Qostanay

Town and capital of Qostanay oblast (region), northern Kazakhstan, 430 km/267 mi southwest of Petropavlosk; population (1995 est) 250,000. Situated on the River Tobol, Qostanay is at the centre of the important Qostanay Basin iron-ore region, and is also a market centre for a productive agricultural area (mainly wheat). Alongside its iron-ore smelting facilities, the city has phosphate fertilizer works, and food-processing plants.

Qostanay was a major centre of the ‘Virgin Lands Campaign’ instigated by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950s in northern Kazakhstan in order to boost grain production.

Qostanay

Oblast (region) in northern Kazakhstan; area 114,600 sq km/44,247 sq mi; population (1996) 1,022,800. The capital is Qostanay. There is extensive opencast mining of iron ore; also gold mining, smelting, and production of phosphate fertilizer and agricultural machinery. The region is a major producer of wheat.

The province lies southeast of the Urals, with a steppe zone under extensive prairie cultivation. There are large deposits of iron ore in the Qostanay Basin. The main river is the Tobol. Cities include Dzhetygara and Rudnyy.