Qaraghandy

Qaraghandy, Russian Karaganda, oblysy (region), central Kazakhstan. It lies mostly in the Kazakh Uplands in a dry steppe zone, rising gradually in elevation eastward to a maximum in the Karkaraly Mountains of 5,115 feet (1,559 m). The principal rivers, the Nura and Sarysu, are in the west, in the Musbel lowland. The climate is continental (tending to extremes) and dry, with severe winters, marked by prolonged snowstorms and hurricane-force winds. The principal economic resource of the region is the Qaraghandy coal basin, although manganese, tungsten, molybdenum, and lead and zinc are also mined; other mineral resources of the region include barite, nickel, iron ore, and copper.

Spring wheat and fodder grasses are grown, and sheep, horses, and camels are bred in more arid regions of the west. Dairying, truck gardening, and the cultivation of millet are carried on around Qaraghandy city but must be supported by irrigation, the water being brought by canal from the Irtysh (Ertis) River, which also supplies the city’s industry. Although large-scale industrialization began only about 1930, partly through the use of forced labour, Qaraghandy is now a major industrial centre of Kazakhstan. The chief cities, after Qaraghandy, the capital, are Temirtau, Zhezqazghan (formerly the capital of Zhezqazghan oblast, which was absorbed by Qaraghandy in a territorial reorganization in 1997), Shakhtinsk, Saran, Balqash, and Sätbaev. The population is about 85 percent urban, with the Kazakhs predominating. Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, and Belarusians also live there, many of the last four groups having been deported from their European homelands by Soviet authorities. Area 165,251 square miles (428,000 square km). Pop. (2008 est.) 1,342,081.