KZYL-ORDA

Kazak Qyzylorda city, south-central Kazakstan, on the Syr Darya (river). Originally founded in the early 19th century as the Kokand fort of Ak-Mechet, it was renamed Perovsk after its capture by the Russians in 1853. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the name of Ak-Mechet was restored, but in 1925 the city was renamed Kzyl-Orda, when it became the capital of the Kazakh A.S.S.R., a status that it lost to Alma-Ata (now Almaty) in 1929. There are some food and other light industries, as well as a Kazak theatre and a teacher-training institute. Pop. (1993 est.) 164,000.