The Karatau or Qaratau (, ) is a mountain range located in southern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. The mountains have deposits of

phosphorite Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non-detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentoxi ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

, and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

Name

() is Kazakh for the "Black Mountain" or "Mountain Range". The English name derives from accounts of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

exploration of the area.

Geography

The range extends for about in a roughly NW/SE direction just north of the

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

. The

Muyunkum Desert The Moiynkum Desert (, ''Moiynqūm''), is a desert in the Turkistan and Zhambyl regions of southern Kazakhstan. Common plant types in the desert include saksaul, milkvetch, mugwort and sedge. The Andasay State Nature Reserve is a protecte ...

lies to the north of the range. The Karatau is the westernmost prolongation of the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

. The summits of the mountains are smooth and the slopes are cut by snow-fed rivers. The

Shabakty The Shabakty (; ) is a river in southern Kazakhstan. It has a length of and a drainage basin of .Google Earth The river flows across the Sarysu District of the Zhambyl Region. There are two inhabited places by the riverbank, Saudakent near ...

Kyrshabakty The Kyrshabakty () is a river in southern Kazakhstan. It is a right tributary of the Shabakty, with a length of and a drainage basin of .Google Earth The river flows across Sarysu District of the Zhambyl Region. There are Cambrian limestones b ...

Ushbas The Ushbas () is a river in southern Kazakhstan. It has a length of and a drainage basin of .Google Earth The river flows across Sarysu district of the Zhambyl Region and Sozak District of the Turkistan Region. It has its mouth near Kumkent v ...

, Bugun and

Asa Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...

, are among the rivers having their sources in the range.

World Heritage Status

There are numerous ancient archaeological sites in the range that display the stages of cultural evolution from the early

Paleolithic Age The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

(1 million BP) to the

Neolithic Age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

(6500 BP).Paleolithic sites and geomorphology of Karatau mountain range - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
/ref> This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Tentative List on September 24, 1998 in the Cultural category.

Nature Reserve

The

Karatau Nature Reserve Karatau Nature Reserve (, ''Qaratau memlekettık tabiği qoryğy'') is a wildlife refuge in the mid-part of the Karatau Mountains, near Kyzylkum, Betpak-Dala and Moiynkum deserts in the South Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan, in Central Asia. It w ...

is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

in the range established in 2004.Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan ''"On the establishment of the state institution" Karatau State Nature Reserve "of the Committee for Forestry and Hunting of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan"''; 1 March 2004

References

External links

* {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Kazakhstan World Heritage Tentative List Mountain ranges of the Tian Shan