Atyrau, formerly Guryev, port city in western Kazakhstan, at the mouth of the Ural River on the north coast of the Caspian Sea, capital of Atyrau Province. Atyrau has served as a regional fish processing center, a large part of which involved Caspian Sea sturgeon, supplying much of the caviar for the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Atyrau has been a major oil-producing and -refining center since its first refinery was built in 1911, supplied with oil from the nearby Emba oil field. Atyrau serves as a transshipment point for petroleum and petroleum products from the Emba field, as well as from the newly developed Tengiz oil field up the Volga River and into central Russia. A rail line connecting Atyrau with Astrakhan', Russia, was completed in the 1960s, providing a direct connection between European Russia and Central Asia.
Atyrau was founded in 1645 as a Russian military outpost on the right bank of the Ural River, and expanded to the left bank where most of its oil refineries are located. Population (1991) 156,700.
