Osh (
Kyrgyz: Ош,
romanised
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
Osh; uz, O‘sh/Ўш) is the second-largest city in
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 ...
, located in the
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". It is the oldest city in the country (estimated to be more than 3,000 years old) and has served as the administrative center of
Osh Region
Osh Region ( ky, Ош облусу, translit=Osh oblusu; russian: Ошская область, Oshskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Osh, which is not part of the region. It is bounded by (clockwise) Jalal-Abad Re ...
since 1939. The city has an ethnically mixed population of 322,164 ,
[ comprising ]Uzbeks
The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...
, Kyrgyz, Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
, Tajiks
Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...
, and other smaller ethnic groups. It is about 5 km from the Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
border.
Overview
Osh has an important outdoor bazaar which has been taking place on the same spot for the past 2000 years and was a major market along the Silk Road. The city's industrial base, established during the Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
period, largely collapsed after the break-up of the Soviet Union and has recently only started to revive.
The proximity of the Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
border, which cuts through historically linked territories and settlements, deprives Osh of much of its former hinterland
Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...
and presents a serious obstacle to trade and economic development. Daily flights from Osh Airport
Osh International Airport ( ky, Ош эл аралык аэропорту; russian: Международный аэропорт "Ош") is an airport serving Osh, the capital of Osh Region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan.
In 2016, 1,210,576 pass ...
link Osh—and hence the southern part of Kyrgyzstan—to Bishkek and some international destinations, mainly in Russia. Osh has two railway stations and a railway connection to Andijan
Andijan (sometimes spelled Andijon or Andizhan in English) ( uz, Andijon / Андижон / ئەندىجان; fa, اندیجان, ''Andijân/Andīǰān''; russian: Андижан, ''Andižan'') is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, ...
in neighbouring Uzbekistan, but no passenger traffic and only sporadic freight traffic. Most transport is by road. The recent upgrading of the long and arduous road through the mountains to Bishkek has greatly improved communications.
The city has several monuments, including one to the southern Kyrgyz leader ( ky, датка, datqa) Kurmanjan and one of the few remaining statues of Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
. A Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
church, reopened after the demise of the Soviet Union, the second-largest mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
in the country, built in 2012 and situated beside the bazaar, and the 16th-century Rabat Abdul Khan Mosque can be found here. The only World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in Kyrgyzstan, the Sulayman Mountain
The Sulayman Mountain ( ky, Сулайман-Тоо, also known as Sulaiman-Too, Sulayman Rock, or Sulayman Throne) is the only World Heritage Site located entirely in the country of Kyrgyzstan. It is located in the city of Osh and was once a maj ...
, offers a splendid view of Osh and its environs.
This mountain is thought by some researchers and historians to be the famous landmark of antiquity known as the " Stone Tower", which Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importa ...
wrote about in his famous work ''Geography''. It marked the midpoint on the ancient Silk Road, the overland trade route taken by caravans between Europe and Asia. The is carved in the mountain, containing a collection of archaeological, geological, and historical finds and information about local flora and fauna.
Its first Western-style supermarket, ''Narodnyj'', opened in March 2007.
Osh is home to Osh State University
The Osh State University ( ky, Ош мамлекеттик университети, russian: Ошский государственный университет, uz, Osh davlat universiteti) is a public university in Osh, the second largest city ...
, one of the largest universities in Kyrgyzstan.
Administration
Osh city (Ош шаар, "Osh shaar") covers [ and, like the capital city of Bishkek, is administered separately and not part of any region, although it is the seat of ]Osh Region
Osh Region ( ky, Ош облусу, translit=Osh oblusu; russian: Ошская область, Oshskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Osh, which is not part of the region. It is bounded by (clockwise) Jalal-Abad Re ...
. Besides the city proper, 11 villages are administered by the city: Almalyk, Arek, Gulbaar-Tölöykön, Japalak
Japalak ( ky, Жапалак) is a village in the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Its population was 4,181 in 2021.
Population
References
Osh
{{Kyrgyzstan-geo-stub ...
