Kentau

Kentau (Kazakh: Кентау/Kentaw), is a town in South Kazakhstan Province of Kazakhstan. It is located at the foot of the Karatau mountains 30 km northeast of the city of Turkestan. In Soviet times, the population of the city was mainly from Russia, the descendants of the repressed: Greeks, Russians, Germans, Koreans, Jews, Chechens, etc., as well as Uzbeks, and majority of population comprising an ethnic Kazakhs. Today, the population is approximately 80 thousand, mostly Kazakhs. Population: 57,121 (2009 Census results); 55,521 (1999 Census results). The city is linked by road to a railway station on the line between Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Orenburg, Russia.

Kentau phone code - +7 72536; postal code - 160400.

Kentau history

Kentau was founded in 1955 on the place of Myrgalimsay village to develop Achisay multimetallic deposit. During the Soviet period the population of Kentau city was mainly from Russia. There were excavator plant, transformer plant and well-developed mining industry in Kentau.

The late 1980s or early 1990s saw massive emigration of population and the closures of mines and industrial enterprises. A lot of mines and plants were closed. Today the population of Kentau city consists mainly of Kazakhs and Uzbeks. During the last years Kentau population began to grow again.

Industry

There are two plants in Kentau: Transformer Plant and Excavator Plant. Both of them were famous in USSR. Nowadays Excavator Plant is working, but not so active as about 25-30 years ago.

Kentau economics

At present in Kentau there is the only excavator producing plant in Kazakhstan and the largest plant producing transformers. A new plant was built which produces railway equipment. Gradually ore-mining and processing industry is developed.

It is planned to construct a brick-making plant. On the whole there are 21 large plants in Kentau city of Kazakhstan.