Orenburg (Russian: Оренбу́рг, pronounced [ɐrʲɪnˈburk]), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, near the boundary of Europe and Asia, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately 1,480 kilometers (920 mi) southeast of Moscow.
Orenburg is close to the border with Kazakhstan. It was the capital of the Kazakh ASSR from 1920 to 1925.
The Ural, also known as the Yaik /ˈjaɪk/, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea. At 2,428 kilometres (1,509 mi), it is the third-longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube, and the 18th-longest river in Asia. The Ural is conventionally considered part of the boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia.
The Ural rises near Mount Kruglaya in the Ural Mountains, flows south parallel and west of the north-flowing Tobol, through Magnitogorsk, and around the southern end of the Urals, through Orsk where it turns west for about 300 kilometres (190 mi), to Orenburg, where the river Sakmara joins. From Orenburg it continues west, passing into Kazakhstan, then turning south again at Oral, and meandering through a broad flat plain until it reaches the Caspian a few kilometers below Atyrau, where it forms a fine 'digitate' (tree-like) delta.
Ural Economic Region (Russian: Ура́льский экономи́ческий райо́н, romanized: Ural'skiy ekonomicheskiy rayon) is one of twelve economic regions of Russia. This prominent industrial region consists of the following subdivisions (with their administrative centers): Bashkortostan (Ufa), Chelyabinsk Oblast (Chelyabinsk), Kurgan Oblast (Kurgan), Orenburg Oblast (Orenburg), Perm Krai (Perm), Sverdlovsk Oblast (Yekaterinburg) and Udmurt Republic (Izhevsk). It is mostly located in the Central, and partly in the Southern and Northern parts of the Urals, but also includes parts of the East European and West Siberian Plains. Its extent is different from that of the Ural Federal District; Bashkortostan, Orenburg Oblast, Perm Krai and Udmurtia are in the Volga Federal District while the other three are in the Ural Federal District.
The Sakmara (Russian: Сакмара; Bashkir: Һаҡмар, Haqmar) is a river in Russia that drains the southern tip of the Ural Mountains south into the river Ural. It is 798 kilometres (496 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 30,200 square kilometres (11,700 sq mi). It is a right tributary of the Ural, which it meets in Orenburg. The source of the Sakmara is in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Other towns along the Sakmara are Yuldybayevo (Bashkortostan), Kuvandyk, and the railway station Saraktash close to the 18th-century Wozdwizhenskaya Fortress (Orenburg Oblast).
The Sakmara rises in the southern Ural Mountains about 60 kilometres (37 mi) west-southwest of Magnitogorsk and flows south through a valley with some canyon development. At Kuvandyk it swings west, leaves the mountains, and flows west parallel to the Ural River with many meanders for about 150 kilometres (93 mi) (straight-line distance) before turning south to meet the Ural. Major tributaries are the Salmysh and the Bolshoy Ik, both from the north, with the latter joining the Sakmara near Saraktash.
Orenburg Oblast (also Orenburzhye) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), mainly located in Eastern Europe, with some land in the southern and eastern portions of the oblast falling within Asia. Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkalov. As of the 2021 Census, the oblast had a population of 1,862,767, down from 2,033,072 in the 2010 Census.
Kuvandyk (Russian: Куванды́к, romanized: Kuvandyk) is a town in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the Sakmara River at the southern end of the Ural Mountains, 194 kilometers (121 mi) east of Orenburg, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 26,169 (2010 census); 28,679 (2002 census); 28,339 (1989 Soviet census).
Wozdwizhenskaya Fortress (1742) on the Sakmara River was the second fort built as a part of Sakmara Distance by Ivan Neplyuyev during his governance of the Orenburg Commission. It was located on the Sakmara River, southeast of Orenburg, 100 miles (160 km) west of Orsk, and 30 miles (48 km) north of Werneozernaya Fortress. It was built for protection against raids by nomadic Kyrgyz tribes for capturing of slaves from the Russian frontiers on the Caspian Sea and slave trading to Khiva.
The Wozdwizhenskaya Cossacks supported the Imperial government during Pugachev's Rebellion in 1773–1775. The fortress was completely destroyed by the bombardment of the Red Guards units in May 1918 for supporting the counterrevolution of Alexander Dutov against the Soviet authorities.