Languages:

This site is created using Wikimapia data. Wikimapia is an open-content collaborative map project contributed by volunteers around the world. It contains information about 32621831 places and counting. Learn more about Wikimapia and cityguides.

Kara-Balta

Kara-Balta is a city and municipality on the Chu River, in Chuy Province, Kyrgyzstan. It was founded in 1825 under the Koland Khanate, and received city status in 1975 under the Soviets. Its city population was officially 43,531 in a 2001 census. The municipality had a population of 54,200 according to the Soviet 1989 census, and is now estimated at over 70,000.

Kara-Balta is located on the northern slopes of the Kyrgyz Mountains, in the western part of Chuy Province, 62 km west of the capital of Bishkek. 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.

Kara-Balta on the map.

Recent city photos:

more photos...