Sokh District ( uz, Сўх тумани, translit=Soʻx tumani, , russian: Сохский район, Sokhsky rayon) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

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 ...

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 Re ...

. It consists of two

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s of Uzbekistan, surrounded by

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 ...

. Despite being part of Uzbekistan, its population is almost entirely ethnic

Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian language, Persian-speaking Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks ...

. Its capital is the town of

Ravon Ravon or RAVON may refer to: * RAVON, German robot * Ravon, Uzbekistan * Ravon, an automotive marque used by UzAuto Motors UzAuto Motors (formerly GM Uzbekistan) is an automotive manufacturer owned by the Government of Uzbekistan. It is based i ...

. It has an area of and it has 80,600 inhabitants . The district consists of seven

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 (

, Qalʻa, Sarikanda, Soʻx, Tul, Hushyor, Tarovatli) and four rural communities (Sohibkor, Ravon, Soʻx, Hushyor). Another village in the district is Limbur.

Geography

The territory of Sokh is divided into two parts, separated by Kyrgyzstan: * Soʻx (or Sokh or Southern Sokh or Upper Sokh), which is much more extensive than Northern Sokh. The area encompasses nineteen localities with an urban population of 65.9 percent and a rural population of 34.1 percent. It is 99 percent Tajik, 0.7 percent Kyrgyz and 0.3 percent Uzbek. The exclave's name comes from the river Sokh, long, which crosses the territory and waters its fertile valley. The exclave is surrounded by the Kyrgyz

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 ...

. Sokh's border is long, with nine border posts guarded by Kyrgyzstan. * Chon Qora-Qalacha (or Chongara-Qalacha or Northern Sokh or Lower Sokh), comprising the villages of Chon-Qora (Chongara) and Qalacha.

Population

, the population is 80,600. Despite being a part of Uzbekistani territory and being surrounded by Kyrgyzstan, its population is mostly Tajik.

History

Together with

Kokand Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the so ...

, Sokh was one of the centres of the Basmachi uprising from 1918 to 1924. At that time, Sokh was still directly connected with Uzbekistan. Sokh was created in 1955. Local legend holds that “the territory was lost by a Kyrgyz Communist Party official in a card game with his Uzbek counterpart.” Others say it made sense to assign the area to Uzbekistan because the roads running along the Sokh river connected to Uzbekistan to the north rather than going through the rugged Kyrgyz territory to the east and west of the area in question. In 1999, Uzbekistan claimed that militants from the

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU; uz, Ўзбекистон исломий ҳаракати/Oʻzbekiston islomiy harakati; russian: Исламское движение Узбекистана ) was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 ...

(IMU) were using Sokh as their base to attack Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Earlier that year,

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

had been rocked by a series of car bombings attributed to the IMU. Uzbekistan began mining the borders around Sokh, angering the Kyrgyz who claim Uzbekistan placed mines on its territory.

Economy

The economy of Sokh is mainly based on agriculture (potatoes and fruits). The fields are supplied by the river Sokh so that agriculture is only possible in the valley plain. The Sokh valley forms a river oasis in the surrounding, barren grassland. The seasonal migration of the male labour force to Russia is also important. The exclave contains twenty-eight schools, two colleges, three clinics, twelve dispensaries and ten village health centres.

References

External links