Konaev ( kk, Қонаев; russian: Конаев), previously known as Kapchagay ( kk, Қапчағай, links=no; russian: Капшагай, links=no or ), is a city with the

Almaty Region Almaty Region ( kk, Алматы облысы, Almaty oblysy; russian: Алматинская область, Almatinskaya oblast) is a region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Its capital, from 1997 to 2022 was the ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. It is located on the

Ili River The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

, and has been built along with the construction of Kapshagay Dam on that river in the 1960s. The dam has formed

Kapchagay Reservoir Kapchagay Reservoir, also spelled Qapshaghay Bogeni Reservoir and sometimes referred to as Lake Kapchagay, is a major reservoir in Almaty Region in southeastern Kazakhstan, approximately 80 kilometres north of Almaty. The 140 kilometre long lake ...

(a.k.a. Lake Kapshagai), a popular weekend destination for beach-goers from

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

. Population: Many of Konaev's inhabitants fled the city after the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, but its population saw a resurgence in 2000 and has since returned to pre-dissolution numbers. President

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( kk, Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев, Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 J ...

's reforms of 17 March 2022 included provisions which renamed Kapshagay to Konaev (after

Dinmukhamed Kunaev Dinmukhamed Akhmetuly "Dimash" Kunaev (also spelled Kunayev; kk, Дінмұхаммед (Димаш) Ахметұлы Қонаев, Dınmūhammed (Dimaş) Ahmetūly Qonaev, russian: Динмухаме́д Ахме́дович (Минлиахме ...

) and made the city the new capital of

following its old capital,

Taldykorgan Taldykorgan ( kk, Талдықорған/Taldyqorğan; russian: Талдыкорган), known as ''Taldy-Kurgan'' until 1993, is the capital (called an administrative center) of Zhetysu Region, Kazakhstan. According to the 2010 Kazakh Census Res ...

, being separated from the region and becoming the capital of the newly-created Zhetysu Region.

Geography

It is located on the shore of the Kapchagai reservoir, on the

near its intersection with the railway, 76 km north of

Administrative divisions

# the city of Konaev; # Zarechny rural district; # Shengeldinsky rural district.

References

Cities and towns in Kazakhstan Populated places in Almaty Region Populated places established in the 1960s {{Kazakhstan-geo-stub

Geography

Administrative divisions

See also

References