Batken Region Баткен облусу Баткенская область |
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Region | |||
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Map of Kyrgyzstan, location of Batken Region highlighted |
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Coordinates: 39°50′N 71°30′E / 39.833°N 71.500°ECoordinates: 39°50′N 71°30′E / 39.833°N 71.500°E | |||
Country | Kyrgyzstan | ||
Capital | Batken | ||
Government | |||
• Gubernator | Mamat Aibalayev | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 17,048 km2 (6,582 sq mi) | ||
Population (2009-01-01) | |||
• Total | 428,800 | ||
• Density | 25/km2 (65/sq mi) | ||
Time zone | East (UTC+6) | ||
• Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+6) | ||
ISO 3166 code | KG-B | ||
Districts | 3 | ||
Cities | 4 | ||
Townships | 5 | ||
Villages | 198 |
Batken Region (Kyrgyz: Баткен облусу, Batken oblusu; Russian: Баткенская область) is a region (oblast) of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Batken. It is bounded on the east by Osh Region, on the south, west and north by Tajikistan, and on the northeast by Uzbekistan. The northern part of the region is part of the flat, agricultural Ferghana Valley. The land rises southward to the mountains on the southern border: the Alay Mountains in the east, and the Turkestan Range in the west.
The population of the region was reported as 380,256 by the census of 2009. Of them, 24.2 per cent lived in the region's four towns and five urban-type settlements, and 75.8 per cent in the rural areas. The majority (76.5 per cent) of the regione's population are Kyrgyz; there are also Uzbeks (14.7 per cent) and Tajiks (6.9 per cent), as well as a few Russians (0.8 per cent), Tatars (0.4 per cent), and Turks (0.2 per cent).
Batken Region was created on 12 October 1999, from the westernmost section of Osh Region. This was partly in response to the activities of the Islamic Movement for Uzbekistan (IMU), with bases in Tajikistan. In 1999 they kidnapped a group of Japanese geologists and in 2000 some American climbers. In the two years, 49 Kyrgyz soldiers were killed. There have been no incidents since, except for an attack on a Tajik border post in May 2006, which was probably connected to drug running.
As of 2009, Batken Region contained 4 towns, 5 urban-type settlements, and 198 villages. Its population, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009 amounted to 380.3 thousand (enumerated de facto population) or 428.6 thousand (de jure population).