Aktobe is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people. Aktobe is located in the west of Kazakhstan. The area of the city is about 428,469 km2. There are two water reservoirs, Aktobe and Sazdy.
The name "Aktobe" comes from Kazakh "ақ" (white) and "төбе" (hill); the name is a reference to the heights on which the original 19th century settlement was located. Until 1999 it was officially known as Aktyubinsk (Russian: Актюбинск). The former name is still commonly used in the Russian language, and by Russians in Kazakhstan.
The territory of modern-day Aktobe Region has seen the rise and fall of many Central Asian cultures and empires. The region figured prominently in the history of the Kazakh "Little Horde". The Kazakh warlord Eset Batyr based his campaigns against the Dzungars from this area. His mausoleum is located 35 km (22 mi) to the south of Aktobe city. Abulkhair Khan (1693–1748) was also based in this region.
In March 1869, a Russian military fort with a garrison of 300 was built at the confluence of the Kargala and Ilek Rivers, along the Orenburg - Kazalinsk caravan route. From that period onward, Slavic settlers began to migrate to the region in order to farm, and very soon, neighbourhoods were built around the fort. In 1874 the fort was expanded in size, and streets were laid out to and from the fort's gate. In 1891 the settlement was labelled a district city, and officially named Aktyubinsk.
Aktobe Region is located in Western Kazakhstan, and is the second largest region by area in Kazakhstan. The city of Aktobe is located where the Kargala and Ilek rivers meet. It is in the north-central part of Aktobe Region. The Russian city of Orenburg is located some 200 km (120 mi) to the northwest, while the Russian city of Orsk is about 150 km (93 mi) to the northeast. The area around the city of Aktobe is mostly flat steppe, with low hills rising to the northeast. Other rivers, such as the Emba and the Ural River, flow through the region. The region is bordered on the south by the Aral Sea. The natural vegetation cover around Aktobe city is steppe, while the southern parts of the region are semi-desert.
Aktobe ranks first in terms of population in Western Kazakhstan and is the fourth city in the country by this indicator (after Almaty, Astana and Shymkent). Aktobe rose in October 2019 from fifth to fourth place in terms of the number of inhabitants when the population of the city reached 497,381 inhabitants, overtaking Karaganda (496,701 people) in this indicator. By the end of 2019, the population of the city stepped over 500,000 people and as of January 1, 2020, numbered 500,803 people. The population density in the territory of the city administration (2,338 km2) is 214.2 people per km2.
