Ust-Kamenogorsk - City of Kazakhstan

Oskemen is the capital of the East Kazakhstan Province. It is served by Oskemen Airport.

Founded in 1720 at the confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers as a fort and trading post named Ust-Kamennaya.The city was established in 1720 according to the order of the Russian Emperor Peter the Great, who sent a military expedition headed by major Ivan Vasilievich Likharev in the search of Yarkenda gold. Likharev’s expedition directed up the Irtysh river to Zaysan Lake. There, at the confluence of the Ulba and the Irtysh rivers the new fortress was laid – the Ust-Kamennaya Fortress. The Ust-Kamennaya Fortress appeared on the map of the Russian Empire, the very southern end of the Irtysh line.In 1868 the city became the capital of the Semipalatinsk Oblast.

The city developed into a major mining and metallurgical center during the Soviet period. Mining of non-ferrous metals, especially uranium, beryllium, tantalum, copper, lead, silver and zinc remain important. It is a center for the construction industry producing manufactured housing and ferroconcrete articles. The post-war industrial history of the city is very closely intertwined with the Soviet nuclear bomb project, and the city was therefore kept closed to outsiders.

There are 32 religious unions, presenting 15 religious confessions including four Muslim, 29 Christian and three union professing non-traditional religions. There are 21 cultural buildings in the city: among them four mosques and six orthodox temples.