Abai Region Абай облысы (Kazakh) Абайская область (Russian)
Region
From the top, Semipalatinsk Test Site, Semey, Kurchatov
Map of Kazakhstan, location of Abai Region highlighted
Country	Kazakhstan
Administrative center	Semey
Government
• Akim	Nurlan Urankhaev[1]
Area
• Total	185,500 km2 (71,600 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	638,300[2]
GDP [3]
• Total	KZT 2,383.8 billion US$ 5.162 billion (2022)
• Per capita	KZT 3,901,100 US$ 8,449 (2022)
Time zone	UTC+6 (East)

Abai Region (Kazakh: Абай облысы, romanized: Abai oblysy, [ɑbɑj ɔbɫəsɯ], Russian: Абайская область) is a region of Kazakhstan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced on 16 March 2022 that the region would be created. The area split off from East Kazakhstan Region when Tokayev's bill came into force on 8 June 2022. The administrative center of the region is Semey, until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk. Its borders roughly correspond to the old Semipalatinsk Region which was liquidated in 1997 and merged with East Kazakhstan Region.^[4]

Geography

The city of Semey is the administrative center of the region of Abai. The Region of Abai borders East Kazakhstan Region and Xinjiang to the east, Pavlodar Region and Altai Krai to the north, Karaganda Region to the west and Jetisu Region to the south.

Districts

The region consists of the cities of Kurchatov and Semey, as well as 9 districts:

1. Abai District, with the administrative center in the selo of Karauyl;
2. Altai District, the town of Altai;
3. Ayagoz District, the town of Ayagoz;
4. Beskaragay District, the selo of Beskaragay;
5. Borodulikha District, the selo of Borodulikha;
6. Kokpekti District, the selo of Kokpekti;
7. Tarbagatay District, the selo of Aksuat;
8. Urzhar District, the selo of Urzhar;
9. Zharma District, the selo of Kalbatau (Georgiyevka).

Etymology

Abai Region was named after famous Kazakh aqyn Abai Qunanbaiuly, who was born in what is now the Abai Region.