Kara-Balta (lit. 'black ax',

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and ky, Кара-Балта) is a city and municipality on the Kara-Balta River, in Chüy Region,

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

, the capital of Jayyl District. It was founded in 1825 under the

Kokand Khanate The Khanate of Kokand ( fa, ; ''Khānneshin-e Khoqand'', chg, ''Khoqand Khānligi'') was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrg ...

, and received city status in 1975 under the Soviets. Its population was 48,278 in 2021. Kara-Balta is located on the northern slopes of the

Kyrgyz Ala-Too The Kyrgyz Ala-Too ( ky, Кыргыз Ала-Тоосу, Kyrgyz Ala-Toosu, ; kk, Қырғыз Алатауы, Qyrǵyz Alataýy; zh, 吉尔吉斯阿拉套) also known as Kyrgyz Alatau, Kyrgyz Range, and Alexander Range (until 1933) is a large ra ...

, in the western part of Chüy Region, west of the capital of Bishkek. The road continues west through Kaindy toward

Taraz Taraz ( kz, Тараз, تاراز, translit=Taraz ; known to Europeans as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgyzs ...

, Kazakhstan. Another road goes south through the Töö-Ashuu Pass and then splits, one branch going west to Talas Province and the other south and then east through the Suusamyr valley to

Balykchy Balykchy ( ky, Балыкчы) is a town at the western end of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, at an elevation of about 1,900 metres. Its area is , and its resident population was 42,875 in 2021 (both including Orto-Tokoy). A major industrial and tr ...

on Lake Issyk Kul. It has a temperate climate. The terrain is flat, with a slight slope downwards from the south to the north. The Chüy Valley has been settled since the 5th century, but after an invasion by Genghis Khan the area was inhabited mostly by nomads and pastoralists. However, the settlement became a town and flourished under the

Khanate of Kokand The Khanate of Kokand ( fa, ; ''Khānneshin-e Khoqand'', chg, ''Khoqand Khānligi'') was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyr ...

Population

Geography

Climate

Kara-Balta has a hot, dry-summer continental climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Dsa''). The average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 23.3 °C (73.9 °F) and the coolest month is January with an average temperature of -4.8 °C (23.4 °F). The average annual precipitation is 414.1mm (16.3") and has an average of 99.2 days with precipitation. The wettest month is April with an average of 60.9mm (2.4") of precipitation and the driest month is August with an average of 12.2mm (0.5") of precipitation.

Economy

The major industry in Kara-Balta was the processing plant of the mining combine, Kara-Balta Ore Mining Combine (KBMP), the largest in Central Asia. During Soviet times, it processed uranium ore from deposits in Kyrgyzstan and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. After independence, the mines in Kyrgyzstan closed quickly; however, KBMP continued to process uranium concentrate from Kazakhstan until 2005 when this activity was stopped due to a lack of raw material. The massive uranium

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overli ...

remain a problem. KBMP still processes gold and molybdenum ores. In February 2007, the Russian Renova Group won a tender to purchase the Kyrgyz government's 72.28% stake in the Kara-Balta uranium-production facility.

Transport

Highways

Kara-Balta is located along M41 on the route from Bishkek to

Osh Osh (Kyrgyz: Ош, romanised Osh; uz, O‘sh/Ўш) is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". It is the oldest city in the country (e ...

. It is also connected by highway to

Rail

Kara-Balta is connected by rail to Bishkek and Taraz, Kazakhstan.

Sports

During the Soviet period, the city had a good sport infrastructure. The city has a bandy club.

Military

In the city the Russian military has a capacity.

References

::''This article is based in part on material from the Russian Wikipedia''. {{Coord, 42, 50, N, 73, 51, E, region:KG_type:city, display=title Populated places in Chüy Region