Almaty region (kaz. Almaty oblysy) is a region in the south-east of the modern republic of Kazakhstan. Formed on March 10, 1932. Until 1992, the Alma-Ata region was written, and the center of the region was the city of Alma-Ata. In April 2001, the regional center of the Almaty region was transferred by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Alma-Ata to Taldykorgan. The population of the region is 2,037,393 people (as of December 1, 2018).

Geography

Almaty region borders with the following regions of Kazakhstan: Zhambyl region in the west, Karaganda region in the northwest (the water border runs along the Balkhash lake), East Kazakhstan region is located in the northeast. In 1997, the former Taldy-Kurgan Region, once located north of Almaty itself, became part of the region. In the east, the region is bordered by the PRC (XUAR), in the south with the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (Chui and Issyk-Kul regions). The region has a rather complex geographic characteristics and very diverse terrain.

The northwestern part is a semi-desert plain, in which Taukum and Belsekseul are distinguished. The terrain is slightly inclined to the lake Balkhash and is cut by the ancient river beds of the Ili, Karatal, Aksu, Koksu, Lepsy, Ayagoz, the most significant of which is Bakanas. Two separate massifs - in the south and east - extend the mountain ranges: Trans-Ili Alatau and Dzungarian Alatau (Tien-Shan mountain system). At the junction of their gradually lowering slopes, the middle bed of the Ili River is located. The slopes themselves abound in the removal cones of its tributaries (Charyn, Chilik, Almatinka, Kurty, etc.).

Nature

The region is located between the ranges of the Northern Tien Shan in the south, Lake Balkhash in the northwest and the Ili River in the northeast; in the east bordered by the PRC.

The entire northern half is occupied by the weakly inclined north of the southern Semirechye, or Balkhash region (height 300-500 m), crossed by dry channels - bakanas, with arrays of ridge and free-flowing sands (Sary-Ishikotrau, Taukum). The southern part is occupied by ranges up to 5,000 m high: Ketmen, Zailiysky Alatau, and the northern spurs of Kungei-Alatau. From the north, the ridges are bordered by foothills and narrow foothill plains. The entire southern part is an area of ​​high seismicity.

Sharp continental climate, relatively cold winters up to –35 ° C, hot summers up to +42 ° C are characteristic of the northern, flat parts. Precipitations are only 110 mm per year. In the foothill zone, the climate is milder, the precipitation is up to 500–600 mm. In the mountains, the vertical belt is pronounced; rainfall reaches 700–1,000 mm per year. The vegetation period in the foothills and on the plains is 205–225 days.

The north and northwest are almost devoid of surface runoff; the only river here is Or, forming a strongly developed marshy delta and flowing into the western part of Lake Balkhash. In the south, the foothills of the river network is relatively dense; most of the rivers (Kurty, Kaskelenka, Talgar, Esik, Turgen, Chilik, Charyn, etc.) originate in the mountains and usually do not reach the Ili River; rivers are lost in the sands or taken up for irrigation. In the mountains there are many small fresh lakes (Big Almaty and others) and mineral springs (Alma-Arasan, etc.).

The soil and vegetation cover is very diverse. In the plain part - semi-desert and desert, wormwood and saltwort vegetation with saxaul thickets; spring is characterized by ephemera and ephemeroids on clay burozems. There are salt marshes. On the marshy coast of Balkhash, in the delta and the Ili valley - reed beds, meadow and halophytic vegetation, partly tugai forests of willow and shrubs on alluvial-meadow soils and salt marshes.

In the mountains, with a height of 600 m, semi-desert is replaced by a belt of dry wormwood-feather-fescue steppes on chestnut soils; at altitudes of 800-1700 m, meadows on chernozem-like mountain soils and deciduous forests of park type; with a height of 1500-1700 m - a belt of subalpine meadows in combination with coniferous forests (Tien Shan spruce, fir, juniper) on mountain-meadow soils; above 2800 m - low-grass alpine meadows and shrubs on mountain-tundra soils.

There are many rodents in the deserts: gerbils, voles, tolai hare; ungulates: gazelle antelope, roe deer; predators: wolf, fox, badger. In the Ili delta there is a boar, the muskrat is acclimatized here. Characterized by reptiles are snakes, turtles, lizards, invertebrate phalanx, karakurt. In the mountains there are snow leopards, lynx. There are carp, marinka, perch, thorn, bream, catfish, trout, etc. in Lake Balkhash and the Ili, Karatal, Koksu and other rivers.