THE INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL AND CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF THE EAST KAZAKHSTAN REGION ON THE SETTLEMENT OF THE POPULATION

Abstract

The article examines the role of natural and climatic factors in shaping population settlement patterns, considering them as an important prerequisite for effective state social policy aimed at improving demographic conditions. The study focuses on assessing how environmental and climatic characteristics influence settlement development within the territories of the East Kazakhstan Region and the Abay Region.

The analysis of regional settlement systems indicates that a greater diversity of settlement types tends to emerge in areas with more favorable climatic conditions. To evaluate the influence of environmental factors, several key climatic indicators were considered, including thermal regimes (cold and heat conditions), humidity levels, and the occurrence of adverse natural phenomena.

The paper also reviews recent trends in regional climate change using the latest available data sources and presents indicators describing climatic comfort. Climatic conditions during the cold season were assessed using meteorological data for January, the coldest month of the year, for the districts of the East Kazakhstan Region.

In addition, long-term changes in air temperature and precipitation across the Abay Region and the East Kazakhstan Region were analyzed using Meteoblue data for the period 1979–2024. To determine the overall influence of climatic conditions on settlement development, the obtained indicators were integrated and converted into a four-point evaluation scale.

Based on this assessment, the territory was classified according to the degree of climatic comfort. As a result of the study, a map of average annual air temperature and thematic maps illustrating the suitability of climatic conditions for population settlement were produced using GIS technologies.