Karatau ( kz, Қаратау, ''Qaratau'') is an administrative center in the Talas region located in the Jambyl Region in the south of Kazakhstan. It has an estimated population of roughly 30,000 in 1999. , the population is now 27,667. The largest city from Karatau,

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 (river), Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the borde ...

, is approximately 100 km to the southwest.

Name

The name ''Karatau'' means ''Black Mountain'' in the

Kazakh language The Kazakh or simply Qazaq (Latin: or , Cyrillic: or , Arabic Script: or , , ) is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia by Kazakhs. It is closely related to Nogai, Kyrgyz and Karakalpak. It is the official lan ...

. Karatau was named after the

Karatau Mountain The Karatau or Qaratau ( kk, Қаратау жотасы, Qarataw jotasy) is a mountain range located in southern Kazakhstan. The name Karatau means ''Black Mountain'' in the Kazakh language. The mountains have deposits of phosphorite, lead and ...

range which it is located next to and was famous during the Soviet era for phosphate. As part of the de-russification of the Kazakh language, Karatau will be re-written with Latin scripts in 2025 and spelled Qaratau.

Ghost Town

Krisha KZ reported on Karatau describing this town as a ghost town in December, 2019. The value of apartments in Karatau, according to Krisha, was between $3300–$11,500 USD.

Economy

Industry

During the Soviet Union times, the main functioning industrial enterprise in the town was the

phosphorite Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non-detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentoxi ...

factory.

Transportation

Karatau is connected by railway with

. There is also a bus and private taxi services to Taraz.

Geography

Karatau is located along a mountain range, a northwest spur of the Tien-Shan. Length, about ; maximum altitude, at Mount Bessaz. The range is composed of

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

, sandstone, and a considerable amount of limestone and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

, in which

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

formations are well developed. The mountains have flattened tops and steep slopes and are covered with

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

vegetation and mountain

xerophytes A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or the ...

. There are important deposits of phosphorites.

Climate

Karatau has a cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification ''BSk'') with strong continental influences. It has a mean January temperature of and a mean July temperature of .

References

External links

AmerasianWorld.com's Karatau, Kazakhstan, (Black Mountain)

Photos of Karatau

Karatau, Kazakhstan - Facebook Pages

Karatay Malenkii Gorod Boshix Nadezhd
Populated places in Jambyl Region Populated places along the Silk Road Cities and towns in Kazakhstan {{Jambyl Region