Semey (; ), until 2007 known as
Semipalatinsk and in 1917–1920 as
Alash-kala (,
Alas-qala), is a city in
Kazakhstan, in
East Kazakhstan Region, and in the Kazakhstan part of
Siberia, near the border with
Russia, around north of
Almaty, and southeast of the Russian city of
Omsk, along the
Irtysh River. Population:
History
The first Russian settlement in the area dates from 1718, when
Russia built a fort beside the river
Irtysh, near a ruined Buddhist monastery. The monastery's seven buildings lent the fort (and later the city) the name
Semipalatinsk (
Russian for "Seven-Chambered City"). The fort suffered frequently from flooding caused by the snowmelt swelling the Irtysh, and in 1778 the fort was relocated upstream to less flood-prone ground. A small city grew around the fort, largely servicing the river trade between the nomadic peoples of
Central Asia and the growing
Russian Empire. The construction of the
Turkestan-Siberia Railway in the early 20th century added to the city's importance, making it a major point of transit between Central Asia and Siberia. On 19 May 1854 Semipalatinsk became the capital of the
Semipalatinsk Oblast within the Russian Empire.