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Atyrau

(Encyclopedia)Atyrau go͞orˈyĭf [key], city, W Kazakhstan, on the Ural River and near the Caspian Sea. A port, rail center, and an industrial base of the Emba basin oil fields, it has...

Orenburg

(Encyclopedia)Orenburg chkäˈləf [key], city (1989 pop. 547,000), capital of Orenburg region, Central Asian Russia, on the Ural River. It is a major rail junction where the Trans-Caspian RR, the Central Asian RR,...

chromite

(Encyclopedia)chromite krōˈmīt [key], dark brown to black mineral. It is an iron-chromium oxide, FeCr2O4, with traces of magnesium and aluminum. Its crystals are octahedral, but rare; it usually occurs as irregu...

Novorossiysk

(Encyclopedia)Novorossiysk or Novorossiisk both: nôˌvərəsēskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 186,000), Krasnodar Territory, SE European Russia, on the Black Sea. A major port and a naval base, it exports grain and oi...

Shanghai Cooperation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), association of Eurasian nations founded 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Under the charter signed in 2002...

Altai

(Encyclopedia)Altai or Altay both: ăltīˈ, äl–, ălˈtī, Rus. əltīˈ [key], geologically complex mountain system of central Asia; largely in the Altai Republic, Russia, and in Kazakhstan, but extending into...

Turan

(Encyclopedia)Turan to͞oränˈ [key], desert lowland, shared by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, S and E of the Aral Sea. The Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers divide it into the Kara Kum desert in the south...

Taraz

(Encyclopedia)Taraz jämbĭlˈ [key], city (1993 est. pop. 317,000), in S Kazakhstan on the border with Kyrgyzstan, on the Taraz (Talas) River and the Turkistan-Siberia RR. Industries include food processing and th...

Steppe Geoglyphs

(Encyclopedia)Steppe Geoglyphs or Turgay Geoglyphs, ancient earthworks in Kostanay prov., N Kazakhstan. Located across the Turgay steppe, the more than 250 earthworks consist of squares, crosses, circles, lines, an...

Caspian Sea

(Encyclopedia)Caspian Sea kăsˈpēən [key], Lat. Mare Caspium or Mare Hyrcanium, salt lake, c.144,000 sq mi (373,000 sq km), between Europe and Asia; the largest lake in the world. It is bordered on the northeast...