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Quick Facts
- Kazak:
- Atyraū
- Also spelled:
- Aterau
- Formerly (until 1992):
- Guryev
- Also spelled:
- Gurev, Guriev, or Gurjev
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Atyrau
Atyrau, Kazakh., on the Ural River.
Atyrau
Kazakhstan
Also known as: Aterau, Atyraū, Gurev, Guriev, Gurjev, Guryev
Atyrau, city, western Kazakhstan. It is a port on the Ural (Zhayyq) River near its mouth on the Caspian Sea. Founded as a fishing settlement in the mid-17th century by the fishing entrepreneur Mikhail Guryev, it soon became a fort on the Ural fortified line manned by the Ural Cossacks. Fishing and trade were the main economic activities until Soviet times. Now, in addition to a large fish cannery, there are an oil refinery, petrochemical plant, metalworking and construction-materials industries, a meat-packing plant, and ship-repair yards. A branch of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences studies the natural resources of the area, and the city has a teacher-training institute, a museum, and a theatre. Pop. (2006 est.) 175,737.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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