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West Kazakhstan Province

West Kazakhstan Region
Батыс Қазақстан облысы
Западно-Казахстанская область
Region
Steppe of western Kazakhstan in the early spring.jpg
Coat of arms of West Kazakhstan Region
Coat of arms
Map of Kazakhstan, location of West Kazakhstan Region highlighted
Map of Kazakhstan, location of West Kazakhstan Region highlighted
Coordinates: 51°14′N 51°22′E / 51.233°N 51.367°E / 51.233; 51.367Coordinates: 51°14′N 51°22′E / 51.233°N 51.367°E / 51.233; 51.367
Country  Kazakhstan
Capital Oral
Government
 • Akim Altay Kul'ginov
Area
 • Total 151,339 km2 (58,432 sq mi)
Population (2013-02-01)
 • Total 618,261
 • Density 4.1/km2 (11/sq mi)
Time zone West (UTC+5)
 • Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+5)
Postal codes 090000
Area codes +7 (711)
ISO 3166 code KZ-ZAP
Vehicle registration 07, L
Districts 12
Cities 2
Villages 512
Website bko.gov.kz

West Kazakhstan Region (Kazakh: Батыс Қазақстан облысы, Batıs Qazaqstan oblısı) is a region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Oral (also known as Uralsk and Ural'sk), a city of about 200,000 inhabitants.

The region borders Russia and is near the Ural Mountains. The Ural River is the border between Asia and Europe and flows from Russia to the Caspian Sea through the region, meaning western West Kazakhstan is in Eastern Europe. It also borders the regions of Atyrau (to the south) and Aktobe (to the east).

It is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

West Kazakhstan has an ethnic Kazakh population of 69.8% and a significant Russian minority of 27.4% of the population. The number of Ukrainians, Poles and Germans are very low due to the geography.

The region is divided into twelve districts and the city of Oral.

Two localities in the region have town status. These are Oral and Aksay.

The capital Oral is home to Kazakhstan's only professional bandy club, Akzhaiyk. In 2016 the national championship was won by the regional team.


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