Sayram (city)

Sayram Kazakh: Сайрам Sairam
Sayram Location in Kazakhstan
Coordinates: 42°18′0″N 69°46′0″E / 42.30000°N 69.76667°E / 42.30000; 69.76667
Country	Kazakhstan
Region	Shymkent City
Founded	10th century BC
Government
• Akim (mayor)	Husan Muzafarhanovich Akhmadhanov
Area
• City	10 km2 (4.2 sq mi)
Elevation	600 m (1,970 ft)
Population  (2009 census)
• City	32,757
• Metro	Shymkent
Time zone	UTC+6 (ALMT)
Postal code	160812
Area code	+7 72531
Climate	Csa
Old name: Isfījāb

Sayram (Kazakh: Сайрам, Sairam, Kazakh pronunciation: [sɑjɾɑm];is a rural locality located in eastern Shymkent on the Sayram Su River, which rises at the nearby 4000-meter mountain Sayram Su. In medieval times, the city and countryside were located on the banks of the Arys River, into which the Sayram Su river flows. Since 2018, it has been part of Shymkent City. Population: 30,887 (2009 Census results);^[1] 25,408 (1999 Census results).^[1]

The city celebrated the 3,000th anniversary of its founding in 1999.^[2] It is among the oldest cities in Kazakhstan, as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World, the site of the first mosque in Kazakhstan,^[3] and similarly among the oldest cities in Transoxania.^[4] Sayram is significant today for maintaining mud-brick architecture and the absence of Soviet-style architecture. There are many pre-20th-century mausoleums, and more continue to be built.

Archaeology in Central Asia was active following its conquest by the Russian Empire, but remains a relatively understudied area. There has been some field work done in the city both before and during the rise of the Soviet Union, and there is likewise renewed interest in the city as one of the oldest cities of the independent country of Kazakhstan. Notable among the archaeological discoveries is evidence of an early plumbing system like the kinds found in Samarqand and other cities of the early Persian empires.^[4]

There is another city named Sayram in Xinjiang, China located between Kucha and Aksu, which, according to local tradition, was founded by captives captured by the Qalmaqs.^[5]