Jalal-Abad Region

Jalal-Abad Region Жалал-Абад областы Джалал-Абадская область
Region
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Map of Kyrgyzstan, location of Jalal-Abad Region highlighted
Coordinates:
Country	Kyrgyzstan
Capital	Jalal-Abad
Government
• Gubernator	Zhusupbek Sharipov
Area
• Total	33,700 km2 (13,000 sq mi)
Population (2009-01-01)
• Total	1,009,889
• Density	30/km2 (78/sq mi)
Time zone	East (UTC+6)
• Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+6)
ISO 3166 code	KG-J
Districts	8
Cities	5
Townships	8
Villages	415

Jalal-Abad Region, also known as Jalalabat (Kyrgyz: Жалалабат областы), is a region (oblast) of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is the city of the same name, Jalal-Abad. It is surrounded by (clockwise from the north) Talas Region, Chuy Region, Naryn Region, Osh Region, and Uzbekistan. Jalal-Abad Region was established on November 21, 1939. On January 27, 1959 it became a part of Osh Region, but regained its old status as a region on December 14, 1990. Jalal-Abad Region consist of 8 districts, and includes 5 towns, 8 urba-type settlements, and 415 villages

Geography

Jalalabad oblast covers 33,647 square kilometres (12,991 sq mi) square kilometers (16.9% of total country's area) in central-western Kyrgyzstan.

The southern edge of the region is part of the Ferghana Valley. The rest of the region is mountainous. M41, the main north-south highway from Bishkek to Osh, takes a very crooked route down the center of the region. Another road follows the south border almost to the western tip and then turns northeast up the Chatkal valley to Kyzyl-Adyr in Talas Region. Another road (closed in winter and requiring a jeep from the Ferghana range to Kazarman) goes east to Kazarman and Naryn.

An integral part of the country's power system is Toktogul hydroelectric power station, which supplies electricity and water to both Kyrgyzstan and neighboring countries.

Ecology and Environment

The area has several mountain lakes, walnut forests, and mineral waters. It has also the world's largest natural growing walnut forest, called Arslanbob, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Jalal-Abad city. Jalal-Abad Region is rich in ecological resources. Among strictly protected areas (IUCN Ia Category) located in the region are Sary-Chelek State Biosphere Nature Reserve, Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve, and Padyshata State Nature Reserve. Also there is State Nature National Park Saimaluu-Tash located in Toguz-Toro District. Natural monuments (IUCN category III) include: Tegerek Waterfall located in the upper reaches of Kara-Unkur River, Sogon-Tash Cave, and composed of red sandstone Kara-Jygach Rocks in Aksy District. Among other protected areas are:

• Forest reserves (Kuru-Kol Forest Reserve, Mesken-Say Forest Reserve, Dashman Forest Reserve, Batrakhan Forest Reserve, Uzun Akmat Forest Reserve)
• Botanical reserves (Chanach Botanical Reserve, Kosh-Tekir Botanical Reserve, Chatkal Botanical Reserve, Ryazan-Say Botanical Reserve, Djeltiybes Botanical Reserve)
• Game reserves (Toguz-Toro Game Reserve, Chychkan Game Reserve, Sandalash Game Reserve)

Economy

Basic Socio-Economic Indicators

• Employed population: 390,700 (2008)
• Registered Unemployed Population: 18,707 (2008)
• Export: 87.1 million US dollars (2008)
• Import: 111.5 million US dollars (2008)
• Direct Foreign Investments (2008): 16.8 million US dollars

Economy

Wheat, fruit, vegetables, maize, nuts, tobacco, and silk-worm cocoons are grown in the region. The region also has a few textile plants and hydroelectric stations. Minerals, natural gas, coal, metals, and oil can be found here, notably around the town of Kochkor-Ata, which is home to small scale oil industry. Most of the extraction of minerals, natural gas, coal, metals, and oil of the Soviet era has ceased.

Livestock market in Kyzyl-Jar, Jalal-Abad Region

A pearl of the region is the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve with Lake Sary-Chelek, surrounded by wild fruit orchards and snow-covered peaks.

A few Soviet-era resorts offer mineral water treatment programs for people with various chronic diseases. A number of companies have succeeded in trading bottled mineral water around the country and abroad.

Except for the small fringes of the Fergana Valley, Jalal-Abad Region is a land of mountains. There are unlimited trekking possibilities in the area, but the lack of infrastructure, except at Arslanbob, poses problems to visitors; a biodiversity conservation program supported by the government and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is working to protect these natural resources and promote soft tourism.

Districts of Jalal-Abad

Jalal-Abad is divided administratively into 8 districts (southern districts numbered from east to west):

District	Capital	Location
Suzak District	Suzak	south1
Bazar-Korgon District	Bazar-Korgon	south2
Nooken District	Massy	south3
Aksy District	Kerben	south4
Ala-Buka District	Ala-Buka	south5
Chatkal District	Kanysh-Kyya	west
Toktogul District	Toktogul	north
Toguz-Toro District	Kazarman	east

Demographics

As of 2009, Jalal-Abad Region comprised 7 towns, 7 urban-type settlements, 3 settlements, and 420 villages. Its population, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009 amounted to 930,630 (enumerated de facto population) or 1,009,889 (de jure population).

Historical populations in Jalal-Abad Region
Year	Pop.	±%
1970	481,616	—
1979	587,509	+22.0%
1989	748,789	+27.5%
1999	869,539	+16.1%
2009	938,630	+7.9%
Note: enumerated de facto population; Source:

Ethnic composition

According to the 2009 Census, the ethnic composition of Jalal-Abad Region (de jure population) was:

Ethnic group	Population	Proportion of Jalal-Abad Region population
Kyrgyzs	725,321	71.8%
Uzbeks	250,748	24.8%
Russians	9,120	0.9%
Turks	5,842	0.6%
Tadjiks	5,642	0.5%
Tatars	3,694	0.4%
Uygurs	3,271	0.3%
Kurds	1,902	0.2%
Azerbaijanis	5,642	0.1%
Ukrainians	789	0.1%
Kazakhs	3,694	0.4%
other groups	329	0.1%