Temirtau: population and brief history

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

An industrial city in the Karaganda region in Soviet times was called "Kazakhstan Magnitka". The city-forming enterprise is the country's largest metallurgical plant JSC "ArcelorMittal", which employs a significant part of the population of Temirtau. The President of Kazakhstan, N. A. Nazarbayev, began his career here.

General information

Temirtau is a city of regional importance, the second largest after Karaganda. It is located in the Kazakh steppe, on the banks of the Nura River. To the north is the Samarkand reservoir, built to supply water to the metallurgical industry. The territory of the city covers an area of 296.1 sq. m.

Founded in 1909, the city status was granted in 1945 and at the same time received its modern name, which is translated from the Kazakh language as "iron mountain". Development is largely associated with the developmentKaraganda coal basin and the construction of a metallurgical plant. In 1988, the urban-type settlement of Aktau was included in the settlement. The population of Temirtau is 181,197 people, according to 2018 data.

Foundation of the city

In 1905, the first forty families from Samara, who came here as part of the Stolypin reform, settled on the left bank of the Nur River. The settlement was named Zhaur, after the name of a nearby hill. In 1909 it was renamed into the village of Samarkand. According to one version, because the settlement was located on the road along which sugar was transported from Samara to the Kazakh steppe (Kant in Kazakh). By 2011, the first hospital and school were operational.

After the establishment of Soviet power, a geological expedition led by academician Kanysh Satpayev worked in the region, which did not discover minerals. In reports, geologists recommended Temartau as an ideal place for the construction of a metallurgical plant.

In 1933, a water canal was built from Samarkand to the regional center to supply water to the Karaganda coal basin. In 1935, the construction of a hydroelectric complex on the Nur River began, which was supposed to close the shortage of electricity in industry. At that time, the population of Temirtau, then the village of Samarkand, was about 200 people. The first turbogenerator was commissioned in 1942.

In Soviet times

In the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, the construction of the Karaganda metallurgicalplant, which produced the first steel from an open-hearth furnace at the end of 1944. In 1945 (October 1), the Samarkand settlement was separated from the Kirovsky district of Karaganda and received the status of a city. In the post-war years (1947-1949), 22,000 Japanese prisoners of war were kept in a camp near Temirtau, who were employed in the construction of industrial and residential facilities.

In 1950, the expansion of the smelter began. The construction of new workshops was announced by the All-Union shock construction. Youth Komsomol detachments from all over the Soviet Union and socialist countries began to come to the city. The population of the city of Temirtau began to grow rapidly, by 1959 76,725 people lived here.

In 1960, the first blast furnace produced its first heat. In 1963, the VTUZ plant (now the Karaganda State Industrial University) was launched. In the 70s, the city grew rapidly and improved, new residential districts, the Palace of Metallurgists and a sports complex were built.

By 1970, the population of Temirtau had more than doubled to 166,479 people. In subsequent years, due to the increase in metallurgical production and the construction of new industrial enterprises, the number of residents continued to grow rapidly. In the last Soviet year, the population of Temirtau reached its highest ever mark of 213,100.

In independent Kazakhstan

In the first years after gaining independence in the city, as well as throughout the post-Soviet space,the crisis began. Many industrial enterprises began to close, the metallurgical plant did not work at full capacity. The population of Temirtau (Kazakhstan) began to decline sharply, many Russian-speaking families left for Russia. By 1999, the population had dropped to 170,481.

In 1995, the city-forming enterprise was transferred to a group controlled by Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal. After stabilization of the economic situation in the country, the population of Temirtau is growing steadily, by 2018 it exceeded the number of 180,000 people.