Kazakhstan Regions

Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world and the largest without a coast, a steppe so wide that the regions are the only sensible way to say where you are in it. They changed in 2022, when three new ones were cut from their neighbours, so a map older than that is out of date.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: The five parts of the country: west, north, centre, east and south
In the game: 20 regions

Start

What you are looking at

The regions (oblys) of Kazakhstan, the first tier of the country. There are seventeen of them, and three cities of republican significance that are counted as regions of their own: Astana, the capital, Almaty, the largest city, and Shymkent. Each of the three is a speck beside the seventeen, so the game gives them tap areas.

Most regions are named for their regional centre, which makes the names the easier half. The newest are Abay, Jetisu and Ulytau, created in 2022 from East Kazakhstan, Almaty Region and Karaganda Region. Astana sits inside Akmola Region, which leaves a hole in the middle of it.

The groups are the five parts that Kazakh geography is usually taught in. They are a teaching convention rather than an administrative level. The regions are the Kazakhstan Districts grouped, so the borders of the two maps match exactly.

How to place one

Start with the west. Four regions on the Caspian and around the Ural river, Mangystau on the peninsula, Atyrau at the river mouth.
Read the north as a belt. Kostanay, North Kazakhstan, Akmola and Pavlodar run along the Russian border.
Find the middle. Karaganda and Ulytau fill the centre, and Ulytau is the newer of the two.
Take the south in order. From the Aral Sea the south runs through Kyzylorda, Turkistan, Jambyl and Almaty Region towards China.

Every region, by part

South7 regions: Almaty Region, Almaty, Jambyl Region, Jetisu Region, Kyzylorda Region, Shymkent, Turkistan Region
North4 regions: Akmola Region, Kostanay Region, North Kazakhstan Region, Pavlodar Region
West4 regions: Aktobe Region, Atyrau Region, Mangystau Region, West Kazakhstan Region
East2 regions: Abay Region, East Kazakhstan Region
Centre3 regions: Astana, Karaganda Region, Ulytau Region

Worked examples

Aktobe Region

The biggest of them

Aktobe Region is the largest region of the country, in the north west, and a little bigger than Karaganda Region beside it.

Almaty

The smallest of them

Almaty is a city rather than a countryside, and about the size of a district. It sits at the foot of the mountains in the south east, beside Almaty Region.

Astana

The capital inside a region

Astana is the capital and a region of its own, surrounded on every side by Akmola Region. It is the other small answer on the map.

Frequently asked questions

How many regions does Kazakhstan have?

20: seventeen regions and the three cities of republican significance, Astana, Almaty and Shymkent.

Which regions are new?

Abay, Jetisu and Ulytau were created in 2022, from East Kazakhstan Region, Almaty Region and Karaganda Region.

What is below the region?

The districts, which number 218 on this map. They are their own quiz.

The tier below this one is Kazakhstan Districts. For another country at this level, see South Korea Provinces.

Sources

UNHCR, Kazakhstan administrative boundaries (2023), on HDX, the boundaries; the regions are the districts dissolved, so the two maps share every border
Regions of Kazakhstan, the 17 regions and three cities, and the 2022 changes

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