Dostyk
| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State : |
 Kazakhstan
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| Territory : | Almaty | ||
| Audany: | Alak oil | ||
| Founded : | 1956 | ||
| Coordinates : | 45 ° 15 ' N , 82 ° 29' E | ||
| Residents : | 4,698 (2009) | ||
| Time zone : | EKST ( UTC + 6 ) | ||
| Telephone code : | (+7) 72830 | ||
| Postal code : | 040212 | ||
| License plate : | 05 (old: B, V) | ||
| Community type: | local community | ||
| Location in Kazakhstan | |||
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Dostyq ( Kazakh Достық or Russian Достык Dostyk ) is a settlement in Kazakhstan ( Almaty region ) on the border with China. In 2009 the place had around 4700 inhabitants.
Surname
Dostyk means "friendship" in the Kazakh language , just like his earlier Russian name, Druzhba .
Border crossing
1954 agreed the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China , Alma-Ata and Lanzhou with a railway line to connect. For this purpose, a line was built on the Soviet side that branches off the Turkestan-Siberian railway in Aqtogai . Dostyk was reached in 1959. On the Chinese side, construction in Ürümqi was canceled in 1962 due to the Sino-Soviet rift . Only after the political situation changed, the Bei-Jiang line through the Djungarian Gate was completed on September 12, 1990 and the border crossing opened on July 20, 1991, as announced by a marble slab at Dostyk station. The border town on the Chinese side is called Alashankou .
The railways of the two countries use different gauges . China uses the standard gauge of 1435 mm, which is also used in Western Europe , while Kazakhstan uses the Russian broad gauge of 1520 mm. For this reason, there is a facility for re-gauging railway vehicles at the state border .