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Overview
Kostanay region is one of the northern regions of Kazakhstan. Its area is 196 thousand sq. km ranking the 4th in the country area wise. The population density is 4.4 people per 1 sq. km.
The region borders on five regions of Kazakhstan (Aktobe, Ulytau, Karaganda, Akmola and North Kazakhstan) and three regions of the Russian Federation (Kurgan, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg).
To date, the population of the region is 832.1 thousand people, including 515.1 thousand (61.9%) urban residents and 317 thousand (38.1%) rural residents.
The ethnic breakdown of the region is as follows: Kazakhs - 41.9%, Russians - 40.4%, Ukrainians - 7.8%, other ethnicities - 9.9% (data as of the beginning of 2022, information for 2022 will be generated in May 2023).
Administrative Structure
Kostanay region includes 6 cities (one regional center - Kostanay, four single-industry towns - Arkalyk, Zhitikara, Lisakovsk and Rudny, one small town - Tobyl), 16 districts, 517 villages and 7 settlements. The administrative center is the city of Kostanay with a population of 264.4 thousand people (31.8% of the region).
Rudny has the population of 123.3 thousand people (14.8%), Lisakovsk - 34.8 thousand people (4.2%), Zhitikara - 35.3 thousand people (4.2 %), Arkalyk - 28.9 thousand people (3.5%), Tobyl - 28.5 (3.4%).
Regional Center
Kostanay is located on the Tobol River in the northern part of the Turgay Plateau (link to p5p2 - Geography - Terrain).
The history of the city dates back to the second half of the 19th century to the construction of the settlement Nikolaevsk, at the time a part of the Turgay region of the Russian Empire.
The date of foundation of Kostanay is 1879. Since then, the city has developed robustly as a major trade center and transport hub. Even bigger development of the city began after it was included in the South Siberian Railway in 1912.
In 1920, the city became the center of the Kustanay district of the Aktobe region, and in 1936 - the administrative center of the Kustanay region.
From 1878 to 1905, the city was called Nikolaevsk, and after that it had the name of Kustanay until 1997, when it was renamed Kostanay by Presidential Decree.
History
The history of the region begins in 1936, when the region was created by separating parts from the Aktobe and Karaganda regions. Then the region was called Kustanay, and the city remained its regional center.
From the very moment of its foundation, the region was one of the advanced agricultural regions of Kazakhstan. Agriculture received a serious boost in the 1950-1960s during the period of Virgin Lands campaign.
There was an active development of iron ore deposits, which had a decisive impact on the industrial image of the region. In 1957, Rudny appeared on the map of the region. Today, it occupies the second place in terms of population in the region.
In 1997, the Decree of the President of Kazakhstan renamed the Kustanai region to Kostanay.
Climate
Kostanay region is located on plains, the main part of the region is located within the Turgay and Cis-Ural depressions (link to p5p2 - Geography - Terrain), in the north the region passes into the West Siberian Plain (link to p5p2 - Geography - Terrain).
Kostanay region has rather scarce water resources. There are about 300 small rivers in the region. The most significant rivers are the Tobol River (link to p5p3 - Geography - Water Resources) with tributaries and the Torgai River. There are more than eight thousand lakes in the region. The largest of them are Sarykol, Alakol, Kusmuryn, Koibagor, Akkol, Teniz and others.
The climate of Kostanay region is sharply continental. Winter is long, frosty, with strong winds and snowstorms, summer is hot and dry. The average temperature in January is -18-19ºС, the average temperature in July is +20-21ºС.
The vegetation is diverse, though after the 1960s, vast areas of the region were plowed up. Feather grass-forb vegetation with birch-aspen groves and pine forests prevail in the northern part of the region; forb-red feather grass vegetation with Naurzymkaragay pine forest in the central part, fescue-feather grass and wormwood vegetation is in the southern past.
The Kostanay region is rich in minerals. The region has magnetite and oolitic iron ores, brown coal, asbestos, bauxites, refractory and brick clays, glass sand, building stone, etc. In total, about 400 deposits of minerals and mineral raw materials have been explored in the region.
Tourism
The vast territory and variety of natural landscapes, recreation centers and guest houses on the banks of reservoirs provide for organizing recreational, ecological, cultural and educational tours and weekend tours.
There are six sanatorium and resorts: Two sanatoriums (Sosnovy Bor, and Jailau in Altynsarinsky district), one health and recreation center (Densaulyk in Zhitikarinsky district), three rehabilitation centers (regional rehabilitation center for people with disabilities in Kostanay; children's rehabilitation center in Rudny, M. Karabaev Regional Rehabilitation Center in Mendykarinsky district).
Sanatoriums are located in the Altynsarinsky district near lakes with mineral water and sulfate-silt mud, pine forests and provide a large list of therapeutic, diagnostic and preventive services, water and mud therapy, climatotherapy, and a variety of entertainment, sports and recreational services.
