Semipalatinsk

Semipalatinsk, a province of Asiatic Russia, stretching northwards from Lake Balkash to the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk. It embraces outliers of the great Altai and other lofty chains of central Asia, rising to 10,000 feet, and enclosing between them wide stretches of steppe-land. The principal river is the Irtish, which flows north-westwards to the Obi. The climate ranges between wide extremes, and the whole region is undergoing desiccation. Area, 183,145 sq. m.; pop. (1897) 685,197, mostly Kirghiz. The chief town, Semipalatinsk, standing on the right bank of the Irtish, is an important trading centre for that part of Asia. Pop. 17,820.