Oskemen

**Oskemen** (), or **Ust-Kamenogorsk** () an *Ust-Kamennaya* (Roushie: *Усть-Каменная*, till 1868), is the caipital o the East Kazakhstan Province. It is served bi the Ust-Kamenogorsk Airport.

## History
Foondit in 1720 at the confluence o the Irtysh an Ulba rivers as a fort an tradin post namit *Ust-Kamennaya*. The ceety wis established in 1720 accordin tae the order o the Roushie Emperor Peter the Great, who sent a militar expedition heidit bi major Ivan Vasilievich Likharev in the search o Yarkenda gowd. Likharev’s expedition directit up the Irtysh river tae Zaysan Lake. Thare, at the confluence o the Ulba an the Irtysh rivers the new fortress wis laid – the Ust-Kamennaya Fortress. The Ust-Kamennaya Fortress appeared on the cairt o the Roushie Empire, the vera soothren end o the Irtysh line. In 1868 the ceety became the caipital o the Semipalatinsk Oblast. It wis the steid o Georgy Malenkov's 30-year internal exile, durin which he managed a local hydroelectric plant.

The ceety developed intae a major minin an metallurgical center durin the Soviet period. Minin o non-ferrous metals, especially uranium, beryllium, tantalum, copper, leid, siller an zinc remain important. It is a center for the construction industry producin manufactured hoosin an ferroconcrete articles. The post-war industrial history o the ceety is vera closely intertwined wi the Soviet nuclear bomb project, an the ceey wis therefore kept closed tae ootsiders. Ane o the main industrial enterprises, the Ulba Metal Works (UMW) which produced an still produce uranium products, wis kept entirely secret despite it employin thoosans o wirkers. An explosion at the UMW's beryllium production line in 1990 led tae the diffusion o a heichlie toxic beryllium-containin "cloud" ower the ceety. The health effects o this incident are no entirely kent, pairtly due tae the fact that the incident wis kept secret bi the Soviet authorities.

## Economy
Unner the name o the Ust-Kamenogorsk Lock, the heichest lock in the warld lies at Ablaketka whaur it allous river traffic tae pass aroond a hydroelectric dam on the Irtysh river. It haes a drop o mair nor 40m.

Syne the openin o the Three Gorges locks, the upper lock o that five-lock cascade is theoretically on a par wi this lock, but its full drop will be uised anerlie in extreme cases, while the Ust-Kamenogorsk lock is designed for permanent uise at this heicht.

## Sports
* Kazzinc-Torpedo: an ice hockey team. Alma mater o NHL players: Nikolai Antropov, Vitaly Kolesnik, Konstantin Pushkarev an Alexander Perezhogin. In addition, Evgeni Nabokov is a umwhile goaltender for the San Jose Sharks. Kazzinc-Torpedo is currently playin in Roushie Vysshaya Liga.
* FC Vostok: fitbaa club, currently playin in Kazakhstan First Diveesion
* The ceety sent a bandy team tae the Spartakiade 2009 an finished third.

## Religion

There are 32 releegious unions, presentin 15 releegious confessions includin Muslim, Christian an non-traditional releegions. There are 21 cultural biggins in the ceety: amang them mosques an Orthodox Christian kirks.

## Transport
*Airport o Ust-Kamenogorsk

## Notable residents
*Max Birbraer, ice hockey player draftit bi NHL team (New Jersey Devils)

## See also
* Project Sapphire

## Notes

## Freemit airtins
*Oskemen Virtual ceety tour