Kara-Balta

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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.

[edit] Economy

The major industry in Kara-Balta was the processing plant of the mining combine, Kara-Balta Ore Mining Combine (KBMP), the largest in Central Asia. During Soviet times, it processed uranium ore from deposits in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. After independence, the mines in Kyrgyzstan closed quickly; however KBMP continued to process uranium concentrate from Kazakhstan until 2005 when this activity wad stopped due to the lack of raw material. The massive uranium tailings remain a problem. KBMP still processes gold and molybdenum ores.

In February 2007 the Russian Renova Group won a tender to purchase the Kyrgyz government's 72.28 percent stake in the Kara-Balta uranium-production facility.