Osh Region ( ky, Ош облусу, translit=Osh oblusu; russian: Ошская область, Oshskaya oblast) is a region (''

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

'') of

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 ...

. Its capital is

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 ...

, which is not part of the region. It is bounded by (clockwise)

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. Its capital is the city of the same name, Jal ...

Naryn Region Naryn Region ( ky, Нарын облусу, Naryn oblusu; russian: Нарынская область, Narynskaya oblast) is the largest region ('' oblus'') of Kyrgyzstan. It is located in the east of the country and borders with Chüy Region in t ...

, China (

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

(

Districts under Central Government Jurisdiction tg, Ноҳияҳои тобеи ҷумҳурӣ , native_name_lang = , other_name = ناحیه های تابع جمهوری , settlement_type = Region , image_skyline = , ...

and

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region,, abbr. / is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area, but only two percen ...

Batken Region Batken Region ( ky, Баткен облусу, Batken oblusu; russian: Баткенская область, Batkenskaya oblast) is a region ('' oblus'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Batken. It is bounded on the east by Osh Region, on the south, ...

, and

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 ...

(

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, ...

and

Fergana Region Fergana Region ( uz, Fargʻona viloyati, russian: Ферганская область) is one of the regions of Uzbekistan, located in the southern part of the Fergana Valley in the far east of the country. It borders the Namangan and Andijan R ...

s). Its total area is . The resident population of the region was 1,391,649 as of January 2021. The region has a sizeable Uzbek (28.0% in 2009) minority.

Geography

Most of the population lives in the flat northern part of the Oblast, on the edge of the

Ferghana 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 ...

. The land gradually rises southward to the crest of the

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 ...

, drops into the

Alay Valley The Alay Valley ( ky, Алай өрөөнү, ) is a broad, dry valley running east–west across most of southern Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan. It spreads over a length of east–west. The valley extends in north–south direction with varying width ...

and rises to the

Trans-Alai russian: Заалайский хребет , etymology = , photo = Alai Valley 1.jpg , photo_caption = Trans-Alay Range and Alay Valley , photo_size = 250 , country = Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan , state = , region = Osh Province, Gorno-Badaksha ...

Range which forms the border with Tajikistan. In the east, the land rises to the Ferghana Range, roughly parallel to the Naryn border. This area is drained by the

Kara Darya The Kara Darya ( ky, Кара-Дарыя, Kara-Daryya, قارا-دارىيا; uz, Qoradaryo, ''Қорадарё'', قارەدەريا , russian: Карадарья, Karadar'ya - literally ''black river'')''Darya'' means "river", so Kara Darya '' ...

which flows northwest to join the Naryn to form the Syr Darya in the Ferghana Valley. Highway M41 goes south over the mountains from Osh to the Tajik border. At Sary-Tash a branch goes east to the Chinese border crossing at

Irkeshtam Erkeshtam, also Irkeshtam or Erkech-Tam ( ky, Эркеч-Там, Erkech-Tam, ), is a border crossing between Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang, China, named after a village on the Kyrgyz side of the border in southern Osh Region. The border crossing is a ...

. The other main road goes west through the flat country to Batken Region.

Divisions

The Osh Region is divided administratively into seven districts: Kara-Suu,

Nookat Nookat ( ky, Ноокат), also ''Eski-Nookat'', ''Iski-Naukat'' or ''Naukat'', is a city in Osh Region of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Ka ...

and

Özgön Özgön ( ky, Өзгөн) or Uzgen (russian: Узген) is a town in Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan. It is a city of district significance and the seat of Özgön District. Its population was 62,802 in 2021. History The town is mentioned in Chinese annal ...

are cities of district significance. There are no

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

s in the region.

Demographics

The resident population of Osh Region, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009, was 1,104,248. Of these, 87,824 people live in urban areas, and 1,016,424 in rural ones. The official population estimate for the beginning of 2021 was 1,391,649.

Ethnic composition

The largest ethnic minority group in Osh Region is

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 ...

, forming 28% of the regional population (308,688 people) according to the 2009 census. In 2009, 40% of all Kyrgyzstan's Uzbeks lived in Osh Region. According to the 2009 Census, the ethnic composition of the Osh Region (resident population) was:

Enclaves and exclaves

Kyrgyzstan's only exclave within Uzbekistan is administratively part of Osh Region (Kara-Suu District). This is the tiny village of

Barak Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephrai ...

(population 627) in the Fergana valley, located on the road from

(Kyrgyzstan) to Khodjaabad (Uzbekistan) about 4 km north-west from the Kyrgyz–Uzbek border in the direction of

.Map showing the location of the Kyrgyz exclave Barak
Retrieved on 2 May 2009

References

Works cited *Laurence Mitchell, Kyrgyzstan, Bradt Travel Guides, 2008 {{Authority control Regions of Kyrgyzstan