Kurchatov, Kazakhstan

Kurchatov ( Kazakh and Russian Курчатов ) is a city in Kazakhstan, with around 10,717 inhabitants ( 2009). It lies in East Kazakhstan region on the banks of the river Irtysh.

History

The city was named after the physicist Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov. The place was in 1948 granted town rights and was once a closed city and the administrative center of the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

Population

Of the approximately 11,000 inhabitants are approximately 54 percent Russians, Kazakhs 39 percent, 2 percent Ukrainians, 1.4 percent and 3.6 percent of other German nationality.