Karamay (Uyg. قاراماي, Қaramay, Chinese 克拉玛依, pinyin: Kèlāmǎyī) is an urban district in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. It is located 320 km northwest of Urumqi. The name Karamay comes from the Uighur language and means black oil (fuel oil).

History
On October 29, 1955, oil was found in these parts – the first large field since the founding of the PRC. On January 24, 1957, the 14th session of the Assembly of People’s Representatives of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region decided to establish a new settlement, and on May 29, 1958, Karamai City County was formed by decree of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
In 1975, the city district of Kuytun was created, which was withdrawn from Karamay and transferred under direct subordination to the government of the Ili-Kazakh Autonomous Okrug. As a result, the territory of Karamay was divided into two parts.
On February 16, 1982, the people’s government of the autonomous region decided to transform Karamay into an urban district, dividing it into 4 districts. On August 17, 1984, Karamay was withdrawn from the Chuguchak district and the Ili-Kazakh Autonomous Okrug and transferred under direct subordination to the government of the autonomous region; at the same time, the division into districts was removed and Karamay again became a city district. On August 8, 1990, Karamay was again raised in status to an urban district.

Economy
In 1955, one of the largest oil fields in China was discovered near the city. Since that time, the city has been developing as a center for oil production and refining.

Climate
The climate in the city is dry and hot in summer. The annual temperature range is -25 to 40 °C.

The tragedy of 1994
On December 8, 1994, a movie theater fire killed 323 people, including 288 schoolchildren. It became one of the biggest tragedies in modern Chinese history. In 2009, a documentary film “Karamay” was shot about these events.