, Kengesh, Kerme-Too, Orke, Pyatiletka, Teeke and parts of Ozgur and Tölöykön.
Population
Osh is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan after the capital city of Bishkek. According to the population estimate of 2021, the city population amounted to 322,164, of which 33,315 resided in the 11 villages that the City of Osh administers. At the 2009 census, 47.9% of the population were Kyrgyz, 44.2% were Uzbeks, 2.5% Russians, 2.2% Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
, 1.1% Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different and 2.1% other nationalities.[ The population of the built-up (or metro) area in the surrounding Kara-Suu District and in neighbouring Uzbékistan is estimated at 400,000 inhabitants.
]
History
Early history
The city is among the oldest settlements in Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
. Osh was known as early as the 8th century as a center for silk production along the Silk Road. The famous trading route crossed Alay Mountains
The Alay or Alai Range ( ky, Алай тоо кыркасы; russian: Алайский хребет) is a mountain range that extends from the Tien Shan mountain range in Kyrgyzstan west into Tajikistan. It is part of the Pamir-Alay mountain syst ...
to reach Kashgar to the east.
Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
and descendant of Tamerlane
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
, was born in nearby Andijan
Andijan (sometimes spelled Andijon or Andizhan in English) ( uz, Andijon / Андижон / ئەندىجان; fa, اندیجان, ''Andijân/Andīǰān''; russian: Андижан, ''Andižan'') is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, ...
, in the Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
, pondered his future on Sulayman Mountain and even constructed a mosque atop of the mountain. Babur somehow concludes that the confines of the Fergana would cramp his aspirations as a descendant of famous conquering warrior princes. He wrote of the city:
"There are many sayings about the excellence of Osh. On the southeastern side of the Osh fortress is a well-proportioned mountain called Bara-Koh, where, on its summit, Sultan Mahmud Khan built a pavilion. Farther down, on a spur of the same mountain, I had a porticoed pavilion built in 902 (1496-7)"
Imperial Russian and Soviet rule
The city was occupied and annexed by the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in 1876 when Russia overwhelmed the Central Asian khanates
A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire.
Mongol ...
during the so-called "Great Game
The Great Game is the name for a set of political, diplomatic and military confrontations that occurred through most of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – involving the rivalry of the British Empire and the Russian Empi ...
," the contest between Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and Russia for dominance in Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
. This conquest was achieved and the inclusion to the Russian Empire made by the mid-1880s, with main credit to General von Kaufman and General Mikhail Skobelev
Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev (russian: Михаил Дмитриевич Скобелев; 29 September 1843 – 7 July 1882), a Russian general, became famous for his conquest of Central Asia and for his heroism during the Russo-Turkish War ...
.
In the 1960s Osh and other towns in the south of the Kyrgyz SSR
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...
began to be industrialized. The population of Osh and other towns in the Fergana Valley that falls within Kyrgyzstan has traditionally consisted of a significant number of ethnic Uzbeks. When Osh started to industrialize the ethnic "Kyrgyz were encouraged to move from the Kyrgyz populated countryside to the cities to work in industrial jobs and public administration." This contributed to the rise of social tension between the two groups.
1990 riots
In 1990, shortly before the end of Soviet power in Central Asia, Osh and its environs experienced bloody ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. There were about 1,200 casualties, including over 300 dead and 462 seriously injured. The riots broke out over the division of land resources in and around the city.
2010 ethnic violence
In 2010, after riots in Bishkek and other major Kyrgyz cities, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev (, ''Kurmanbek Saliyevich (Sali Uulu) Bakiyev''; born 1 August 1949) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010. Large opposition protests in April 2010 led to the tak ...
took refuge in the city to hide from protesters denouncing his government and its response to the nation's struggling economy. On May 13, 2010, Bakiyev supporters took over government buildings in Osh and seized the airport, preventing interim government officials from landing. The protesters demanded Bakiev's return, and forced the regional governor to flee. The former Osh regional governor Mamasadyk Bakirov was reinstated.
