Regions of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is divided into 14 regions (Kazakh: облыстар/oblystar; singular: облыс/oblys; Russian: области/oblasti; singular: область/oblast' ). The regions are further subdivided into districts (Kazakh: аудандар/aýdandar; singular: аудан/aýdan; Russian: районы/rayoni; singular: район/rayon). Four cities, Baikonur, Shymkent, the largest city Almaty, and the capital Nur-Sultan are not part of the regions they are surrounded by.

Coat of arms	Full English name	Type	Full Kazakh name	Full Russian name	Standard time
	Akmola Region	region	Ақмола облысы Aqmola oblysy	Акмолинская область Akmolinskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Aktobe Region	region	Ақтөбе облысы Aqtóbe oblysy	Актюбинская область Aktyubinskaya Oblast′	UTC+05:00
	Almaty	city^[nb 1]	Алматы қаласы Almaty qalasy	город Алматы gorod Almaty	UTC+06:00
	Almaty Region	region	Алматы облысы Almaty oblysy	Алматинская область Almatinskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Atyrau Region	region^[nb 2]	Атырау облысы Atyraý oblysy	Атырауская область Atyrauskaya Oblast′	UTC+05:00
	Baikonur	city^[nb 3]	Байқоңыр қаласы Baıqońyr qalasy	город Байконур gorod Baykonur	UTC+06:00
	East Kazakhstan Region	region	Шығыс Қазақстан облысы Shyǵys Qazaqstan oblysy	Восточно-Казахстанская область Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Jambyl Region	region	Жамбыл облысы Jambyl oblysy	Жамбылская область Zhambylskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Karaganda Region	region	Қарағанды облысы Qaraǵandy oblysy	Карагандинская область Karagandinskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Kostanay Region	region	Қостанай облысы Qostanaı oblysy	Костанайская область Kostanayskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Kyzylorda Region	region	Қызылорда облысы Qyzylorda oblysy	Кызылординская область Kyzylordinskaya Oblast′	UTC+05:00
	Mangystau Region	region	Маңғыстау облысы Mańǵystaý oblysy	Мангыстауская область Mangystauskaya Oblast′	UTC+05:00
	North Kazakhstan Region	region	Солтүстік Қазақстан облысы Soltústik Qazaqstan oblysy	Северо-Казахстанская область Severo-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Nur-Sultan	city^[nb 1]	Нұр-Сұлтан қаласы Nur-Sultan qalasy	город Нұр-Сұлтан gorod Nur-Sultan	UTC+06:00
	Pavlodar Region	region	Павлодар облысы Pavlodar oblysy	Павлодарская область Pavlodarskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	Shymkent	city^[nb 1]	Шымкент қаласы Shymkent qalasy	город Шымкент gorod Shymkent	UTC+06:00
	Turkistan Region (formerly South Kazakhstan)	region	Түркістан облысы Túrkistan oblysy	Туркестанская область Turkestanskaya Oblast′	UTC+06:00
	West Kazakhstan Region	region^[nb 2]	Батыс Қазақстан облысы Batys Qazaqstan oblysy	Западно-Казахстанская область Zapadno-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast′	UTC+05:00

The share of the European population by districts and cities of regional and republican subordination Kazakhstan in 2016   > 70٪   60.0 – 69.9 %   50.0 - 59.9 %   40.0 - 49.9 %   30.0 - 39.9 %   20.0 - 29.9 %   10.0 - 19.9 %   0.0 - 9.9 %

Regions of Kazakhstan Қазақстан облыстары (Kazakh) Области Казахстана (Russian)
Also known as: Province Oblast
A clickable map of Kazakhstan showing its 14 regions.v • d • e
Category	Unitary state
Location	Republic of Kazakhstan
Number	14 regions and 4 cities (Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Baikonur, Shymkent)
Populations	36,175 (Baikonur) – 2,685,009 (Turkistan)
Areas	680 km^2 (263 sq mi) (Almaty) - 427,980 km^2 (165,245 sq mi) (Karaganda)
Government	Region government, National government
Subdivisions	District

Notes

^1 Almaty, Nur-Sultan and Shymkent cities have the status of State significance and do not relate to any region.

^2 The West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions are both partly located in Eastern Europe as the Ural River run through Atyrau and Oral, their respective capital cities.

^3 Baikonur city has a special status because it is currently being leased to Russia with Baikonur Cosmodrome until the year 2050.

Demographic statistics

Entity	Capital	Area (km²)	Population (2009 census)[1]	Population Density	ISO 3166-2 Code
Akmola Region	Kokshetau	146,219	0,737,495	5.044	KZ-AKM
Aktobe Region	Aktobe	300,629	0,757,768	2.521	KZ-AKT
Almaty	Almaty	000,319	1,365,632	4281	KZ-ALA
Almaty Region	Taldykorgan	223,924	1,807,894	6.099	KZ-ALM
Nur-Sultan	Nur-Sultan	000,710	0,613,006	863.4	KZ-AST
Atyrau Region	Atyrau	118,631	0,510,377	4.302	KZ-ATY
Baikonur	Baikonur	000,057	0,036,175	644.6	KZ-BAY*
East Kazakhstan Region	Oskemen	283,226	1,396,593	4.931	KZ-VOS
Jambyl Region	Taraz	144,264	1,022,129	7.085	KZ-ZHA
Karaganda Region	Karaganda	427,982	1,341,700	3.135	KZ-KAR
Kostanay Region	Kostanay	196,001	0,885,570	4.518	KZ-KUS
Kyzylorda Region	Kyzylorda	226,019	0,678,794	3.003	KZ-KZY
Mangystau Region	Aktau	165,642	0,485,392	2.930	KZ-MAN
North Kazakhstan Region	Petropavl	097,993	0,596,535	6.088	KZ-SEV
Pavlodar Region	Pavlodar	124,800	0,742,475	5.948	KZ-PAV
Shymkent	Shymkent	0,1,170	0,603,499		KZ-
Turkistan Region	Turkistan	117,249	2,469,357	21.06	KZ-TUR
West Kazakhstan Region	Oral	151,339	0,598,880	3.957	KZ-ZAP

Former administrative boundaries

Change of oblast names and boundaries from 1954 to today

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 Russian population in the resulting region and to avoid having regions where Russians form a majority.[2]

References

1. https://www.liportal.de/fileadmin/user_upload/oeffentlich/Kasachstan/40_gesellschaft/Kaz2009_Analytical_report.pdf
2. Bologov, Pyotr (25 August 2016). "Три угрозы для Назарбаева: насколько стабилен Казахстан" (in Russian). carnegie.ru. Retrieved 29 August 2016.

Sources

• GeoHive