Shalkar ( kk, , ''Şalqar'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the administrative center of

Shalkar District Shalkar ( kk, Шалқар ауданы, ) is a Districts of Kazakhstan, district of Aktobe Region in Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Shalkar. Population: Geography The Shalkar Basin and a number of lakes ...

in Aktobe Region of western

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 ...

. Population:

Geography

The town is located in the southeastern sector of the Aktobe Region near the northern end of the Greater Barsuki Desert, close to Lake Shalkar.

History

Shalkar (Chelkar) was founded in 1870 as a settlement. At the time, Chelkar was a part of

Irgizsky Uyezd Irgizsky Uyezd (''Ирги́зский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Turgay Oblast of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southwestern part of the oblast. Its administrative centre was Irgiz (Yrgyz). Demographics At the tim ...

of Turgay Oblast and was connected to

Yrgyz Yrgyz ( kz, Ырғыз, ''Yrğyz'') is a selo in Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan. It is located by the Irgiz River. Yrgyz serves as the administrative center of Yrgyz District.National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intell ...

by a road. In the 1900s, the railroad connecting

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

and

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

was built. Chelkar became an important railway station. Between 1905 and 1907 the station building, the locomotive depot, as well as other facilities including a school and a hospital, were built. In 1918, Chelkar was an area of battles during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. In 1920, Turgay Oblast was transformed to

Turgay Governorate Turgay is a Turkish given name for males. People named Turgay include: * Turgay Avcı, Turkish Cypriot politician * Turgay Bahadır, Turkish-Austrian footballer * Turgay Gemicibasi, Turkish footballer * Turgay Semercioğlu, Turkish footballer * Tu ...

, and in 1921, it was abolished and included into Orenburg-Turgay Governorate. On May 26, 1921 Irgizsky District, a successor of Irgizsky Uyezd, was transferred to Aktyubinsk Governorate of Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. On July 5, 1922 the district was abolished, and Shalkar became the administrative center of Chelkarsky Uyezd. In 1925, the republic was renamed Kazak Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic. On January 17, 1928 the governorate was abolished, and Chelkar was transferred to Aktyubinsk Okrug. The uyezds were abolished as well, and Chelkarsky Raion (District) was established. In 1928, Shalkar was granted a town status. On December 17, 1930 the okrug was abolished, and the districts became directly subordinate to the republic. In 1932, Aktobe Region was established, and in 1936, the republic was transformed into Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 1930s Shalkar became a place for political exile, in particular, from Saint Petersburg.

Economy

Industry

Shalkar is mostly serving the railway; there is a carriage repair plant. There are also food industry enterprises.

Transportation

Shalkar is a railway station on the Trans-Aral Railway, which connects

and

. A branch line connects to Beyneu, from where trains can continue to various destinations, including the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

port of Aktau. It is also connected to Irgiz by a road. This connection provides an access to the E38 highway between

Aktobe Aktobe ( kz, Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe; russian: Актобе, Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people. Aktobe is located in the west of K ...

and

Shymkent Shymkent (; Шымкент, Şymkent), known until 1993 as Chimkent ( uz, Çımkent, چىمكېنت; Yañalif: Çimkent ()); russian: Чимкент, translit=Chimkent (), is a city in Kazakhstan. It is near the border with Uzbekistan. It is one ...

Sport

A team was sent to the 2014 Youth

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 ...

Championship of Kazakhstan and also to the first round of the National Rink Bandy Championships in 2015 for players born in 1999-2000, held in

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 oral ...

References

External links

{{Aktobe Region Populated places in Aktobe Region