Karkaraly National Park - Geography

Geography

The total area of Karkaraly National Park is 112,120 ha. Of this 44,339.5 ha are forested.
The park territory is divided into 4 areas:
Mountain Forest - 25576 ha
Karkaraly Forest - 23846 ha
Kent Forest - 40,901 ha
Baktuh – 21,797 ha

• The park has 22,243 hectares where all forms of economic activities are forbidden.
• The park has 89,877 hectares where all economic activities under strict control are allowed.

Near the park are two other protected areas:
Bektauata National Preserve – 500 ha
Beldeutac National Preserve - 44,660 ha

In the Paleozoic Age (250-300 million years ago), this area of Kazakhstan was an inland sea. The water retreated 1.2 to 2 million years ago, when the ancient Paleozoic shield was cracked by granite. The area lifted and created the Kent and Karkaraly Mountains. The rocks and cliffs have been here ever since and for many thousands of years the untamable steppe wind and precipitation has sculpted the rocks into unique shapes.

People have lived in the Karkaraly area since ancient times. The earliest archeological finds connected with ancient people dates back to the Paleolithic (or Stone) Age. Archeological sites from the Bronze Age have been investigated more often. There are over 30 archaeological sites (from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age) of burial mounds and ancient settlements within the park boundaries. Some of these are the best discovered sites from these periods in Kazakhstan.