Aktau

Aktau

Aktau or Aqtau (Kazakh: Aqtau, Ақтау (listenⓘ), Russian: Актау) is a city in Kazakhstan, located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Its current name means 'white mountain' in Kazakh, which may be due to its cliffs that overlook the Caspian. From 1964 to 1991, the city was known as Shevchenko. Its former name was given due to the eponymous Ukrainian poet's period of exile in the area.[5] It is located on the Mangyshlak Peninsula and is the capital of the Mangystau Region. Aktau is known for its unique block address system. Almost no streets in Aktau have names; instead, addresses generally consist of three numbers: the district number (also known as micro-region/micro-district/block), the building number, and the apartment number. This is because Aktau was originally planned as a camp for the workers of the oil industry.[6] The territory of what is now Aktau was once inhabited by ancient tribes of Scythians. Archeological finds in the area include old settlements and utensils. The current territory of Mangystau Region hosted a spur route of the northern silk road, which resulted in the founding of several Sufi shrines in Aktau's vicinity. However, the area had very little population prior to Soviet times and no cities of any relevancy, almost certainly due to the scarcity of fresh water.