Talas is a town in northwestern

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 Talas river valley between two mountain ranges. Its area is , and its resident population was 40,308 in 2021. It is the administrative headquarters of

Talas Region Talas Region ( ky, Талас облусу, Talas oblusu; russian: Таласская область, Talasskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Talas. It is bordered on the west and north by Jambyl Region of Kaza ...

. The town was founded by East Slavic settlers in 1877. To the south is the Besh-Tash (‘five rocks’) valley with the Besh-Tash National Park.The Historic Battle of Talas was also fought here between the armies of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty in 751. The Abbasids defeated the Chinese Empire.

Overview

Its economy has traditionally been oriented towards the ancient city of

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 Kyrgy ...

(formerly named Talas and Dzhambul) in present day

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 ...

. The Talas valley has suffered severely from the imposition of rigid border controls by Kazakhstan following the demise of the

Soviet Union 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 nationa ...

, as transport and trade links to the rest of Kyrgyzstan are now constrained by the mountains separating it from the

Chüy Valley The Chüy Valley ( ky, Чүй өрөөнү, Chüy Öröönü; kz, Шу аңғары, Şu añğary; russian: Чуйская долина) is a large valley located in northern Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan, in the northern part of the Tian Sh ...

and

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

. Though much transportation does occur from Bishkek to Talas by transiting through Kazakhstan via the border crossings at

Chaldybar Chaldybar is a village in Jalal-Abad Region Jalal-Abad Region ( ky, Жалал-Абад облусу, Jalal-Abad oblusu; russian: Джалал-Абадская область, Dzhalal-Abadskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. ...

in Chüy and then re-crossing into the Talas valley of Kyrgyzstan at Taraz. The only drivable road within the borders of Kyrgyzstan to Bishkek and the rest of the country crosses two mountain passes that rise to heights of more than 3000 meters above sea level over the Ötmök Pass into the Suusamyr Valley and then again the

Töö Ashuu Töö Ashuu ( ky, Төө-Ашуу, romanised: Töö-Ashuu, ; russian: Туя Ашуу), literally "camel mountain pass", is a mountain pass in Kyrgyzstan on the highway from Bishkek to Osh (European route E010) in Kyrgyzstan approximately 120&nbs ...

Pass before descending to the

and Bishkek.

Population

Climate

Talas has a warm, dry-summer

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...

(

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, nota ...

''Dsb'').

Manas

Manas, the mythical Kyrgyz national hero, is said to have been born in the Ala Too mountains in Talas oblast. A few kilometres outside Talas lies a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...

, supposedly that of Manas, called the Kümböz Manas. However, the inscription on its richly decorated facade dedicates it to "...the most glorious of women Kenizek-Khatun, the daughter of the Emir Abuka". Legend explains that Manas' wife Kanikey ordered a deliberately false inscription in order to mislead her husband's enemies and prevent the desecration of his body. The building, known as Manastin Khumbuzu or The Ghumbez of Manas, is thought to have been built in 1334. It now contains a museum dedicated to the epic. A ceremonial mound also lies nearby.

Sports

The town has a

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

club. * FC Namys-APK, football club

Notable people

Gulsaira Momunova Gulsaira Momunova, in Kyrgyz: Гүлсайра Момунова (30 December 1937 – 12 August 2020) was a Kyrgyz journalist, translator and poet. In 2011, she was given the title 'People's Poet of Kyrgyzstan'. Biography Momunova was born on ...

References

Bibliography

*Kyzlasov I.L., "Runic Scripts of Eurasian Steppes", Moscow, Eastern Literature, 1994,

External links

Talasmost.kg: A new web site for former Talas residents and anyone interested in the city (in Russian)The web site of the citizen radio Radiomost in Talas (in Russian)
{{Authority control Populated places in Talas Region Populated places established in 1877 1877 establishments in the Russian Empire