Qyzylorda

Qyzylorda, also spelled Kyzylorda, city, south-central Kazakhstan, on the Syr Darya (ancient Jaxartes 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 Qyzylorda, 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 Kazakh theatre and a teacher-training institute. Pop. (2006 est.) 183,716.