[3] The population of Pavlodar is composed predominantly of ethnic Kazakhs and Russians, with significant Ukrainian, German and Tatar minorities.

One of the oldest cities in northern Kazakhstan, Pavlodar was founded in the 9th century as the settlements of Khakan-Kimak and Imakia, the capitals of the Kimek–Kipchak confederation.

Pavlodar's significance was due in large measure to the substantial agricultural and salt-producing industries that had developed there despite the town's relatively small population.

[4] After 1955, the Soviet Government's Virgin Lands Campaign provided the impetus for the rapid growth and development of modern Pavlodar.

Under the program, large numbers of young men and women from throughout the Soviet Union were relocated to the city; industrial and commercial activity was increased; and from the mid-1960s on, Pavlodar grew to become a major industrial centre of both the Kazakh SSR and of the Soviet Union because of a major arms and armour manufacturing facility located in the city.

[13] Several FIDE masters, and grandmasters including Rinat Zhumabayev, Pavel Kotsur, Yuri Nikitin Vladimir Grebenshikov, and Yelena Ankudinova, participate regularly in the events.

Pavlodar has an 89 km streetcar (tram) network, which began service in 1965 with, as of 2012, 20 regular and 3 special routes.

[11][14] Currently, Pavlodar River Port JSC is operating — a large transport and industrial enterprise engaged in cargo transit, extraction and sale of river sand, sells and transports crushed stone, coal, performs work on cleaning hydrological facilities.