North Kazakhstan Region (Kazakh: Солтүстік Қазақстан облысы, romanized: Soltüstık Qazaqstan oblysy; Russian: Северо-Казахстанская область, romanized: Severo-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan with a population of 522,171. Its capital is Petropavl, with a population of 221,907 people. It is the only region of Kazakhstan in which ethnic Kazakhs don't make up a majority.
Akmolinsk Oblast (Russian: Акмо́линская область) was an Oblast (province) of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day northern Kazakhstan and the southern part of Omsk Oblast in Russia. It was formerly part of Kazakh khanate. It was created after the division of the Siberian Kirghiz into the oblasts Akmolinsk and Semirechensk on 21 October 1868. Its center was Omsk and consisted of uezds of Akmolinsk, Atbasar, Kokchetav, Omsk and Petropavlovsk. It bordered Tobolsk Governorate to the north, Semipalatinsk Oblast to the east, Semirechye Oblast to the northeast, Syr-Darya Oblast to the south, Turgay Oblast to the southwest and Orenburg Governorate to the northwest.