On June 10, 2010, riots erupted in Osh, killing at least 81 and injuring hundreds of others. "An explosion of violence, destruction and looting in southern Kyrgyzstan on 11–14 June 2010 killed many dozens of people, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks got killed and destroyed over 2000 buildings, mostly homes, and deepened the gulf between the country's ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks."
Local media reported that gangs of young men armed with sticks and stones smashed shop windows and set cars aflame in the city center. Several buildings and homes across the city were also set on fire. The city's police force proved incapable of restoring order resulting in a state of emergency being declared and the army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
being mobilised.
The Kyrgyz intelligence agency claimed that the just-deposed president initiated the 2010 violence, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is said to have made a deal with foreign narco-jihadist gangs to take over southern Kyrgyzstan and initiate a shariah state in exchange for the Bakiyev family's being returned to controlling Bishkek. However, to the day no serious proof has been presented to the public and media. According to various sources, up to 100,000 ethnic Uzbek refugees fled to Uzbekistan. Many refugee camps have been organized in the Andijan, Fergana and Namangan regions of Uzbekistan for Uzbek citizens of Kyrgyzstan who cross the border seeking safety.
Geography
Climate
Under the 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 ...
, Osh features a continental climate (Dsa), with hot, dry summers and cold winters. Osh receives on average roughly 400 millimeters of precipitation annually, the bulk of which typically falls on the city outside the summer months. Summers are hot in Osh, with average high temperatures routinely exceeding 30 °C. Winters are cold with average temperatures below freezing during a good portion of the season. Spring and autumn are transitional seasons, with temperatures rising during the course of the spring season and falling during the course of the autumn.
Cityscape
Notable people
*Anvar Artykov
Anvar Artykovich Artykov (born 30 November 1951) is a Kyrgyz politician, and current member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan. Artykov served as governor of Osh Region between March and December 2005, and was previously a deputy between 1990 a ...
(born 1951), a Kyrgyz politician, and current member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan. Served as governor of Osh Region between March and December 2005, and was previously a deputy between 1990 and 2000.
* Aynuru Altybayeva (born 1958) a Kyrgyz politician, and current member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan.
*Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva (Kyrgyz: Роза Исаковна (Исак кызы) Отунбаева, Roza Isakovna (Isak kyzy) Otunbayeva; born August 23, 1950) is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politician who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 7 A ...
(born 1950) is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politician who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from April 2010 until 1 December 2011.
*Zhantoro Satybaldiyev
Zhantoro Zholdoshevich Satybaldiyev ( ky, Жантөрө Жолдошевич (Жолдош уулу) Сатыбалдиев, Zhantörö Zholdoshevich (Zholdosh uulu) Satybaldiyev; born 6 January 1956) is a Kyrgyz politician who was Prime Minister ...
(born 1956), a Kyrgyz politician who was Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from September 2012 until March 2014.
Twin towns - sister cities
Osh is twinned with:
* Yozgat
Yozgat is a city and the capital district of Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to 2019 census, population of the district is 421,200 of which 106,280 live in the city of Yozgat.
History
The first surveys were ...
, Turkey
* Manisa
Manisa (), historically known as Magnesia, is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.
Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port ci ...
, Turkey
* Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
See also
* Bakyt Beshimov
*Jamala
Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova, ; rus, Суса́на Али́мовна Джамалади́нова, Susána Alímovna Dzhamaladínova, sʊˈsanə ɐˈlʲiməvnə dʐəməlɐˈdʲinəvə, links=yes. (born 27 August 1983), known professionally ...
*Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva (Kyrgyz: Роза Исаковна (Исак кызы) Отунбаева, Roza Isakovna (Isak kyzy) Otunbayeva; born August 23, 1950) is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politician who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 7 A ...
References
External links
Info on Osh
On Osh State University's Medical Institute's website (English)
Official website of Medical Institute, Osh State University
City of Osh
Official website (in Russian)
The Spektator - Society, culture and travel articles on Kyrgyzstan and the Central Asian region
Osh local sights
{{Authority control
Regions of Kyrgyzstan
Populated places along the Silk Road
Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan border crossings
Cities in Central Asia
Fergana Oblast