Berel' (

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: ''Берел'') is a village in

Katonkaragay District Katonkaragay, also spelled Katon-Karagay () is a district of East Kazakhstan Region in eastern Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small ...

East Kazakhstan Region East Kazakhstan Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. It occupies the easternmost part of Kazakhstan, and includes parts of the Irtysh River, Lake Markakol, and Lake Zaysan. Its administrative center is Öskemen (also known as Ust'-Kamenogorsk ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, located at the confluence of the Belaya Berel and

Bukhtarma The Bukhtarma (, بۇقتىرما, ; ) is a river of Kazakhstan. It flows through East Kazakhstan Region, and is a right tributary of the Irtysh. The river is long, with a basin area of .

rivers.

History

Berel' is rumoured to have existed since the 7th century,https://www.kazmab.kz/images/pdf/brochure_katon_karagay_eng.pdf but official records indicate that the village was incorporated into the Katonkaragay district in 1928, becoming a

selsoviet A selsoviet (; , ; ) is the shortened name for Selsky soviet, i.e., rural council (; ; ). It has three closely related meanings: *The administration (''soviet (council), soviet'') of a certain rural area. *The territorial subdivision administered ...

with its own primary school. The selsoviet was merged with another selsoviet "Uryl" in 1957. The village has not been municipally independent since. Hydrological observatories in Berel' have been used to study the Beleya Berel river starting in 1958. And following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there have also been tensions over land redistribution and disagreement among the villagers over whether farms around Berel' should be state-owned or privatized, caused by frequent yellow fever and

brucellosis Brucellosis is a zoonosis spread primarily via ingestion of raw milk, unpasteurized milk from infected animals. It is also known as undulant fever, Malta fever, and Mediterranean fever. The bacteria causing this disease, ''Brucella'', are small ...

outbreaks among the village's cattle - prompting Kazakh politician Sairov Erlan Biyahmetovich to meet with 20 activists from the village in 2022. The population of Berel' has fallen considerably since 1999, when it originally had 863 inhabitants, then 568 in 2009 (300 men and 268 women), then 398 in 2010. As of 2021, the village still has 398 residents (205 men and 193 women). In 2022, the main road that connected Berel' to the rest of Kazakhstan was temporarily closed down due to an avalanche. Berel_pop

Tourism and economy

Berel' is considered a control point for tourists visiting East Kazakhstan, with tourism and agriculture being the main drivers of its economy. As such, there is an agricultural cooperative, a community center, a rural library, a secondary school and a small community-owned tourist shop in Berel' that sells locally produced products, milk, cheese, jam, and other products. Several kilometres southwest of Berel' is a group of kurgan archaeological sites from 5th to 3rd century BCE, containing golden jewellery owned by Early Saka nomads at the time, with some of the artifacts located in Berel''s local museum. Along with several other parties, Berel' residents expressed strong support for and authorized excavation studies of the site to be undertaken both in 1998 and in 2019. In 2023, an environmental charity named Green Destinations assisted Berel' residents to set up their own community-based tourism industry with an emphasis on sustainability, continuing the local government's investment into Berel''s tourism industry two years prior.

References

{{reflist Populated places in East Kazakhstan Region