Ekibastus is a city in the north-east of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The shepherd built his steppe camp in the steppe and connected two dark stones to make a center between them. He did not know that two pieces of coal began to glow. In the morning, he designated the place where he found these miracles with two cap-shaped salt stones. At this moment, Ekibastuz was born. That is why Ekibastuz is called eki = "two", bas = "head", tus = "salt".
Geographical position and population
The city is located southwest of the capital of the region Pavlodar in the Pavlodar region. As of January 1, 2014, 130,903 residents lived in Ekibastuz. The agglomeration is home to 146,839 people.
Religion of Ekibastuz
Ekibastuz is characterized by denominational diversity. The city has 17 different religious communities.
The dominant religious community is Sunni Islam, to which most Kazakhs belong. Sunni Muslims have seven communities in the city. The mosque was opened in September 1998. The Russian Orthodox Church has a cathedral in Ekibastuz, which was built in the 1990s. The grand opening of the cathedral took place on September 21, 2000. In addition, there are also Catholic and Protestant communities.
History of Ekibastuz
The place was founded in 1898. In 1957, Ekibastuz was granted city rights after the population grew to 25,000. In the Stalin era, Ekibastuz had a large penal camp (PestschanLag, DalLag), whose prisoners had to perform forced labor in coal mines. In the Ekibastus camp, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned, where his story “One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich” was written.
Economy of Ekibastuz
The city was built next to one of the largest coal deposits in the world. Coal mining is the main economic activity of the city. In Ekibastuz is located the Kazakhstan coal mining company Bogatyr Komir. Near the city there are two large mining areas Bogatyr (Bogatyr) and Vostochny (Vostochny).
Near Ekibastuz is the Ekibastuz Power Plant, one of the largest power plants in the world with the world's highest chimney (419.7 m). The generated electricity is dissipated through the three-phase Ekibastuz-Kokshetau line, the world's highest power line with the highest transmission voltage (1150 kV). It was here that the lines of the unfinished and, therefore, non-working Ekibastuz Center HVDC, the project of a direct current power line, began.
Infrastructure of Ekibastuz
There is a branch of Pavlodar State University, a cultural center with a modern cinema, a bazaar, a mosque and the Orthodox Church, as well as an airport for domestic flights (IATA code EKB).
A popular vacation spot for residents of Ekibastus is the nearby Bayanauyl Natural Park - a small mountain range with bizarre rock formations and picturesque lakes.
Sports in Ekibastuz
The city is home to the football club FC Ekibastuz, as the successor to the club FC Ekibastuses. In real Aikido, the city is represented by the Association of Real Aikido Center Tensin Ekibastuz.
Ekibastuz
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