Aksu, Kazakhstan

Aksu Ақсу
city
Flag Seal
Aksu Location in Kazakhstan
Coordinates: 52°02′0″N 76°55′0″E / 52.03333°N 76.91667°E / 52.03333; 76.91667
Country	Kazakhstan
Region	Pavlodar Region
Population (2013)
• Total	69,354
Climate	Dfb

Aksu (Kazakh: Ақсу / Aqsw), literally meaning the white river, formerly known as Yermak (Russian: Ермак, until 1993), is a city in Kazakhstan, in Pavlodar Region, located 50 km to the south of Pavlodar on the left bank of the Irtysh River. The municipality borders Aktogay District in the north, Bayanaul District, May District, Lebyazhye District in the south, Pavlodar District in the west, and city of Ekibastuz in the east. Population of the municipality: 67,665 (2009 Census results); 73,165 (1999 Census results). Population of the town: 41,677 (2009 Census results); 42,264 (1999 Census results).

History of Yermak is related to discovery of coal deposits in the vicinity of Ekibastuz. In 1897, construction of a 110 km railroad from Ekibastuz commanced. The Voskresensk railroad crossed the area of the future town. A wharf was erected where the railroad reached the Irtysh River, and two settlements appeared: an administrative settlement and a workers settlement. The newcomers had to build their houses using local materials: clay, reed and thatch. In this way, at the turn of the 20th century a small village made of wattle-and-daub houses arose close to Kazakh Aul No. 5 in the Kyzyl-Shyrpy Stow. The village was known under the name of Glinka (from Russian 'глина' - clay). The population of Glinka gradually increased, most intensively after the riots of 1906, when out-migrants poured into the Kazakh and Siberian steppe.

In 1911, the population of the workers settlement reached 1000. In 1913, by an order of the Governor of the Steppe Krai, Glinka was renamed as Yermak in memory of Yermak Timofeyevich, the 16th-century Russian conqueror of Western Siberia. Both the Voskresensk Wharf and the Glinka village became parts of what was now called the Yermak settlement.

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