Aqtobe

So, a little about the region where my baby lives. Aqtobe (Aktobe, Aktyubinsk) -- pronounced ock-too-bay with the emphasis on the "too" (depending on who you ask) is a rather remote city (2.5 hours flying time in a puddlejumper from Almaty) in the northeastern part of the country. (Thanks for the graphic, Christy! ;))Aktobe is also the name of the province in which the provincial capital (Aktobe, the city) sits with a population of more than 340,000. The province itself has a population 678,900. The province is 300,600 square kilometers (no idea what that is in miles), making it the second largest province of Kazakhstan. Aktobe Province borders Russia to the north and Uzbekistan to the south, and also borders six other Kazakh provinces. The Ilek River, a tributary of the Ural River, flows through the province. The name "Aktobe" comes from Kazakh "Аk" (white) and "rebe" (hill); supposedly Aktobe's initial settlers were able to see white mountains far to the north. The city was originally founded as a Russian fortress in 1891. It is now a major ranching and agricultural region, but energy resources make up the industry. Here's the wiki-link for more info if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktobe