky. The Russians established a new fort and called it Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перо́вский), after the general. The town of Perovsk (Перо́вск) in Russian Turkestan later developed around the fort. It was granted city status in 1867.

Soviet power in the city was first established in October 1917. In 1922, the name Ak-Mechet was restored. In 1925, the city was renamed Kzyl-Orda (Кзыл-Орда). The name means a red city, from the Turkic "кзыл" (red; used here in the common Soviet ideological connotation) and the Turkic Mongolian "орда" (city). In 1925, the capital of the Kazakh ASSR was relocated to Kzyl-Orda from Orynbor. In 1926, the Kazakh Drama Theater was established in the city. In 1927, the capital was relocated to Alma-Ata. In 1928, the Kyzylorda State Archive was founded, whose collections include documents from the period when Kyzylorda was the Kazakh capital. In 1937, the Kyzylorda State University was founded. In 1938, the city became the capital of the newly established Kyzylorda Region.

"Kyzylorda", the Kazakh-based Romanized spelling, has been used since the late 20th century after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Kazakhstan's independence in 1991.

Since independence, many of the outhouses were erected in several apartment buildings used as dormitories during Soviet rule due to a lack of sewage systems for indoor plumbing. A RFE/RL report in April 2018 stated that the Kazakh Republic government was planning to modernize Soviet-era buildings.

Agriculture

Kyzylorda is known for its rice production. Many hundreds of hectares are devoted to rice production. Two rice mills operate in the city.

Climate

Kyzylorda has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk) with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low throughout the year, particularly in the summer months. Snow is common, though light, in winter. The lowest temperature on record is −36.1 °C (−33.0 °F), recorded in February 1969, and the former highest temperature was 46.0 °C (114.8 °F), recorded on July 7, 1975, with the current record high temperature of 46.5 °C (115.7 °F) being recorded on July 7, 2021.

Education

Kyzylorda State University (KSU) after Korkyt ata is the leading center of education, a science and culture center in the Aral region of the Republic Kazakhstan. Established in 1950, the university trains highly skilled specialists in 54 specialties at 11 faculties.

Transportation

Kyzylorda has one airport. It has developed as the supply center of the important oilfields in the nearby Turgay Basin.

Tourism

Points of interest for tourists in the Kyzylorda region include the vanished Aral Sea and the Baikonur cosmodrome, archaeological excavations in Sauran and Shyganak, the memorial complex of Korkyt Ata, and several ancient mausoleums.

Notable people

Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi (1968–2015), Yemeni formerly held in Guantanamo, given asylum by Kazakhstan in 2015

Vladimir Hotineanu (1950–2019), former Health Minister of Moldova

Eliezer Kulas (born 1944), Israeli politician

Oleg Tozoni (1927–2012), engineer and inventor

Marina Volnova (born 1989), Olympic boxer

Ilya Ilyin (born 1988), Olympic weightlifter

Batyrkhan Shukenov (1962–2015), Soviet, Kazakh-Russian singer

Mihhail Kõlvart (born 1977), Estonian politician

Twin towns – sister cities

Kyzylorda is twinned with:

Arvada, United States

Bolu, Turkey

Bursa, Turkey