Osh Region


Osh is a region of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Osh, which is not part of the region. It is bounded by Jalal-Abad Region, Naryn Region, China, Tajikistan, Batken Region, and Uzbekistan. Its total area is. The resident population of the region was 1,391,649 as of January 2021. According to the 2009 census, 28% of the total population are ethnic Uzbeks.

Geography

Most of the population lives in the flat northern part of the region, on the edge of the Ferghana Valley. The land gradually rises southward to the crest of the Alay Mountains, drops into the Alay Valley and rises to the Trans-Alai Range which forms the border with Tajikistan. In the east, the land rises to the Ferghana Range, roughly parallel to the Naryn border. This area is drained by the Kara Darya which flows northwest to join the Naryn to form the Syr Darya in the Ferghana Valley.
Highway M41 goes south over the mountains from Osh to the Tajik border. At Sary-Tash a branch goes east to the Chinese border crossing at Irkeshtam. The other main road goes west through the flat country to Batken Region.

Divisions

The Osh Region is divided administratively into seven districts:
DistrictSeatMap
Alay DistrictGülchö
Aravan DistrictAravan
Chong-Alay DistrictDaroot-Korgon
Kara-Kulja DistrictKara-Kulja
Kara-Suu DistrictKara-Suu
Nookat DistrictNookat
Özgön DistrictÖzgön

Kara-Suu, Nookat and Özgön are cities of district significance. There are no urban-type settlements in the region.

Demographics

The resident population of Osh Region, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009, was 1,104,248. Of these, 87,824 people live in urban areas, and 1,016,424 in rural ones. The official population estimate for the beginning of 2021 was 1,391,649.

Ethnic composition

The largest ethnic minority group in Osh Region is Uzbeks, forming 28% of the regional population according to the 2009 census. In 2009, 40% of all Kyrgyzstan's Uzbeks lived in Osh Region. According to the 2009 Census, the ethnic composition of the Osh Region was:
Ethnic groupPopulationProportion of population---------------------------
Kyrgyzs68.6%
Uzbeks28.0%
Uygurs1.0%
Turks1.0%
Tajiks0.6%
Azerbaijanis0.3%
Russians0.1%
Tatars0.1%
Dungans0.1%
other groups0.2%

Enclaves and exclaves

Kyrgyzstan's only exclave within Uzbekistan is administratively part of Osh Region. This is the tiny village of Barak in the Fergana valley, located on the road from Osh to Xoʻjaobod about 4 km north-west from the Kyrgyz–Uzbek border in the direction of Andijan.