High mountains of Kyrgyzstan. The majestic mountains of Kyrgyzstan

Mountains of Kyrgyzstan 88 ridges of a powerful mountain system - the Tien Shan - stretch from west to east in long chains. The name of the system in translation means "Heavenly Mountains". Other mountain systems, such as the Chon Alai Range in the south of the country, belong to the Pamir mountain system. Mountains divide the country into northern and southern regions, connected by a single Bishkek-Osh road. The average length of the mountain ranges of Kyrgyzstan is 100-300 km. The length of the longest ridge (Kakshaal) is 582 km, the Kyrgyz ridge, which is located south of Bishkek, stretches for 454 km. The width of the ridges varies from 10 to 40 kilometers. Tien Shan Mountains Tien Shan is the longest mountain range in Asia. The ridge is 2800 km long and 800 km wide. The ridge has 40 peaks over 6,000 meters high. It lies on the territory of several neighboring states, but most of it is located on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. Stretching for 2,800 kilometers from the Chatkal ridge east of Tashkent to Urumqi (beyond which the Tien Shan borders the Bogdo-Ula ridge), the mountain range is divided into northern, western, eastern, central and inner parts, each of which has a characteristic "alpine" signs. The central part of the ridge lies southeast of Lake Issyk-Kul and is known for its two highest peaks - Pobeda and Khan Tengri peaks, adjacent to other mountain ranges stretching from east to west. The mountain range surrounding a group of glaciers in the upper reaches of the Inylchek River is interesting with two peaks over 7000 meters high, 23 peaks over 6000 meters high, including 3 impregnable peaks and 80 peaks from 5000 to 6000 meters above sea level with 14 more peaks. The ridge consists of sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. The first mention of the Heavenly Mountains dates back to ancient times. According to ancient writings and notes of travelers, expeditions to these places have been made since ancient times, but they all look more like legends than facts. The expedition of the Russian explorer Peter Semyonov in the middle of the 19th century shed light for the first time on the mystery of the Heavenly Mountains. Thanks to his research, P. Semenov even received a second surname from the tsar - Tyan-Shansky. Interestingly, the northern regions of the mountain system were first described in the 7th century by the Buddhist monk Xuan-Tsan, who left behind the following information: “… nothing but snow and ice. It snows both in summer and spring. A fierce wind rages day and night. " Surely a similar picture was observed by the famous traveler Marco Polo, who traveled along this route with his father and uncle back in 1273. The Terskey Ala-Too ("Foggy Mountains") ridge is located along the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. The Kungei Ala-Too ("Sun Mountains") ridge is located on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul and forms the border with Kazakhstan. The Kyrgyz ridge (Kyrgyz Ala-Too) originates in the valley of the Issyk-Kul River, stretches along the northern border of Kyrgyzstan, 40 kilometers south of Bishkek. The Pamir is located in the southern part of the country. The most extreme northern parts of the Pamir system lie in Kyrgyzstan, namely, the Trans-Alai Range. The Pamir-Alai mountains separate the Pamir from the Tien Shan and are divided into Turkestan (with several unconquered peaks) and Alai ranges. The majestic mountains of Kyrgyzstan attract climbers and mountain hikers from all over the world. Mountains, the peaks of which are covered with snow all year round, are called "Ala-Too" in Kyrgyzstan, which means "multicolored, bright mountains" in Kyrgyz. Often, the snow line extends 3600 meters. Smaller mountain ranges of Kyrgyzstan: Ak Sheirak, Chatkal, Fergana, Keolu, Kok Shaal, Talas and Zaalai are no less popular among climbers. In Soviet times, the region was closed to foreigners, and even citizens of the Soviet Union had difficulty obtaining permits to conduct expeditions and campaigns here. Currently, there are still restrictions for tourists in some mountainous areas, and special permits are required for civilians in border areas. The difficulties that climbers face are aggravated by changeable weather: it can suddenly snow, and it can happen several times a day, which significantly increases the risk of avalanches and landslides. The mountainous terrain changes from the usual mountain ranges to the highlands of the Alpine type, where you can observe the diversity of the landscape. Forests are mainly concentrated on the northern slopes, most of the time covered with snow, while the grassy meadows and pastures ("jailoo") on the southern slopes are abundantly illuminated by the sun. List of mountain ranges and peaks of Kyrgyzstan: Ridge Length (km) Width (km) Highest peak Highest point (above sea level) Average height (above sea level) Kokshal Too 582 54 Pobeda (Pobeda Peak) 7439 4500 Chon Alaysky 250 40 Lenin Peak 7134 5460 Alai 350 20 Tandykul 5880 4450 Sary Jazz 93 16 Semenov Peak 5816 4700 Turkestan 300 30 Sabla Peak 5621 4430 Terskey-Alatau 354 40 Karakol Peak 5280 4290 Ak-Shiyrak 60 28 Jaman-su 5126 4720 Fergana 206 62 Kara-Kuldzha (Uch -Seyit) 4940 3620 Kyrgyz 454 40 West Alameddin Peak 4855 3700 At-Bashi 140 30 Yerme 4786 4300 Kungey-Alatoo 285 32 Chok-Tal 4771 4200 Chatkal 225 30 Chatkal Peak (Aflatun) 4503 3800 Naryn-Too 120 18 Baibiche 4500 4200 Talas 260 40 Manas Peak 4488 3930 Jumgal-Too 54 15 Min Teke 4281 3800 Climbers who manage to conquer all five seven-thousanders of Central Asia, three of which lie on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, receive a certificate and the honorary title of "Snow Leopard". List of seven-thousanders: 1. Peak Communism (Tajikistan - 7495 m) 2. Peak Pobeda (Kyrgyzstan - 7345 m) 3. Peak Lenin (Kyrgyzstan - 7134 m) 4. Peak Korzhenevsky (Tajikistan - 7105 m) 5. Peak Khan-Tengri ( Kyrgyzstan - 7010 m) Mountains of Kyrgyzstan: minor peaks The names of the lower peaks may not say anything to non-professional climbers, but here are the most famous of them: Adygene Peak (4393 m) is located in the Ala-Archa National Park. The peak is more suitable for trekking than climbing. Chapaev Peak (6371 m) is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif. Korona Peak (4860 m) is located in the Ala-Archa National Park. Six peaks from afar resemble a crown, which explains their name. The mountain slopes reach a height of 600 meters, the northern slope - 900 meters. Friendship Peak (6800 m) is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif. Gorky Peak (6050 m) lies in the Pobeda massif. It represents one of the most difficult peaks for climbers to pass due to the constantly changing weather conditions. From the side, the mountain resembles a pyramid with ice slopes up to 200 meters high. Svobodnaya Korea Peak is located on the Ak-Sai ridge in the Ala-Archa National Park. The northern slope rises 800 meters above the steep cliffs. Dzhigit peak is located in the Oguz Bashi massif on south bank Issyk-Kul lake. Karakol Peak (5216 m) is located in the Oguz Bashi massif on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. The peak of Komsomol is traditionally conquered every year on May 1. Manas Peak (4482 m) is the highest point of the Talas ridge. Peak Marble Wall (6400 m) is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif. Shater Peak (6700 m) is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif. Military Topographers Peak (6873 m) is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif. Peace Peak (4940 m) is located near Lenin Peak. The ascent takes two days and is often used by climbers to acclimatize before conquering more high mountains... Nansen Peak (5697 m) is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif. Peak 19th Party Congress (5882 m) is also known as Korzhenevsky Peak (not to be confused with Korzhenevskaya Peak in Tajikistan, 7105 meters high). It is clearly visible from the camp sites at the foot of Lenin Peak and is often used by rock climbers for acclimatization before conquering Lenin Peak. Petrovsky Peak (4910 m) rises above the Achik Tash camp, used by climbers preparing to climb Lenin Peak from its northern side. Often used by climbers to acclimate to higher climbers. Przhevalsky Peak (6450 m) is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif. Pyramid Peak (5215 m) is located in the region of the Turkestan Ogus Bashi ridge in the Jeti Oguz Valley near the city of Karakol on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. Piramida peak is the highest point of the massif with such peaks as Karakol and Dzhigit and is surrounded by glaciers. The northern slopes of the massif are dotted with deep gorges. There are a number of routes leading to the peak, from easy to difficult. Semyonov-Tyan-Shanskiy Peak presents great difficulty for climbers. Only a few expeditions have been registered, which have laid seven routes to the summit. The peak of Soviet Kyrgyzstan is located in the Central Tien Shan in the Muztag massif.

