Karatau

a city (until 1963, the settlement of Chulaktau), in Dzhambul Oblast, Kazakh SSR, in the Karatau Mountains. Railroad station, 90 km northwest of Dzhambul. Population, 27, 000 (1970). The city is the center of the Karatau Phosphorite-bearing Basin. It is the site of a combine for the quarrying and processing of phosphorite. A general technology department of the Kazakh Polytechnical Institute and a mining-construction technicum are also located there.

an urban-type settlement in Kara-Kalpak ASSR, Uzbek SSR. It is a landing on the right bank of the Amu Darya River, 108 km southeast of the Khodzheili railroad station on the Chardzhou-Kungrad line. Its industries include the production of building materials.

a mountain range, a northwest spur of the Tien-Shan in the southern part of the Kazakh SSR. Length, about 420 km; maximum altitude, 2, 176 m (Mount Bessaz). The range is composed of shale, sandstone, and a considerable amount of limestone and dolomite, in which karst formations are well developed. The mountains have flattened tops and steep slopes and are covered with steppe vegetation and mountain xerophytes. There are important deposits of phosphorite and complex ores at Mirgalimsai, Kentau, Achisai, and elsewhere.

a mountain range on the western slope of the southern Urals, on the border between the Bashkir ASSR and Cheliabinsk Oblast, RSFSR. Length, about 75 km; maximum altitude, 691 m. The mountains are composed chiefly of limestone, sandstone, and clay shales. Their slopes are covered with coniferous and mixed forests of spruce, fir, and linden.

(Mangystau), mountains on the Mangyshlak Peninsula in Gur’ev Oblast, Kazakh SSR. Length, 130 km; maximum altitude, 556 m. The mountains are broken up by deep ravines and gullies. The range is made up of sandstone, limestone, marl, clay, and sand. The predominant vegetation is wormwood and saltwort, along with some low shrubs. The valleys and ravines are used for pasture. There are deposits of iron and copper ore and coal.