Kara-Suu

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Kara-Suu Карасуу
Kara-Suu Location in Kyrgyzstan
Coordinates: 40°42′N 72°53′E / 40.7, 72.883
Country	‎ Kyrgyzstan
Province	Osh Province

Kara-Suu (meaning "Black Water") is a town, a river and a valley in southwestern Kyrgyzstan, in the Fergana Valley.

The Kara-Suu valley is home to two towns with similar names. The first, at N 40.71 E 72.89, is divided by a Soviet-era border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Kyrgyz town is called Kara-Suu and is a major industrial and trade center, its Uzbek counterpart is called Qorasuv (or Kara-Soo or Qorawsuw). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Uzbek authorities destroyed the main bridge across the river, but cross-border trade continued via improvised ropeways that ferried goods and people across.

The Karasuu Bazaar in the Kyrgyz town of Kara-Suu is a highly important center of re-export of Chinese consumer goods into Uzbekistan, comparable with Dordoy Bazaar in Bishkek (which targets Kazakh and Russian markets).^[1]

Kara-Suu gained international prominence following the May 2005 unrest in Uzbekistan and massacre in nearby Andijan, after which refugees streamed across the border into Kyrgyzstan.

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