East Kazakhstan Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. It occupies the easternmost part of Kazakhstan, and includes parts of the Irtysh River, Lake Markakol, and Lake Zaysan. Its administrative center is Oskemen (also known as Ust'-Kamenogorsk). The region borders Russia in the north and northeast and the People's Republic of China, via Xinjiang, in the south and southeast. The easternmost point of the Oblast is within about 50 kilometres of the westernmost tip of Mongolia; however, Kazakhstan and Mongolia do not share a common border, the two countries being separated by a small part of Russia and China. The region was created by the merger of two Soviet-era Kazakhstan oblasts: the old Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya (East Kazakhstan) Oblast and Semipalatinsk Oblast. On 17 March 2022, it was announced that East Kazakhstan region would be divided, creating the Abai Region. This came into force on 8 June 2022, with eight districts of East Kazakhstan Region being transferred to the new region. The new border dividing Abai Region and East Kazakhstan region roughly corresponds to the border that existed between the two Soviet-era Oblasts. Geography East Kazakhstan Region borders the Kazakh regions of Pavlodar Region to the northwest, Karaganda Region to the west, Almaty Region to the south, Russia's Altai Krai and Altai Republic to the north and China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to the east. The region occupies a very diverse range of geographic and climatic regions with the Altai Mountains in the east and the eastern margins of the Kazakh Steppe in the west of the region. Demographics As of 2020, the East Kazakhstan Region has a population of 1,369,597. Ethnic groups (2020): Kazakh: 61.08% Russian: 35.56% Tatar: 1.16% German: 0.92% Others: 1.28% Administrative divisions The region is administratively divided into fifteen districts and the cities of Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Ayagoz, Kurchatov, Ridder, Semey (Semipalatinsk), and Zyryanovsk. Abay District, with the administrative center in the selo of Karauyl; Ayagoz District, the town of Ayagoz; Beskaragay District, the selo of Beskaragay; Borodulikha District, the selo of Borodulikha; Glubokoye District, the settlement of Glubokoye; Katonkaragay District, the selo of Ulken Narym; Kokpekti District, the selo of Kokpekti; Kurshim District, the selo of Kurshim; Shemonaikha District, the town of Shemonaikha; Tarbagatay District, the selo of Aksuat; Ulan District, the settlement of Molodyozhny; Urzhar District, the selo of Urzhar; Zaysan District, the town of Zaysan; Zharma District, the selo of Kalbatau (Georgiyevka); Zyryan District, the