The Republic of Kazakhstan (Qazaqstan in Kazakh) the ninth largest country of the world, borders Russia to the north and Turkmenistan to the southwest. Known for its wide steppes and high mountains, Kazakhstan is rarely thought of as a maritime nation. However, at its western end Kazakhstan borders the northeastern quadrant of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian is landlocked, but it borders five countries and has a busy international trade. Kazakhstan was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, becoming independent when the Union collapsed in 1991. The principal Kazakh ports are Atyrau (formerly Guryev), at the mouth of the Zhayyq (Ural) River near the north end of the Caspian, Aktau (formerly Shevchenko) on the Mangyshlak Peninsula, and a new port under development at Kuryk. Kazahkstan is expanding its ports to strengthen maritime connections with Azerbaijan and Iran, reducing its dependence on Russian routes for its international commerce. Since 1940 the Kazakh language has been written in the Cyrillic script, but a Latin script similar to that used in Turkish is being phased in from 2023 to 2031. The new Kazakh alphabet lacks the Turkish letters C and Ç but has four additional letters: Ä, Ñ, Q and Ū. The Russian word for a lighthouse, mayak, is commonly used in Kazakhstan, although there is also a Kazakh word bağdarşırak. Mwyis is a cape and aral is an island. Lighthouses in Kazakhstan are maintained by the Hydrographic Service within the Ministry of Defense. According to GlobalSecurity.org, the Hydrographic Service operates five lighthouses. A December 2014 article from Inform.kz identifies these lighthouses as Mys Peschannyy, Melovoy (Aqtau), Kyzyl-Ozen, and the two Tupkaragan lights. Other lights in the country are maintained by harbor authorities or are assumed to be inactive. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Lighthouses on the landlocked Caspian are not included in international light lists.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: South: Turkmenistan | West: Russian Caspian Sea
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Posted March 12, 2007. Checked and revised August 3, 2024. Lighthouses: 22. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.