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 and Chagan rivers close to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

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 ca ...

. 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 Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

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 ...

. 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 part ...

(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 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, nota ...

, 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- ...

(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 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 ...

club based in Petr Atoyan Stadium.

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 Akzhayik Sports Club ( kk, Aqjаi'yq spоrt kly'by) is a bandy team in Kazakhstan, which is the only professional team in the country and plays in the second highest division of Russia, the Russian Bandy Supreme League. Their home arena is St ...

, 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 bought the club. The city sent a team to the Spartakiade 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. Ka ...

took the gold medal at the

2011 Asian Winter Games ) , Host city = Astana & Almaty, Kazakhstan , Nations participating = 26Video 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