site- Over 90% of the territory of our homeland is covered with mountains, it is not for nothing that Kyrgyzstan is called the country of heavenly mountains. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that the highest peaks of seven thousand meters, low heights, and also incredibly beautiful landscapes are concentrated on a small territory. In total, there are 14 peaks with a height of more than 6,000 m and 26 peaks exceeding Mont Blanc (4807 m), the highest point in Europe, on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Our mountains belong mainly to the Tien Shan mountain range, a relatively smaller part is located in the Pamirs.

The name "Tien Shan" is translated from Chinese as "Heavenly Mountains"

The first mentions of the Tien Shan ridge appeared in antiquity. According to ancient writings and notes of travelers, expeditions to these places have been made since ancient times, but now they all look more like legends than reliable facts. For the first time, the Russian researcher Peter Semyonov told about the secrets of the Tien Shan in the middle of the 19th century, thanks to which he received a second surname - Tianshansky. The name "Tien Shan" is translated from Chinese as "Heavenly Mountains". The Tien Shan ridge is the longest ridge (2800 km) not only in Kyrgyzstan, but throughout Asia, in the central part of which there are the most high peaks of our country - Pobeda Peak (7439 m) and Khan Tengri Peak (6995 m). In addition to them, there are 40 more peaks on the ridge with a height of more than 6,000 meters.

