List of cities in Kazakhstan facts for kids

Provinces and main cities of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a large country in Central Asia. As of 2017, about 53% of the people in Kazakhstan live in cities. This means more than half of the population lives in urban areas.

Kazakhstan has plans to make its cities even more modern. They want to help more people move to cities. By the year 2030, they hope that 70% of people will live in urban areas. This is a big change!

This page lists cities in Kazakhstan that have more than 50,000 people. You might notice that many city names have changed over time. This happened a lot in the 1900s and 2000s. We've included the older names where we can, so you can see how they've changed.

Major Cities of Kazakhstan

This table shows important information about the biggest cities in Kazakhstan. You can see their names in English and Kazakh. It also shows if they had a different name before. The table tells you when each city became an official city. You can also see how many people lived there in different years, from 1979 to 2023. This helps us see how cities have grown!

Insignia	Name English	Name Kazakh	Previous name	City since	1979	1989	1999	2008	2023	Status	Province
	Aktau	Ақтау Aqtau [ɑqtɑw]	Shevchenko	1963		159,245	143,396	180,373	270,886	2	Mangystau Province
	Aktobe	Ақтөбе Aqtöbe [ɑqtɵbʲe]	Aktyubinsk	1880	190,569	253,532	253,088	285,507	560,820	2	Aktobe Province
	Almaty	Алматы Almaty [ɑɫmɑtɯ]	Vernyy, Верный, Alma-Ata, Алма́-Ата́	1867	909,644	1,127,884	1,129,356	1,328,362	2,217,700	1	Capital 1929–1997
	Astana	Астана Astana [ɑstɑnɑ]	Akmola, Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Nur-Sultan	1831	233,638	277,365	312,965	389,189	1,417,214	1	Capital
	Arkalyk	Арқалық Arqalyq [ɑɾqɑɫɯq]		1965	47,963	62,367	45,700	56,614	28,907	4	Kostanay Province
	Atyrau	Атырау Atyrau [ɑtɯɾɑw]	Guryev	1885	130,916	149,261	142,497	158,308	315 274	2	Atyrau province
	Baikonur	Байқоңыр Baiqoñyr [bɑjqɔŋəɾ]	Leninsk	1969		74,700	60,200	59,452	76 019	1	Kyzylorda Province
	Balqash	Балқаш Balqaş [bɑɫqaʂ]		1937	78,145	86,742	81,100	86,897	81,364	3	Karagandy Province
	Jezkazgan	Жезқазған Jezqazğan [ʐʲezqazɣɑn]	Dzhezkazgan	1954	89,200	107,053	103,400	112,154	85,012	3	Karagandy Province
	Karaganda	Қарағанды Qarağandy [qɑɾɑɣɑndɯ]		1934	571,877	507,318	436,864	451,800	515,819	2	Karagandy Province
	Kentau	Кентау Kentau [kʲentɑw]		1955	62,991	63,784	58,100	60,799	74,464	4	South Kazakhstan Province
	Kyzylorda	Қызылорда Qyzylorda [qɯzɯɫɔɾda]	Perovsk, Ak-Mechet	1867	156,128	150,425	157,364	182,929	315 550	2	Kyzylorda Province
	Kokshetau	Көкшетау Kökşetau [kɵkʂʲetɑw]	Kokchetav	1824	103,162	135,424	123,389	132,753	191 105	2	Akmola Province
	Kostanay	Қостанай Qostanai [qɔstɑnɑj]	Kustanay	1893	164,500	223,558	221,429	249,395	265,718	2	Kostanay Province
	Janaozen	Жаңаөзен Jañaözen [ʐɑŋɑɵzʲen]	Noviy Uzen'	1968	34,000	48,300	51,100	60,796	152 431	3	Mangystau Province
	Pavlodar	Павлодар Pavlodar [pɑʋɫədɑɾ]		1861	272,895	329,681	320,400	354,809	367 254	2	Pavlodar Province
	Petropavl	Петропавл Petropavl [pʲetɾəpɑʋɯɫ]	Petropavlovsk	1807	206,559	239,606	216,300	208,547	222 076	2	North Kazakhstan Province
	Ridder	Риддер Ridder [ɾɪdˈdɛɾ]	Leninogorsk	1934	68,135	68,730	56,269	54,252	52 068	3	East Kazakhstan Region
	Saran	Саран Saran [sɑɾɑn]		1954	54,878	63,900	48,500	49,082	34 636	3	Karagandy Province
	Satpayev	Сәтбаев Sätbaev [sætpɑjef]		1973	48,700	59,343	62,900	73,874	68 379	3	Karagandy Region
	Semey	Семей Semei [sʲemʲej]	Alash-kala, Semipalatinsk	1782	282,574	317,112	292,500	312,136	328 782	3	East Kazakhstan Region
	Stepnogorsk	Степногорск Stepnogorsk [stʲepnɐɡɔɾsk]		1964	46,700	63,300	50,900	47,705	68 460	3	Akmola Province
	Taldykorgan	Талдықорған Taldyqorğan [tɑɫdɯqɔɾɣɑn]		1944	87,948	118,623	107,100	114,728	168 674	2	Almaty Province
	Taraz	Тараз Taraz [taɾaz]	Talas, Zhambyl, Aulie-Ata	ancient	263,793	303,961	330,125	398,233	427 394	2	Jambyl Province
	Temirtau	Теміртау Temırtau [tʲemɘɾtɑw]		1945	213,026	213,551	181,800	179,520	171 890	3	Karagandy Province
	Turkistan	Түркістан Türkıstan [tʏɾkɘstɑn]		ancient	66741	77,692	87,600	109,673	220,133	3	South Kazakhstan Province
	Oral	Орал Oral [ɔɾɑɫ]	Uralsk	1613	167,352	199,522	212,900	255,489	254 380	2	West Kazakhstan Region
	Oskemen	Өскемен Öskemen [ɵskʲemʲen]	Ust'-Kamenogorsk	1868	274,287	322,221	310,950	344,421	400,142	2	East Kazakhstan Region
	Shymkent	Шымкент Şymkent [ʂɯmkʲent]	Chimkent, Chernyayev	Middle Ages	321,535	380,091	390,200	454,583	1,216,000	1	Shymkent
	Shakhtinsk	Шахтинск Şahtinsk [ʂɑχtʲɪnsk]		1961	50,382	65,600	54,800	54,748	39 185	3	Karagandy Region
	Schuchinsk	Щучинск Şçuçinsk [ɕutʃɪnsk]		1939		55,500	47,900	50,128	47 625	4	Akmola Province
	Ekibastuz	Екібастұз Ekıbastūz [jekɘbɑsto̙z]		1957	65,871	135,006	137,200	158,165	152 509	3	Pavlodar Region

Images for kids

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  Almaty is one of Kazakhstan's largest cities.

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  Shymkent is a major city in the south of Kazakhstan.

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  Karaganda is known for its industrial history.

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  The Irtysh River flows through Pavlodar.

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  Oskemen is a city in eastern Kazakhstan.

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  Semey has a rich historical background.

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  A view of Aktobe, a city in western Kazakhstan.

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  The city center of Kostanay.

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  Aktau is a port city on the Caspian Sea.

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  Turkistan is an ancient city with historical sites.

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  Baikonur is famous for its space launch site.