Balkhash (city)

Balkhash (; ) is a city in the Qaraghandy Region of Kazakhstan, it is on the shore of Lake Balqash. It has a population of almost 78,000 people (as of 2023). Previously, the name of the city was Pribalkhashstroi ().

The city area also includes four settlements: Gulshat, Sayak, Saryshagan and Shashubai.

History

Early history

Copper was found the area in 1928. This led to the city being built. Small settlements for workers were built around the Balkhash mining and metallurgical plant.

On April 11, 1937, Balkhash became a city. The plan of the city was designed by the Leningrad Research and Design Institute of Urban Planning. People from all over the Soviet Union took part in the construction of the city and the copper plant. The Balkhash construction project was then called the “Balkhash Giant”, and it was prestigious to work on the construction. This can be confirmed by the words of the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR, Levon Mirzoyan: “Years will pass, the construction of the Balkhash giant will end, and a person who says that he spent five years on this construction site will be treated with great respect. Anyone who works on Balkhash , earns an honorable position in the country".

On January 12, 1936, the first house with a large number of floors for living was built in the city. A significant part of the workers moved to comfortable apartments.

For the period from 1938 to 1941, the government invested 550 million Soviet rubles in the construction of the city, of which 122 millions were for the construction of houses for living. The city began to develop very fast.

In the 1940s, about 40,000 people lived in this city. There was a copper factory and the Kounrad mine, a meat processing plant, a bread factory, fishing companies, and a beer production plant. Much attention was paid to the development of agriculture and gardening. There were no universities, but there were 2 technical schools and 5 secondary and 10 primary schools. In total, about 2000 people studied there. There was a newspaper "Balkhash Worker" in two languages. Several bus routes were opened throughout the city.

Great Patriotic War

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the territory of the USSR, this became the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

During the Great Patriotic War (the Russian name for World War II), most of the men went to war and women replaced them at the copper factory. 11,532 people of Balkhash fought during the war.

A system of distributing goods by cards was introduced. There was a shortage of goods in the country. Residents of the city were given cards for bread, sugar and other goods. Workshop managers were required to work at full productivity and use the patriotic desires of the workers.

Post-war time

After the war, Japanese prisoners of war constructed the city. For example, they built the buildings of the Palace of Metallurgists and the airport.

In April 1987, the city was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples (en).

In the end of the 1990s, the situation in the city (as well as in the country’s economy) stabilized. Schools, clinics, and technical schools started to work stably.

Geography

The city is located on the northern coast of the Lake Balkash.

The city is located about 500 km west of the border with China and about 300 km south of Qaraghandy, the administrative center of the region.

70 kilometers north of Balkhash is the mountainous area of Bektau-Ata. The highest point is 1213 m above sea level. 

Balkhash has a continental climate. Winters here are very cold and summers are very hot. The average annual temperature in the city is 6.3 °C (43.3 °F). 

The average winter temperature is -11.7 °C (10.7 °F)  and the average summer temperature is 22.9 °C (73.2 °F):

Population

The population was highest in 1989, when 100,533 people lived in the city.

As of 2023, there are 73739 people living in Balkhash and 77787 people are living in the urban area of the city. The population density is 320 people per km².

Year1959 1970 1979 1989 1999 2009 2012 Population       

People of more than 60 nationalities live in Balkhash. This is because when the city was built, people came here from all over the Soviet Union. Also in the 30-40s, some peoples who were repressed were brought here.

Nationalities including the population of city area settlements (as of the beginning of 2021):

 Ethnicity Population Percentage Kazakhs   72,00 %  Russians    22,30 % Koreans  1,32 % Germans    1,23 %  Tatars   1,05 %  Ukrainians    0,75 %  Uzbeks   0,25 %  Chechens    0,20 %  Azerbaijanis    0,17 %  Belarusians    0,13 %  others    1,27 % Total   100,00 %

Most of the city's people are Muslim Kazakhs. There is a central mosque in the city under the control of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan.

There is also a Russian Orthodox Church and a Catholic Church in the city.

 Economy 

In 2023, the city received 7.4 trillion tenge in taxes.

Balkhash is an important transit city linking Almaty and Astana, the country's two largest cities.

Balkhash is one of the most important centers of metallurgy in Kazakhstan. A large copper area, discovered in 1928-30, is being mined in villages north of the lake, such as Konyrat and Sayak. From there, copper is transported to the Balkhash plant.

In 1967, at the London International Exhibition, Balkhash copper was recognized as the world standard of copper.

Popular recreational activities on Lake Balkhash are beach tourism and water sports: sailing, kayaking and canoeing, and sport fishing.

 Gallery 

 References 

Category:Cities and towns in Kazakhstan
Category:Karaganda Region