Gay is a Russian town located in Guberlinsky Mountains in the South Urals. It stands 26 km to the south of the Iriklinsk Reservoir (on the Ural River), and 330 km to the south of Orenburg. It has a railway station.
The town is remarkable for the same-name balneotherapeutic resort situated in a birch tree grove 6 km away. It includes a number of sanatoria and a balneary.
The town with the population of 36 523 (as of 2014) takes the area of 62 sq km.
History of Gay
Construction of a mining and processing works at copper ore field and a settlement was started in the Halilov District in 1958.
On April 11, 1959 the insudtrial township Gay was singled out from the boundaries of Orsk. The name is rooted in the old Russian word “gay” denoting “forest” or “grove”.
On November 29, 1979 the industrial township of Gay District got the status of a town of regional subordination.