File:Панорама_города_Усть-Каменогорск.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Oskemen

Also known as Ust-Kamenogorsk

Öskemen ( ) or Ust-Kamenogorsk () is the largest city in eastern Kazakhstan and the administrative center of the East Kazakhstan Region.

OverviewAI-generated

Oskemen, also known as Ust-Kamenogorsk, is a city in Kazakhstan that serves as the capital of the East Kazakhstan Region. Established in 1720, the city has at various times been part of the Dzungar Khanate, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union. It is located at an elevation of approximately 283 meters above sea level and covers an area of 540,000,000 square units. The population is recorded as 337,055, with another source citing 319,067.

The city operates in the UTC+06:00 time zone and uses the local dialing code 7232. Oskemen is twinned with Babruysk, Gangneung, Bursa, and Yokneam Illit. It is the owner of Vostok Stadium. The official names for the city include Өскемен, Öszkemen, and Усть-Каменогорськ.

Synthesized by Vinony from 48 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Open Meteo, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Weather now

cached 16h ago

12°overcast clouds

76% 1.0 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality: Өскемен
Region: Шығыс Қазақстан облысы
Country: Қазақстан
Population: 319,067
Timezone: Asia/Almaty

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

51US AQIModerate

PM2.5: 10.2 µg/m³
PM10: 17.8 µg/m³

As of 2026-09-14 05:00 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

Settlement.name: Öskemen
Settlement.settlement_type: City
Settlement.image_flag: Oskemen-remade.png
Settlement.image_seal: Oskemen_seal.svg
Settlement.pushpin_map: Kazakhstan
Settlement.pushpin_label: Oskemen
Settlement.pushpin_label_position: left
Settlement.pushpin_mapsize: 280
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location in Kazakhstan
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Region
Settlement.subdivision_name1: East Kazakhstan Region
Settlement.established_title: Founded
Settlement.established_date: 1720
Settlement.established_title1: Incorporated (city)
Settlement.established_date1: 1868
Settlement.leader_title: Akim
Settlement.leader_name: Almat Akyshov

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name: Усть-Каменогорськ
Country: Dzungar Khanate
Population: 332900
Area: 540000000
Elevation: 283
Time zone: UTC+06:00
Image: Панорама города Усть-Каменогорск.jpg
Dialing code: 7232

Show 11 more facts

topic's main category: Category:Oskemen
Commons category: Oskemen
twinned administrative body: Barnaul
category for people born here: Category:Births in Oskemen
category for people who died here: Category:Deaths in Oskemen
category of associated people: Category:People from Oskemen
postal code: F0*****
native label: Өскемен
inception: 1720-00-00
owner of: Vostok Stadium
P12749: Mike Oldfield

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

Travel guide

Get around

Ust has an old but very pleasant tram system and buses move easily around the city.

See

Стрелка (Strelka) Strelka is the arrow of land where the Irtysh and Ulba rivers meet. It is also the site of the Great Patriotic War Memorial. A nice place to stroll and have a "Limonad" on a warm evening, usually plenty of people hanging around.

Do

Naberezhna (Набережна) is the promenade along the Irtysch river leading up to Strelka. Have a beer, find a spot or stroll, and hang out by the water as the sun goes down. Ice hockey: Kazzinc-Torpedo plays in the Russian 2nd league. This is where NHL-players Nik Antropov and Evgeny Nabokov started their careers. Football: FC Altai were promoted in 2025 and now play soccer in Kazakh Premier League, the top tier. Their Vostok Stadium (capacity 8500) is midtown north of the river. The playing season is March-Oct. Ust-Kamenogorsk experienced the unfortunate discharge of a radioactive beryllium cloud in 1990 and has some rather serious heavy metal pollution levels stemming from significant industrialization and mining over the years, resulting in health adversities and cancer. Thus, it is probably best to pass on mud baths along the Irtysh River here.

Buy

The eastern oblast of Kazakhstan is at the base of the Altai Mountains and known for its honey. If you are in Ust in September ask around for the local honey fair, where vendors from surrounding villages show off their wares.

Eat

Some hotels also have restaurants.

Sleep

There are several hotels such as Irtysh and Tourist, but these usually provide poor value for the price. An old favorite is a small hotel in the large bright green "Nursat" building on Abai street, about 1 km east of the bus station. A room there can cost as little as 1,200 tenge per night.

Connect

As of September 2024, Ust-Kamenogorsk has 4G from all Kazakh carriers. The signal is patchy on the approach highways.

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~11 min read

Encyclopedic overview

16 sections

Contents

Name
History
Economy
Higher education
Culture
Sport
Demographics
Ethnic groups
Religion
Transport
Climate
Ecology
Twin towns – sister cities
People
See also
References

Öskemen ( ) or Ust-Kamenogorsk () is the largest city in eastern Kazakhstan and the administrative center of the East Kazakhstan Region.

==Name==

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Oskemen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (9)

On the map

3 mapped locations

Oskemen