Semey

Town in northeastern Kazakhstan, capital of the Semey oblast (region), a communications centre located at the junction of the Irtysh River and the Turksib railway, 680 km/423 mi southeast of Omsk in the Russian Federation; population (2004) 268,500. Industries include ship repair, engineering, meat-packing, tanning, and flour milling, and the surrounding region is an important mining area producing nickel and chromium. The fertile steppe land to the northwest yields wool and livestock, which are traded in the city.

The Polygon nuclear weapons testing ground, the foremost such facility in the USSR, was situated 150 km/93 mi west of Semey in the Kyzyl-Kum desert; it was closed following popular protest in 1989–91.

Semey was founded in 1718 as a Russian frontier post and moved to its present site in 1776. In 1917, Semey was the capital of the shortlived Alash Orda independent Kazakh state, suppressed by the Bolsheviks.

Semey

Oblast (region) in northeastern Kazakhstan, bordered on the north by the Russian Federation and on the southeast by China; area 179,600 sq km/69,344 sq mi; population (1996) 842,000. The capital is Semey. Wheat and millet are grown, and there is stock-breeding. Metals, including gold and uranium, are mined.

The region contains extensive steppe lands. The Chingiz-Tau hills are in the centre, and lakes Sasykkol and Ayakol lie in the south. The region is drained by the Irtysh and Ayaguz rivers. It is traversed north–south by the Turksib railway. Cities include Charsk and Ayaguz.

The Semey region was the site of the main testing ground (at the ‘Polygon’, in the west of the oblast) for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons; tests were abandoned after popular protest in 1989. Since independence, Kazakhstan declared itself a non-nuclear power.