Kazakhstan is divided into 17 regions and 4 cities. The regions are further subdivided into districts. The four cities, Almaty, Baikonur, Shymkent, and the capital city Astana, do not belong to their surrounding regions.
The regions are also referred to as oblasts, which were one of the second-level subdivisions of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. After gaining independence in 1991, there were 17 regions as of 1989.
On 16 March 2022, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that three new regions would be created. Abai Region was created from East Kazakhstan Region with its capital in Semey. Ulytau Region was created from Karaganda Region with its capital in Jezkazgan. Jetisu Region was created from Almaty Region with its capital in Taldykorgan; Almaty Region's capital was moved from Taldykorgan to Qonayev..
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Regions Emblem Full English name Type Capital Full Kazakh name Full Russian name Abai Region regionSemey Akmola Region region Kokshetau Aktobe Region region Aktobe Almaty city Almaty Region region Qonaev Astana city Atyrau Region region Atyrau Baikonur city On the time change in the city of Baikonur and Kyzylorda region, Administration of the city of Baikonur, 13 December 2018 . East Kazakhstan Region region Oskemen Jambyl Region region Taraz Jetisu Region regionTaldykorgan Karaganda Region region Karaganda Kostanay Region region Kostanay Kyzylorda Region region Kyzylorda Mangystau Region region Aktau North Kazakhstan Region region Petropavl Pavlodar Region region Pavlodar Shymkent city Turkistan Region(formerly South Kazakhstan) region Turkistan Ulytau Region regionJezkazgan West Kazakhstan Region region Oral
Demographic statistics In 2022, three new regions were created, the Abai (from part of East Kazakhstan), Jetisu (from part of Almaty Region), and Ulytau (from part of Karaganda Region) Regions. In the following table, the 2009 population totals have been amended to reflect the population in the new or altered regions.
Entity Capital Area(km2) Population (2009) Population (2022)The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan (web) - as at 1 October 2022 Density(2022) ISO 3166-2 Abai Region Semey185,500 654,423610,1833.29KZ- Aqmola Region Kokshetau146,219 737,495786,0125.38KZ-AKM Aqtobe Region Aqtobe300,629 757,768924,8453.08KZ-AKT Almaty Almaty682 1,449,6962,147,1133,148.26KZ-ALA Almaty Region Qonaev105,1001,103,2371,497,02514.24KZ-ALM Astana Astana797613,0061,340,7821,682.29KZ-AST Atyrau Region Atyrau118,631 510,377689,674 5.81KZ-ATY Baikonur Baikonur57 36,17534,544606.04KZ-BAY* East Kazakhstan Region Oskemen97,700 742,170730,8187.48KZ-VOS Jambyl Region Taraz144,264 1,022,1291,215,4828.43KZ-ZHA Jetisu Region Taldyqorgan118,500 620,593698,9525.90KZ- Karaganda Region Karaganda239,100 1,118,0361,134,1464.74KZ-KAR Kostanay Region Kostanay196,001 885,570832,4454.25KZ-KUS Kyzylorda Region Kyzylorda226,019 678,794830,9013.68KZ-KZY Mangystau Region Aktau165,642 485,392761,4014.60KZ-MAN North Kazakhstan Region Petropavl97,993 596,535534,9665.46KZ-SEV Pavlodar Region Pavlodar124,800 742,475754,8296.05KZ-PAV Shymkent Shymkent1,163 730,8731,184,1131,018.15KZ- Turkistan Region Turkistan116,100 1,738,4842,110,50218.18KZ-TUR West Kazakhstan Region Oral151,339 598,880686,6554.54KZ-ZAP Ulytau Region Jezqazgan188,900 223,664221,0141.17KZ-
Former administrative boundaries
Over the last 60 years, both the distribution and names of regions of Kazakhstan have changed considerably. Major changes were several fusions and splits between Guryev and Mangystau, Karaganda and Dzhezkazgan, Almaty and Taldy-Kurgan, East Kazakhstan and Semipalatinsk and Kostanay, Turgay and Tselinograd, respectively. Changes in region names were often in line with the renaming of cities, such as in the case of Alma-Ata/Almaty. After the administrative reform in 1997, the last change happened since then took place in 1999, when parts of North Kazakhstan that originally belonged to Kokshetau region became part of Akmola. The 1990s merges were in order to dilute the Russian population in the resulting region and to avoid having regions where Russians form a majority.
Notes
References
Sources GeoHive