Also, Therma Park SPA, located in Kostanay, attracts many tourists. This is a unique health facility with an area of more than 18,000 square meters with no alternatives among the northern regions of Kazakhstan. Therma Park is located on four levels of the Kostanay Plaza shopping and entertainment center (including the roof), and includes 24 aquafacilities (Russian, Finnish, salt, stone and other types of baths), water attractions, 5 swimming pools, incl. thermal, two of which are outdoors, 2 jacuzzis, 4 ofuro (traditional Japanese bath). The total capacity of the thermal park is 1,600 people.
The diversity and the unique nature of the Naurzum State Natural Reserve provides for the development of ecotourism. This Reserve is included in the UNESCO cultural heritage sites. Six excursion routes exist in the Reserve. All routes are equipped with gazebos, information stands in three languages, trash cans, latrines and benches.
In 2022, the Naurzum Nature Reserve was included in the 20 tourist locations as part of Neo Nomad 2022 conducted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
There are about 300 small rivers and more than 5 thousand lakes in the region, 99 hunting farms and 240 fishery reservoirs that contribute to adventure tourism. The total area of hunting grounds is 16 million 648 thousand hectares.
In general, the region has 28 tourist routes that include adventure, ecological, cultural and educational excursions and weekend tours.
For the convenience of tourists, there are 108 hotels in the region, with a room stock of 2,183 units, including 46 hotels located in the regional center, with a room stock of 775 units.
There are three four-star hotels - Medeo, Tobol, Gornyak and two three-star hotels - Palazzo and Tselinnaya.
Industry
In January-December 2022, industrial enterprises manufactured products in the amunt of 2,441.3 billion tenge. In the industrial structure of the region, the largest share falls on the manufacturing industry - 64.2% and mining - 32.6%.
The region produces 100% of chrysotile asbestos and iron ore pellets, and also ranks first in the production of cars (62%).
The largest industrial enterprises are operating in the region that include: SaryarkaAvtoProm LLP (automotive industry), AgromashHolding KZ JSC (tractors and combines), Bayan Sulu JSC (confectionery), FRF Firm Arasan LLP (beer and soft drinks), EvrazCaspianStal LLP (metallurgy); SSGPO JSC (iron ore concentrate and pellets), Kostanay Minerals JSC (mining and enrichment of chrysotile-asbestos ores), Aluminium of Kazakhstan JSC Krasnooktyabrsk Bauxite Mine Enterprise (production of bauxite), Komarovsk Mining Enterprise LLP (extraction of gold ore).
The region has a high investment attractiveness. The regional akimat creates all the necessary conditions for potential investors.
So, for example, the regional center has a 400-hectares industrial zone with an engineering infrastructure, which hosts production facilities.
Culture
Kostanay region has a rich natural and cultural heritage. There are 1140 monuments in the region, 5 of them are of republican significance (a bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Leonid Beda, a bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Pavlov, a monument to Ybyrai Altynsarin, ritual buildings Yekidin 1 and Yekidin 2) and 1135 monuments of local significance, 1051 archaeologist monuments, 39 urban planning and architecture monuments, 4 sacred places and 41 monumental art objects.
The sacral map of Kazakhstan included 39 sacred objects of the region (national significance - 10, regional significance - 29).
The historical monuments of national importance of the Kostanay region include the unique cult monument Yekidin dating back to the 7th - 9th centuries, the Bestamak burial ground and the Lisakovsky archaeological complex. The Turgay Valley is located on the territory of the region. It became globally famous after the discovery of unique archaeological Bronze Age monuments - Torgay geoglyphs (Ushtogai square, Torgay swastika) in 2007. Seven kilometers from Kostanay, on the right bank of the Tobol River, there is a monument of modern architecture - the Mausoleum of Ybyrai Altynsarin, the great Kazakh educator, pride of not only our region, but the entire country.
A striking monument of the religious architecture of the 19th century is the Akmeshit Mosque. The mosque was restored from September 2019 to May 2020. The elegant and unique building of Akmeshit once again delights the eyes of the citizens and is rightfully included in the list of regional sacred sites and the main attractions of Kostanay.
In the Dzhangeldy district of the Kostanay region, not far from the Akkol village, there is a restored house of Akhmet Baitursynuly and a necropolis with the burials of his father Baitursyn and two brothers Kali and Mashen. In 2022, as part of the 150th anniversary of Akhmet Baitursynuly, the city built a new Memorial House of Akhmet Baitursynuly.
There are nine state museums in the Kostanay region, each makes a considerable contribution to the preservation and mainstreaming of the historical and cultural heritage, establishment of the cultural environment, forming a constructive worldview and ethnic identity of the younger generation.
To date, there are 318,492 exhibits in the museums, the main museum fund includes 206,831 exhibits.
Every year, more than 700 thousand people visit museums and participate in cultural and educational programs.
Archaeological collections of museums exhibit famous works of primitive art such as Tobolsk Thinker, spearheads, cast silver mirror embellished with fish and others.