Current Time in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan

Ust-Kamenogorsk, known in Kazakh as Oskemen, is a city in the far east of Kazakhstan and the capital of the East Kazakhstan Region. It stands at the confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers, where the steppe gives way to the wooded foothills of the Altai Mountains, close to the borders with Russia and China. The setting is unusually green for Kazakhstan, with forested ridges, reservoirs and mountain valleys within easy reach of the centre.

The population is around three hundred and fifty thousand. The city is one of the most important industrial centres in the country, built on non-ferrous metallurgy. Lead, zinc, copper, gold, titanium and magnesium are processed here, and the Ulba Metallurgical Plant is a major producer of beryllium, tantalum and nuclear fuel pellets, giving the city a significant place in the global supply chain for those materials.

The town began in 1720 as a Russian fortress, founded during an expedition sent by Peter the Great in search of gold along the Irtysh. Its name refers to its position at the mouth of a stony gorge. It grew as a trading post handling furs, ore and goods moving between Siberia, the steppe and China, and mining developed steadily through the nineteenth century. The decisive expansion came in the Soviet period, when the Irtysh was dammed for hydroelectricity and vast metallurgical complexes were built, drawing workers from across the Union and giving the city a mixed Kazakh, Russian and German population.

The riverside embankments are the focus of civic life, and Zhastar Park, the Kirov Park and the botanical garden provide green space in the centre. The regional museum of local history and the ethnographic open-air museum, with its reconstructed Kazakh, Russian and German dwellings, offer a good introduction to the region. The real attractions, however, lie outside the city. The Altai Mountains, the alpine lakes of Rakhmanov Springs, the immense Bukhtarma reservoir and the Katon-Karagay national park with its glaciers and rare wildlife make East Kazakhstan the finest walking and skiing country in the republic. Lake Markakol and the Belukha massif, the highest peak in Siberia, are within the region.

Ust-Kamenogorsk has an exceptionally strong sporting culture, particularly in ice hockey. The local club and its youth system have produced a remarkable number of professional players, including several who went on to careers in the National Hockey League, and the sport is followed with intensity through the long winters. Theatres, a philharmonic hall and a lively student scene fill the cultural calendar, and the local cuisine combines Kazakh, Russian and Siberian traditions.

Transport includes an airport with flights to Astana, Almaty and Russian cities, a railway junction linking the city to the Turkestan-Siberian main line, and highways towards Semey and the Russian border. The Irtysh is navigable in summer.

Higher education is centred on Sarsen Amanzholov East Kazakhstan University and the technical university named after Daulet Serikbayev, which trains engineers for the metallurgical industries.

Ust-Kamenogorsk is important as Kazakhstan's metallurgical capital and as the gateway to the Kazakh Altai, one of the most beautiful mountain regions in Central Asia.