Mangyshlak Peninsula

The Mangyshlak Peninsula (in Kazakh: Mangghystau Tubegi), is located along the western boundary of the Republic of Kazakhstan, an internal political division of the USSR until its independence in 1991. It is part of a greater political-administrative region of Kazakhstan known as the Manggystau Province (Oblysy). The peninsula extends westward into the Caspian Sea.

The Mangyshlak Peninsula is at the heart of a larger oil and gas region that Kazakhstan inherited with independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Rich in fossil fuels and other natural resources, the peninsula yielded over half the republic's oil output in the early 1990s. The peninsula sits at the southern margins of the giant Tenghiz oil field, which extends to the north. Tenghiz oil reserves have been estimated to be around 25 billion barrels, or about twice the amount of Alaska's north slope. Chevron Oil entered into a joint venture with the Kazakh government in 1992, called Tengizchevroil, to extract oil in the region. Several problems have limited the development of the field in recent years, including decreased demand by Russian Siberian refineries that imported most of the oil, and pipeline access across the borders of the Russian Federation. In addition, the high sulfur, paraffin, asphalt, and tar content of much of the oil makes it difficult (that is, more expensive) to process.

Kazakhstan also inherited the Soviet Union's only fast breeder nuclear reactor, built in 1972 and located on the Mangyshlak Peninsula near the port city of Aqtau (Shevchenko). The reactor was built mainly to desalinate brackish Caspian Sea water for both personal and industrial uses. For economic as well as security concerns, the Kazakh government shut down the reactor in 1992.

The Caspian Sea is in reality the world's largest lake, with the Volga River supplying more than 80 percent of its inflow. It has no outlet and loses water through evaporation. Regional climate changes and changes in river flow into the Caspian have caused it to rise in the latter part of the twentieth century, leading to the evacuation of small towns and villages along the coast due to flooding.

Because of its high latitude (50°N), far from the moderating influences of oceans, the peninsula experiences a very continental climate. It sits on the western margins of the dry Kazakh steppe region. Horse, sheep, and camel herding, as well as some irrigated farming, are the main occupations of the inhabitants of the peninsula.

Lydolph, Paul. (1977) Geography of the USSR. New York: Wiley.

National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). (2000) "GEOnet Names Server." Retrieved 3March 2002, from: http://gnpswww.nima.mil/geonames/GNS/.