Dżalalabad

Dżalalabad (Dżalal Abad, Abad Dżałał; kirg. Жалалабат) – a town in south-western Kyrgyzstan, in the eastern part of Ferghana Valley, near the border with Uzbekistan. Geographical coordinates: [Show location on interactive map] 40 ° 56 ‘N, 73 ° 00′ E. Population: 70.4 thousand. (1999). A third of the population of the city of the country. Dżalalabadzkiego administrative center of the circuit. The city is an important industrial center for the surrounding agricultural region. There are, among others cotton waste. In addition, the city developed in electrical engineering, metal, clothing, footwear, food, materials and furniture budowalnych. Nearby Dżalalabadu there is a spa Hozret-Ayub-Paigambar, whose mineral waters are used to treat many diseases. They are also bottled and sold at home and abroad.

Transport

In Kyrgyzstan is 22 400 km of roads on a hard surface, 340 km of railway lines and 600 km of inland waterways. The main international airport to Bishkek Internatonal, Bishkek.

Geography

Kyrgyzstan is bordered on the north by Kazakhstan, on the west by Uzbekistan, Tajikistan to the south and east to China. The imposing Tien-Shan Mountains occupies a large part of the country’s territory. The Peak Pobedy is 7439 meters the highest peak in the country.

Early history

According to recent historical findings, Kyrgyz history dates back to 201 BC. The early Kyrgyz lived in the upper Yenisey River valley, central Siberia. The discovery of the Pazyryk and Tashtyk cultures show them as a blend of Turkic nomadic tribes. Chinese and Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD describe the Kyrgyz as red-haired, in addition, blond-haired with a fair complexion and green or blue eyes.

The descent of the Kyrgyz from the indigenous Siberian population is confirmed on the other hand by recent genetic studies.^[3] Remarkably, 63% of the modern Kyrgyz men share Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) with Tajiks (64%), Ukrainians (54%), Poles (56%) and even Icelanders (25%). Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) is believed to be a marker of the Proto-Indo-European language speakers.

The Kyrgyz state reached its greatest expansion after defeating the Uyghur Khanate in 840 A.D. Then Kyrgyz quickly moved as far as the Tian Shan range and maintained their dominance over this territory for about 200 years. In the 12th century, however, the Kyrgyz domination had shrunk to the Altay Range and the Sayan Mountains as a result of the rising Mongol expansion. With the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the Kyrgyz migrated south.

Osh

The standard refrain from anyone you ask is that ‘Osh is older than Rome’. Legends credit all sorts of people with its founding, from King Solomon (Suleyman) to Alexander the Great. These days it’s Kyrgyzstan’s second-biggest city and the administrative centre of the huge, populous province that engulfs the Fergana valley on the Kyrgyzstan side.

It suffers a kind of demographic schizophrenia, being a major centre of Kyrgyzstan but with a strong (40%) Uzbek population more in tune with Uzbekistan and the rest of the Fergana valley.

When to Go

At lower elevations, spring and autumn are probably the best seasons to visit weather-wise – in particular April to early June and September through October. In spring, the desert blooms briefly, while autumn is harvest time when the markets fill with fresh produce.

Summer is ferociously hot in the lowlands, but July and August are the best months to visit the mountains. Cold rains begin in November and snow soon closes mountain passes. The ski season at the Upper Ala-Archa Mountain Ski Base lasts from December to April. Winters are bitterly cold.

Bishkek

Bishkek is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.

Somewhat confusingly, Bishkek is also the administrative center of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.

Founded in 1878 as the Russian fortress of Pishpek (Пишпек), between 1926 and 1991 it was known as Frunze (Фрунзе), after the Bolshevik military leader Mikhail Frunze. The name is thought to derive from a Kyrgyz word for a churn used to make fermented mare’s milk (kumis), the Kyrgyz national drink.

Bishkek, at 42°52′29″N, 74°36′44″E, is situated at about 800 m altitude just off the northern fringe of the Ala-Too range, an extension of the Tien Shan mountain range, which rises up to 4,800 m and provides a spectacular backdrop to the city. North of the city, a fertile and gently undulating steppe extends far north into neighboring Kazakhstan. The Chui river drains most of the area. Bishkek is connected to the Turkestan-Siberia Railway by a spur.

Bishkek is a city of wide boulevards and marble-faced public buildings combined with numerous Soviet-style apartment blocks surrounding interior courtyards and, especially outside the city center, thousands of smaller privately built houses. It is laid out on a grid pattern, with most streets flanked on both sides by narrow irrigation channels that water the innumerable trees which provide shade in the hot summers.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east.