Oskemen, Kazakhstan

Öskemen (Kazakh: Өскемен; also Russian: Усть-Каменогорск or Ust-Kamenogorsk), is the capital of the Shyghys Qazaqstan (Eastern Kazakhstan) Oblast.

Founded in 1720 at the confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers as a fort and trading post named Ust-Kamennaya, the city developed into a major mining and metallurgical center during the Soviet period.

Ust-Kamenogorsk is predominantly Russian, with ethnic Kazakhs constituting less than thirty percent of the total population of 305,000.

View of Ust from top floor of Hotel Irtysh