Kazakhstan Districts

Under the 20 regions of Kazakhstan sit 218 districts and cities, from the districts of Almaty that fit in a few square kilometres to Ulytau District, which is bigger than Hungary. This is the full list, grouped by the region each one belongs to.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: Region: the 17 regions and the three cities of republican significance
First run: Almaty Region, around the largest city
In the game: 218 districts

Start

What you are looking at

The districts (audan) and the cities under regional authority, which are the second tier of the country. A name that ends in "District" is a district; a name on its own is a city of regional significance, such as Aktau, Atyrau or Kostanay. The map draws both the same way, because both are answers.

The game lists Astana, Almaty and Shymkent by their city districts, since the cities are regions of their own. That is how the file carries them, and it is why the smallest answers on the map are the districts of Almaty.

The map is uneven. The south and the north are carved fine, with Kostanay Region alone holding twenty districts, and the middle of the country is carved coarsely: Ulytau District, in the region of the same name, is the largest answer by far.

Four names are used more than once. There is an Abay District in Abay Region and another in Karaganda Region, an Aktogay District in Pavlodar and Karaganda, an Esil District in Akmola and North Kazakhstan, and a Zhambyl District in three regions. They are told apart in brackets. Baikonur is both a city in Kyzylorda Region, the one that holds the cosmodrome, and a district of Astana.

The groups are the regions, so the game lets you drill them one at a time. It opens on Almaty Region, so the first run is ten districts rather than the whole country. Each region answers under the same name in Kazakhstan Regions.

How to place one

Pick one region and learn it. Almaty Region is the first run, and Ulytau Region, with five, is the shortest.
Learn the cities first. A city is named once, on its own, and they are the part of the country you already know: Karaganda, Pavlodar, Kostanay, Aktobe, Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk.
Follow the rivers. The Ural, the Irtysh, the Syr Darya and the Ili cross several districts each, and the districts line up along them.
Treat the centre as the empty half. Its districts are large, so they are the quickest to place.

Every district, by region

Aktobe Region13 districts: Aktobe, Alga District, Ayteke Bi District, Bayganin District, Kargaly District, Khromtau District, Kobda District, Martuk District, Mugalzhar District, Oiyl District, Shalkar District, Temir District, Yrgyz District
Karaganda Region13 districts: Abay District (Karaganda Region), Aktogay District (Karaganda Region), Balkhash, Bukhar-Zhyrau District, Karaganda, Karkaraly District, Nura District, Osakarov District, Priozersk, Saran, Shakhtinsk, Shet District, Termitau
Kostanay Region20 districts: Altynsarin District, Amangeldi District, Arqalyk, Auliekol District, Denisov District, Fyodorovsky District, Kamysty District, Karabalyk District, Karasu District, Kostanay, Kostanay District, Lisakovsk, Mendykara District, Nauyrzym District, Rudnyy, Sarykol District, Taran District, Uzunkol District, Zhangeldin District, Zhetikara District
Turkistan Region16 districts: Arys, Baydibek District, Kazygurt District, Keles District, Kentau, Maktaaral District, Ordabasy District, Otyrar District, Saryagash District, Sayram District, Shardara District, Sozak District, Tole Bi District, Tulkibas District, Turkestan, Zhetisay District
Almaty Region10 districts: Balkhash District, Enbekshikazakh District, Ile District, Karasay District, Kegen District, Konaev, Raiymbek District, Talgar District, Uygur District, Zhambyl District (Almaty Region)
Atyrau Region8 districts: Atyrau, Inder District, Isatay District, Kurmangazy District, Kyzylkoga District, Makat District, Makhambet District, Zhylyoi District
Pavlodar Region13 districts: Aksu, Aktogay District (Pavlodar Region), Bayanaul District, Ekibastuz, Ertis District, Lebyazhye District, May District, Pavlodar, Pavlodar District, Sharbaqty District, Terenkol District, Uspen District, Zhelezin District
Kyzylorda Region9 districts: Aral District, Baikonur, Karmakshy District, Kazaly District, Kyzylorda, Shieli District, Syrdariya District, Zhalagash District, Zhanakorgan District
Akmola Region19 districts: Akkol District, Arshaly District, Astrakhan District, Atbasar District, Birzhan Sal District, Bulandy District, Burabay District, Egindikol District, Ereymentau District, Esil District (Akmola Region), Kokshetau, Korgalzhyn District, Sandyktau District, Shortandy District, Stepnogorsk, Tselinograd District, Zerendi District, Zhaksy District, Zharkain District
Mangystau Region7 districts: Aktau, Beyneu District, Karakiya District, Mangystau District, Munaily District, Tupkaragan District, Zhanaozen
East Kazakhstan Region11 districts: Altai District, Glubokoe District, Katonkaragay District, Kurshim District, Ridder, Samara District, Shemonaikha District, Tarbagatay District, Ulan District, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Zaysan District
Jambyl Region11 districts: Bayzak District, Korday District, Merki District, Moiynkum District, Sarysu District, Shu District, Talas District, Taraz, Turar Ryskulov District, Zhambyl District (Jambyl Region), Zhualy District
West Kazakhstan Region13 districts: Akzhaik District, Bokey Orda District, Borili District, Karatobe District, Kaztal District, Shyngyrlau District, Syrym District, Taskala District, Terekti District, Uralsk, Zelenov District, Zhanakala District, Zhanybek District
Ulytau Region5 districts: Jezkazgan, Karazhal, Satbayev, Ulytau District, Zhanaarka District
North Kazakhstan Region14 districts: Aiyrtau District, Akkayin District, Akzhar District, Esil District (North Kazakhstan Region), Gabit Musirepov District, Kyzyljar District, Magzhan Zhumabaev District, Mamlyut District, Petropavlovsk, Shal Akyn District, Taiynsha District, Timiryazev District, Ualikhanov District, Zhambyl District (North Kazakhstan Region)
Jetisu Region10 districts: Aksu District, Alakol District, Eskeldi District, Karatal District, Kerbulak District, Koksu District, Panfilov District, Sarkand District, Taldykorgan, Tekeli
Abay Region10 districts: Abay District (Abay Region), Aksuat District, Ayagoz District, Beskaragay District, Borodulikha District, Kokpekti District, Kurchatov, Semey, Urzhar District, Zharma District
Almaty8 districts: Alatau District, Almaly District, Auezov District, Bostandyk District, Jetysu District, Medeu District, Nauryzbay District, Turksib District
Astana4 districts: Almaty District, Baikonur District, Saryarka District, Yesil District
Shymkent4 districts: Abaysky District, Al-Farabi District, Enbekshinsky District, Karatau District

Worked examples

Ulytau District

The biggest of them

Ulytau District is the largest answer on the map, in the middle of the country, and it is not the whole of Ulytau Region, which has four other districts.

Almaly District

The smallest of them

Almaly District is one of the eight districts of Almaty, in the middle of the city. It is small enough to need a tap area on the map.

Zhambyl District (Jambyl Region)

The name that is on the map three times

There is a Zhambyl District in Jambyl Region, another in Almaty Region and a third in North Kazakhstan Region. The brackets name the region, and so does the group the question is dealt from.