Semey (; also transliterated as Semij or Semei, and known by its former name of Semipalatinsk (Семипалатинск)) is a city in Kazakhstan, in the northeastern province of East Kazakhstan, near the border with Siberia, around 1,000 km north of Almaty, and 700 km southeast of the Russian city of Omsk, along the Irtysh River. History The first settlement was in 1718 when the Russians built a fort beside the riv… (More on Semipalatinsk)