Semey

Also known as Semipalatinsk, Semei

thumb|right|220px|NASA satellite photo of Semey Semey (; , formerly known as Semipalatinsk ( ) until 2007 and as Alash-Qala ( ) from 1917 to 1920, is a city in eastern Kazakhstan, in the Kazakh part of Siberia. When Abai Region was created in 2022, Semey became its administrative centre. It lies along the Irtysh River near the border with Russia, north of Almaty and southeast of the Russian city of Omsk. Its population is 312,764 (stat.gov.kz).

AI overview

Semey is a city in eastern Kazakhstan located along the Irtysh River near the Russian border, with a population of about 312,764 people. It matters primarily as the administrative center of Abai Region (established in 2022) and as a significant population center in Kazakhstan's Siberian territory.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Weather now

cached 26h ago

24°few clouds

56% 3.9 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality: Семей
Region: Абай облысы
Country: Қазақстан
Population: 292,780
Timezone: Asia/Almaty

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Key facts

Settlement.official_name: Semey
Settlement.settlement_type: City
Settlement.image_seal: Semey Coat of Arms.jpg
Settlement.pushpin_map: Kazakhstan
Settlement.pushpin_label_position: bottom
Settlement.pushpin_mapsize: 280
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location in Kazakhstan
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Region
Settlement.subdivision_type2: Urban okres
Settlement.subdivision_name1: Abai Region
Settlement.established_title2: Founded
Settlement.established_date2: 1718
Settlement.established_title3: Incorporated (city)
Settlement.established_date3: 1782
Settlement.leader_title: Acting Akim (mayor)
Settlement.leader_name: Adlet Kozhenbayev
Settlement.area_total_km2: 210

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name: Сяміпалацінск
Population: 269574
Area: 210
Elevation: 206
Official website: www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/abay-semey
Dialing code: +7 7222

Show 6 more facts

Commons category: Semey
postal code: 070000–071411
native label: Семей
inception: 1718-00-00
P8168: Johann Reinhard II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg
P12749: Vologda

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

Travel guide

Understand

Semipalatinsk got its start as a fort of the Russian empire in 1718 where a Buddhist monastery had existed along the Irtysh River. But probably what it is most known for is its notoriety for being close to the centre of the Soviet atomic weapons testing program known as the that was active from 1949 to 1989, about 150 miles to the west. This has had long-lasting ill effects on the populace of Semipalatinsk, which was shortened to just Semey to try to disassociate from that disastrous spectacle.

Do

Football: Elimei Semey play soccer in Premier League, the top tier. Their Spartak Stadium (capacity 8000) is central near the river bridge. The playing season is March-Nov.

Sleep

thumb|400px|Enlik-Kebek cinema

Connect

As of September 2024, Semey has 4G from Beeline and Kcell, and 5G from Tele2. The signal is mostly good on the approach highways.

Go next

Omsk and Novosibirsk in Russia Oskemen Pavlodar

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~6 min read

Article

11 sections

Contents

History
Climate
Transportation
Population
Higher education
Notable residents
International relations
Twin towns and sister cities
See also
References
External links

==History== The first Russian settlement in the area dates from 1718, when Russia built a fort beside the river Irtysh, near the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery, where seven buildings could be seen. The fort (and later the city) was named Semipalatinsk (Russian for "Seven-Chambered City") after the monastery. The fort suffered frequent flooding caused by snowmelt swelling the Irtysh.