# Oral, Kazakhstan

Oral (Kazakh: Орал, pronounced ), also known as Uralsk (Russian: Уральск, IPA:), is a city in northwestern Kazakhstan, at the confluence of the Ural and Chagan rivers close to the Russian border. As it is located on the western bank of the Ural river, it is considered geographically in Europe. It is the capital of the West Kazakhstan Region. The ethnic composition is majority Kazakh (71%), followed by the second-largest ethnic group Russians (25%). Population: 271,900 (2009 Census results); 194,905 (1999 Census results).

## Sport

FC Akzhayik are a Kazakhstani football club based in Petr Atoyan Stadium.
Bandy 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 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 took the gold medal at the 2011 Asian Winter Games, the team came back to Oral in triumph.

## Geography
### Climate

The climate of Oral is humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfa, Trewartha Dcac) with long cold winters and warm, often hot summers. Summers are extremely hot considering its position north of the 51st parallel, but winters are more reminiscent of continental climates further east than Europe.
Climate data for Oral (1991–2020, extremes 1839–present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) | 6.9 (44.4) | 22.1 (71.8) | 31.1 (88.0) | 37.8 (100.0) | 41.8 (107.2) | 42.0 (107.6) | 42.3 (108.1) | 38.8 (101.8) | 28.0 (82.4) | 18.0 (64.4) | 8.2 (46.8) | 42.3 (108.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −6.7 (19.9) | −5.9 (21.4) | 1.2 (34.2) | 14.7 (58.5) | 23.2 (73.8) | 28.1 (82.6) | 30.2 (86.4) | 29.0 (84.2) | 21.9 (71.4) | 12.5 (54.5) | 2.1 (35.8) | −4.7 (23.5) | 12.1 (53.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −10.4 (13.3) | −10.3 (13.5) | −3.3 (26.1) | 8.3 (46.9) | 16.3 (61.3) | 21.1 (70.0) | 23.2 (73.8) | 21.5 (70.7) | 14.6 (58.3) | 6.7 (44.1) | −1.6 (29.1) | −8.2 (17.2) | 6.5 (43.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −14.1 (6.6) | −14.5 (5.9) | −7.4 (18.7) | 2.6 (36.7) | 9.3 (48.7) | 13.9 (57.0) | 16.0 (60.8) | 14.2 (57.6) | 8.3 (46.9) | 2.1 (35.8) | −4.7 (23.5) | −11.6 (11.1) | 1.2 (34.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −43.1 (−45.6) | −40.5 (−40.9) | −35.2 (−31.4) | −24.3 (−11.7) | −6.8 (19.8) | −1.1 (30.0) | 4.3 (39.7) | 0.4 (32.7) | −7.6 (18.3) | −19.2 (−2.6) | −32.6 (−26.7) | −39.2 (−38.6) | −43.1 (−45.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 25.2 (0.99) | 20.8 (0.82) | 25.0 (0.98) | 24.2 (0.95) | 31.4 (1.24) | 32.0 (1.26) | 38.9 (1.53) | 22.2 (0.87) | 27.4 (1.08) | 37.1 (1.46) | 26.8 (1.06) | 27.0 (1.06) | 338 (13.3) |
| Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) | 20 (7.9) | 29 (11) | 23 (9.1) | 2 (0.8) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (1.2) | 10 (3.9) | 29 (11) |
| Average rainy days | 5 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 103 |
| Average snowy days | 20 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 80 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 83 | 81 | 81 | 65 | 55 | 57 | 58 | 57 | 61 | 73 | 83 | 83 | 70 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 84 | 120 | 165 | 227 | 314 | 304 | 324 | 293 | 220 | 136 | 64 | 65 | 2,316 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 2.7 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 7.6 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.5 | 9.5 | 7.3 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 6.3 |
| Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (sun, 1961–1990), Deutscher Wetterdienst (daily sun 1961-1990) ||||||||||||||

## Notable people
### Arts, literature, and entertainment

* Bayan Maksatkyzy (1974), a Kazakh producer, television presenter, actress, and singer.