Oral ( kz, Орал, translit=Oral ), known in Russian as Uralsk, is a city in northwestern

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 ...

, at the confluence of the

Ural Ural may refer to: *Ural (region), in Russia and Kazakhstan *Ural Mountains, in Russia and Kazakhstan *Ural (river), in Russia and Kazakhstan * Ual (tool), a mortar tool used by the Bodo people of India *Ural Federal District, in Russia *Ural econ ...

and Chagan rivers close to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

. As it is located on the western bank of the Ural river, it is considered geographically in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. It is the capital of the

West Kazakhstan Region West Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Батыс Қазақстан облысы, translit=Batys Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Западно-Казахстанская область, translit=Zapadno-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan. The re ...

. The ethnic composition is dominated by

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...

(71%) and

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

(25%). Population:

Geography

Climate

The climate of Oral is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

with long cold winters and warm, often hot summers. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Oral has a cold

semiarid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(Köppen ''Bsk''). Summers are extremely hot considering its position north of the 51st parallel, but winters are more reminiscent of continental climates further east than Europe.

Sport

FC Akzhayik FC Akzhayik ( kk, Aqjaıyq Oral Fýtbol Klýby) is a Kazakhstani professional football club, based in Oral, current member of the Kazakhstan First Division. History Names *1968 : Founded as ''Uralets'' *1993 : The club was renamed ''Uralets-Ar ...

are a Kazakhstani

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Petr Atoyan Stadium Petr Atoyan Stadium is a football stadium in Oral, Kazakhstan. It is the home stadium of FC Akzhayik of the Kazakhstan Premier League and was opened 1927. The stadium holds 8,320 spectators. In 1996 it was renamed Petr Atojan, an honorary citiz ...

Bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

is the principal sport in the city. Akzhayik Sports Club, based in the Yunost Stadium, is the only professional team in the country and plays in the second highest division of Russia. In September 2017, the

Kazakhstan Bandy Federation Kazakhstan Bandy Federation (Qazaqstan Bendı Federatsııasy) is the governing body for the sport of bandy in Kazakhstan. It is based in Nur-Sultan. Its president is Oralbay Zhaksymbetov, while Vladimir Pashkovsky is Vice-President. Bandy has bee ...

bought the club. The city sent a team to the

Spartakiade The Spartakiad (or Spartakiade) was an international sports event that was sponsored by the Soviet Union. Five international Spartakiades were held from 1928 to 1937. Later Spartakiads were organized as national sport events of the Eastern Bloc ...

2009 and the finished second. All the players of the Under-23 national team in the 2013–14 season came from Oral. After the

Kazakhstan national bandy team The Kazakh national bandy team has been representing Kazakhstan in the Bandy World Championships since 1995. Kazakhstan finished third in 2003, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2011 and 2012 they lost the semifinals after extra-time. K ...

took the gold medal at the 2011 Asian Winter Games, the team came back to Oral in triumph.Video from the triumphant homecoming

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or or ...

Cities and towns in Kazakhstan Populated places in West Kazakhstan Region Ural Oblast (Russian Empire) Populated places established in 1613 1613 establishments in Russia