Kara-Balta

Kara-Balta ('black ax', Russian/Kyrgyz: Кара-Балта) is a city and municipality on the Kara-Balta River, in Chuy Province, Kyrgyzstan, the capital of Jaiyl District. It was founded in 1825 under the Kokand Khanate, and received city status in 1975 under the Soviets. Its city population was officially 37,834 in the 2009 census. The municipality had a population of 54,200 according to the Soviet 1989 census.

Kara-Balta is located on the northern slopes of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too, in the western part of Chuy Province, 62 km west of the capital of Bishkek. The road continues west through Kaindy toward Taraz, 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 Chuy Valley has been settled since the Fifth Century, but after the invasion by Genghis Khan the area was inhabited mostly by nomads and pastoralists. However, the settlement became a town and flourished under the Khanate of Kokand.