Kara-Balta (lit. 'black ax', Russian and ky, Кара-Балта) is a city and municipality on the Kara-Balta River, in

Chüy Region Chüy Region ( ky, Чүй облусу, Chüy oblusu; russian: Чуйская область, Chuyskaya oblast) is the northernmost region (''oblast'') of the Kyrgyz Republic. This region surrounds the national capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. It ...

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 ...

, the capital of Jayyl District. It was founded in 1825 under the Kokand Khanate, and received city status in 1975 under the Soviets. Its population was 48,278 in 2021. Kara-Balta is located on the northern slopes of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too, in the western part of Chüy Region, west of the capital of

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 ...

. The road continues west through Kaindy toward

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 ...

, Kazakhstan. Another road goes south through the Töö-Ashuu Pass and then splits, one branch going west to Talas Province and the other south and then east through the Suusamyr valley to Balykchy on Lake Issyk Kul. It has a temperate climate. The terrain is flat, with a slight slope downwards from the south to the north. 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 ...

has been settled since the 5th century, but after an invasion by

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; ; xng, Temüjin, script=Latn; ., name=Temujin – August 25, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in history a ...

the area was inhabited mostly by nomads and pastoralists. However, the settlement became a town and flourished under the Khanate of Kokand.

Population

Geography

Climate

Kara-Balta has a hot, 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 ...

''Dsa''). The average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 23.3 °C (73.9 °F) and the coolest month is January with an average temperature of -4.8 °C (23.4 °F). The average annual precipitation is 414.1mm (16.3") and has an average of 99.2 days with precipitation. The wettest month is April with an average of 60.9mm (2.4") of precipitation and the driest month is August with an average of 12.2mm (0.5") of precipitation.

Economy

The major industry in Kara-Balta was the processing plant of the mining combine, Kara-Balta Ore Mining Combine (KBMP), the largest in Central Asia. During Soviet times, it processed uranium ore from deposits in Kyrgyzstan and

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 ...

. After independence, the mines in Kyrgyzstan closed quickly; however, KBMP continued to process uranium concentrate from Kazakhstan until 2005 when this activity was stopped due to a lack of raw material. The massive uranium

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction ( gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that ove ...

remain a problem. KBMP still processes gold and molybdenum ores. In February 2007, the Russian Renova Group won a tender to purchase the Kyrgyz government's 72.28% stake in the Kara-Balta uranium-production facility.

Transport

Highways

Kara-Balta is located along M41 on the route from

to Osh. It is also connected by highway to

Rail

Kara-Balta is connected by rail to Bishkek and Taraz, Kazakhstan.

Sports

During the Soviet period, the city had a good sport infrastructure. The city has a bandy club.

Military

In the city the Russian military has a capacity.

References

::''This article is based in part on material from the Russian Wikipedia''. {{Coord, 42, 50, N, 73, 51, E, region:KG_type:city, display=title Populated places in Chüy Region