Osh

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Osh

Osh (Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz language

Kyrgyz or Kirghiz is a Turkic languages and, together with Russian language, an official language of Kyrgyzstan. It is most closely related to Altay language and more distantly so to Kazakh language....
: ??) is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan

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 People's Republic of China to the east....
located in the Fergana Valley

Fergana Valley

The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Shakhimardan khanate Pamirs Central Asia....
in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south".

It has served as the administrative center of Osh Province

Osh Province

Osh Province is a province of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Osh. It is bounded by Jalal-Abad Province, Naryn Province, Xinjiang, China, Tajikistan, Batken Province and Uzbekistan....
since 1939. The city has an ethnically mixed population of about 220,000 (in 2003), comprising Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz

The Kyrgyz are a Turkic peoples ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan....
, Uzbeks

Uzbeks

The Uzbeks are a Turkic peoples people of Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China....
, Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavs ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.The English language term Russians is used to refer to the citizens of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity ; in Russian language, the demonym Russian is translated as Rossiyanin ....
, Tajiks

Tajiks

Tajik is a general designation for a wide range of mostly Persian language peoples of Iranian peoples, with traditional homelands in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan, north west Pakistan and western China....
, and other smaller ethnic groups.

Osh is a lively place, with the largest and most crowded outdoor market

Market

A market is any one of a variety of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby persons trade, and goods and services are exchanged, forming part of the economy....
in all of Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
.

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Encyclopedia

Osh (Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz language

Kyrgyzstan

Fergana Valley

Osh Province

Kyrgyz

The Kyrgyz are a Turkic peoples ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan....
, Uzbeks

Uzbeks

Russians

Tajiks

Market

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
. The city's industrial base, established during the Soviet

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
period, largely collapsed after the break-up of the Soviet Union and has started to revive only gradually. The proximity of the Uzbek

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked_country country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union....
border, which artificially cuts through historically linked territories and settlements, deprives Osh of much of its former hinterland

Hinterland

The hinterland is the land or district behind the borders of a coast or river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast....
and presents a serious obstacle to trade and economic development. Daily flights link Osh - and hence the southern part of Kyrgyzstan - to Bishkek

Bishkek

Bishkek is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.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....
and the north, and the recent upgrading of the long and arduous road through the mountains to Bishkek has greatly improved communications.

The city has several monuments, among them one to the southern Kyrgyz "queen" Kurmanjan Datka

Kurmanjan Datka

Kurmanjan Datka , also known as the "The Tsaritsa of Alai" or "The Queen of the South," was a stateswoman in Kyrgyzstan, known for her initial resistance to the annexation of that region by Russia....
and one of the few remaining statues of Lenin. A Russian-orthodox church can also be found (reopened after the demise of the Soviet Union), as well as the biggest mosque in the country (situated beside the bazaar) and the Rabat Abdul Khan Mosque (from the 16th century). The popular Sulayman Mountain

Sulayman Mountain

For a site located in Balochistan , Pakistan known by the same name, see Takht-e-SulaimanFor a site in West Azarbaijan, Iran known by the same name, see Takht-i-Suleiman...
offers a splendid view over Osh and its environs and a cave in the mountain is the site of a museum containing a collection of archaeological, geological and historical finds and information about local flora and fauna.

History

The city is among the oldest settlements in Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
. Osh was known as early as the 8th century as a center for silk production along the Silk Road

Silk Road

The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe....
. The famous trading route crossed Alay Mountains

Alay Mountains

1. An east-west range of the Tian Shan in southern Osh Province, Kyrgizstan. To the south is the Alay Valley and then the Trans-Alay Range on the Tajik border....
(part of the ancient Mount Imeon

Mount Imeon

Mount Imeon is an ancient name for the Central Asian complex of mountain ranges comprising the present Hindu Kush, Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan, extending from the Zagros Mountains in the southwest to the Altay Mountains in the northeast, and linked to the Kunlun Mountains, Karakoram and Himalayas to the southeast....
) to reach Kashgar

Kashgar

Kashgar or Kashi ...
to the east. In modern times, Osh has become also the starting point of the Pamir Highway

Pamir Highway

File:Transport-dush-khorog.jpgThe Pamir Highway is a road traversing the Pamir Mountains in Central Asia. Sources disagree on the termini of the highway, with Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan; Dushanbe, Tajikistan; and Khorog, Tajikistan all being offered as the beginning of the highway; however all sources agree that the Pamir Highway ends in O...
crossing Pamir Mountains

Pamir Mountains

The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range in Central Asia formed by the junction or knot of the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun Mountains, and Hindu Kush ranges....
to end in Khorog

Khorog

The town of Khorugh , also transliteration as Khoroq, Khorogh, Khorog, or Xoroq) is the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan....
, Tajikistan

Tajikistan

Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east....
.

Babur

Babur

Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal Empire of Indian subcontinent....
, founder of the Mughal

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire was a Muslim imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century....
dynasty of Indian

India

Timur

Timur , among his other names, commonly known as Tamerlane in the West, was a 14th century Turko-Mongol conqueror of much of western and Central Asia, and founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, which survived until 1857 as the Mughal Empire of India....
, was born in nearby Andijan

Andijan

Andijan is the fourth-largest city in Uzbekistan, and the capital of the Andijan Province. It is located in the east of the country, at , in the Fergana Valley, near the border with Kyrgyzstan on the Andijan-Say River....
(Uzbekistan) in the Fergana Valley and set out from there on his conquest of northern India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
. He allegedly pondered his future on Sulayman Mountain, concluding that the confines of the Fergana would cramp his aspirations as a descendant of famous conquering warrior princes. He wrote of the city:

"There are many sayings about the excellence of Osh. On the southeastern side of the Osh fortress is a well-proportioned mountain called Bara-Koh, where, on its summit, Sultan Mahmud Khan built a pavilion. Farther down, on a spur of the same mountain, I had a porticoed pavilion built in 902 (1496-7)"

The city was occupied and annexed by the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
in 1876 when Russia overwhelmed the Central Asian khanates during the so-called Great Game - the contest between Britain and Russia for dominance in Central Asia.

In 1990, shortly before the end of Soviet power in Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
, Osh and its environs experienced bloody ethnic clashes

Osh riots

The Osh riots were an ethnic conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that took place in June 1990 in the city of Osh, part of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic ....
between the Kyrgyz and the Uzbeks, causing on the order of 1000 deaths. Fortunately, no open violent ethnic conflicts have occurred in Osh since that time.

Sister Cities

Istanbul
Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, and List of cities proper by population in the world with a population of 12.6 million....
, Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
St.Petersburg, Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
Jeddah
Jeddah

Jeddah is a Saudi Arabian city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh....
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....

External links

On Osh State University's Medical Institute's website (English)
Official website (in Russian)