a town of Asiatic Russia, in the province of Turgai, on the Tobol river, 410 m. E.N.E. of Orenburg, in a very fertile part of the steppes. Pop. (1897), 14,065. The first buildings were erected in 1871, and it has since grown with Americanlike rapidity. The immigrants from Russia built a large village, which became the centre of the district administration in 1884, and a town in 1893, under the name of Nicolaevsk, changed later into Kustanaisk. It is an educational centre, and a cathedral has been built. There are tanneries, tallow works, potteries, and a fair for cattle, while its trade makes it a rival to Orenburg and Troitsk.