Ysyk-Ata District

Ysyk-Ata
Raion
The new mosque in Pervomayskoe village
Country	Kyrgyzstan
Region	Chuy Region
Area
• Total	2,415 km2 (932 sq mi)
Population (2009)
• Total	132,759
• Density	55/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	GMT +5 (UTC+5)

Ysyk-Ata District (Russian: Ысык–Атинский район) is one of the eight districts of the Chuy Region in northern Kyrgyzstan. Its area is 2,415 square kilometres (932 sq mi), and its resident population was 132,759 in 2009. The administrative center of the district is the city of Kant (population 21,589 in 2009), and the district itself was known as Kant District in the past. The district is located on the southern side of the Chui River, about halfway between the national capital Bishkek and the former provincial capital Tokmok.

In 1941, a Soviet Air Force base and pilot training school were set up in the district. During World War II, 1507 military pilots were trained there. Since 1956, the school trained foreign pilots; among its graduates were both the ex-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and the late Syrian president Hafez Assad.

In 1992, the air base was transferred to Kyrgyzstan authorities; since 2003 it hosts Russian Air Force units.

The district authorities, as well as the residents of the riverside village of Milianfan (Russian: Милянфан), are concerned with the River Chui gradually washing away the district's land, as it shifts its course to the south and erodes its left (southern) bank.

As of 2009, Ysyk-Ata District included 1 town, and 58 villages in 18 rural communities (aiyl okmotus). Its de facto population, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009, was 131,503, and de jure population 132,759. Some 21,762 people live in urban areas, and 109,741 in rural ones.