Clockwise from top: Central Bridge above theUral River which connects Europe and Asia during the evening; European side of Atyrau; Isatay and Makhambet Monument; An orthodox church;Catholic Cathedral The city government building; The Marriott Executive Apartment during the morning.
Atyrau is famous for its oil and gas industries. It has a population of 355,117 as of 2020. It is predominantly made up ofKazakhs, the minorities beingRussians,Koreans,Tatars andUzbeks.
The wooden fort at the mouth of theYaik River was founded in 1645 asNizhny Yaitzky gorodok (literally,Lower Yaik Fort) by the Russian trader Gury Nazarov, a native ofYaroslavl, who specialized in trade withKhiva andBukhara. The fort was plundered by theYaik Cossacks, leading the Guriev family to rebuild it in stone (1647–62).Tsar Alexis sent a garrison ofStreltsy to protect the fort from Cossack incursions. Despite these efforts, the Cossack rebelStepan 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 asGuriev. The Kazakh nameAtyrau means 'river delta'.
Two parts of the world have the city. The side of Samarskaya (right side of the river) lies in Europe and the left bank of Bukharskaya is in Asia. It was established in 1615, by the employer Mikhail Guriev, who applied the decree to tzar Mikhail Fedorovich for a monopoly in the mouth of Ural to fish sturgeons.[4]
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".
Atyrau's climate issemi-arid (Köppen climate classificationBSk), just shy of being classified asarid (Köppen climate classificationBWk), 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 44.6 °C (112.3 °F), recorded in August 1940.[5] 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-summermediterranean climates, andsubarctic winters with little snow but with chilling temperatures. These vast temperature swings are more comparable toSiberia and theNorth American plains.
The unofficial record high temperature is 50 °C (122 °F) on 4 July 1911, which would be the highest temperature recorded in Kazakhstan.
Climate data for Atyrau (1991–2020, extremes 1881–present)
The third biggest refinery in Kazakhstan is located in Atyrau.[8] Atyrau Refinery is operated byKazMunayGas and has a capacity of 16,600 m³/day (2012). A deep oil refining complex is under construction which is the final stage of complete reconstruction of Atyrau Oil Refinery. This project is designed to process 2.4 million tons/year of raw materials (oil andvacuum gas oil). The project will increase the depth of the oil processing at the refinery by 2016 to 85%. The volume of oil refining will reach 5.5 million tons per year.[9]
As a result of the oil industry, the air in the city is polluted with toxichydrogen sulfide gas. The air in the city was found to regularly exceed the maximum permissible concentration and constantly had a 'rotten eggs' smell.[13][14]
There are three major institutions of higher education in Atyrau (all state-owned): Atyrau Institute of Engineering and Humanities, Atyrau University of Oil and Gas named after Safi Utebayev, and Atyrau University named after Khalel Dosmukhamedov.
The city is home to the basketball teamBC Barsy Atyrau. The team competes in the internationalFIBA Asia Champions Cup and theKazakhstan Basketball Championship. It plays its home games at theSports and Recreation complex Atyrau. There is a multi-use stadium calledMunaishy Stadium, which is mostly used for football matches and it is home to the football clubFC Atyrau. The stadium's capacity is 8,900 spectators.[15]
Atyrau Airport (IATA:GUW,ICAO:UATG) serves the city of Atyrau. The airport is located 8 km northwest of Atyrau. The airport hosts 6 airlines, mostly operating domestic flights, and is thefocus city of the flag carrier airlineAir Astana. In 2019, it was the 5th busiest airport in Kazakhstan, as 937,032 people had passed the airport in that year. There are some international destinations, such as flights toMoscow, operated byAeroflot,Amsterdam andIstanbul, both operated by Air Astana.
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 (850 feet) long and 10 meters (33 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-long (1,808-foot) 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 (2,600 feet) long with access roads, 380.74 meters (1,249.1 feet) long and 22 meters (72 feet) wide. The width of the roadway is 16 meters (52 feet), plus two walking paths of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) each.