Pobeda Peak - the highest peak of the Tien Shan

The highest point of the Tien Shan is Pobeda Peak (7439 m), discovered in 1943, the northernmost 7000m peak of the planet, located on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border, in the Kokshaal-Too ridge, east of Lake Issyk-Kul. His name is the most inaccessible, the most formidable seven-thousander - this peak makes very high demands on the physical and moral training of climbers. The history of the conquest of Victory Peak is full of interesting facts... In 1936, a group of climbers who were climbing Khan Tengri, then considered the highest peak of the Tien Shan, noticed that another mountain rises nearby, rivaling in height with Khan Tengri. Two years later, an expedition of climbers headed by renowned researcher Tien Shan, professor A.A.Letavet. The leader of the expedition's assault group was Leonid Gutman, a participant in the ascent of Khan-Tengri in 1936.

On September 19, 1938, three of the group of Professor A.A.Letavet climbed mysterious peak and gave it the name of the peak of the 20th anniversary of the Komsomol. Experts compared the photographs taken in 1938 by Gutman and in 1958 by V. Abalakov, and found that they were taken from the same place. Thus, it was possible to prove that the climbers from the Gutman expedition were the first to conquer Pobeda Peak. This is how Pobeda Peak, the highest peak of the Tien Shan, was discovered.

Khan Tengri: "Bloody Mountain" or "Lord of the Skies"

Not far from Pobeda Peak rises the Khan Tengri Peak (6995 m). Its name in translation from the Turkic means "Lord of the sky" or "Lord of the heavens". Until recently, the height of Khan Tengri was 6995 m above sea level, but according to the latest data, the height is 7010 m, but some people are suspicious of this. Some argue that this height is determined taking into account the thickness of the ice, others see the reason in the title of "Snow Leopard", because in order to get it, you need to conquer five peaks, not four, over 7000 meters in Central Asia.

At the peak of Khan Tengri (Kan-Too means "Bloody Mountain"), a capsule is buried, which contains a message from previous climbers who conquered the mountain, to the future. Each new climber who climbed to the height digs a capsule and writes his message with a pencil - it is impossible to write with ink - writes his name, the date of the ascent and buries it again. Despite the large number of accidents, many climbers are still trying to climb Kan-Too Peak.

Pamir-Alai - mountains of the seven-thousanders of Kyrgyzstan

The Pamir - the "Roof of the World", the highest mountain system in the entire post-Soviet space, spreads over an area of ​​60,000 square meters. km and is a highly branched network of ridges covered with eternal snow and endless intermountain valleys that make up the Pamir Highlands. However, only the most extreme region belongs to Kyrgyzstan - the northern slopes of the Trans-Alai ridge and the northern parts of the Pamir-Alai, which include: the Alai valley, as well as the Turkestan and Alai ranges.

Sacred mountain Sulaiman-Too

The sacred mountain in the city of Osh, which in June 2009 became the country's first monument World heritage... The mountain is a five-domed limestone outlier stretching from west to east. Its length is more than 1140 m, width - 560 m. Since ancient times, it had a sacred significance, as evidenced by the preserved petroglyphs. Today Sulaiman-Too Mountain is a kind of Mecca, which is last hope for many of its visitors. Most of them are women. Someone asks Sulaiman-Too for welfare for the family, someone - health, someone - procreation. People believe in the magical properties of the ancient sanctuary.

Mountain peaks:

Aitmatov Peak
Mountain peak in Kyrgyzstan, located in the central part of the Kyrgyz ridge, in the area of ​​the Salyk glacier. The height of the peak is 4650 m. The mountain got its name in 2000 in honor of the outstanding Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov. Until that moment, it was nameless.

Peak of Vladimir Putin
The peak is located in the Tien Shan mountain system. Located in the Chui region. Named in 2011 in honor of the second President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

Boris Yeltsin Peak
The peak is located on the Terskey Ala-Too ridge of the Tien Shan mountain system. Located on the territory of the Issyk-Kul region. Renamed in 2002 in honor of the first President of the Russian Federation Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.

Lenin Peak
A mountain peak located on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. One of the "seven-thousanders" - the highest peaks of the former USSR. One of the highest peaks in Central Asia, located in the Pamir mountain range.

Free Korea
A peak located in the Tien Shan mountains in the Kyrgyz ridge, in the Chui region, on the territory national park Ala-Archa. Its height according to various sources is 4740-4778 meters.

Semyonov Peak
Mountain peak in the Central Tien Shan. The highest point of the Saryzhaz ridge (5816 m). It rises above the valley with the North Inylchek glacier. The peak was named after Peter Petrovich Semyonov, who explored the Central Tien Shan in 1857.

Peak Corona

Korona Peak (4860 m) is located in the Ala-Archa National Park. Six peaks from afar resemble a crown, which explains their name. The mountain slopes reach a height of 600 meters, the northern slope - 900 meters.

An abundance of landscape resources or interesting geological features often play an important role in defining the international tourism image of the country in question. Tourists can travel thousands of kilometers just to see such famous natural wonders of the world as the Himalayas, the Big Barrier reef, Grand Canyon, Fujiyama, etc.

The main natural attractions of Kyrgyzstan: Issyk-Kul, Sary-Chelek, Son-Kul lakes, Tien Shan and Pamir mountains, Inylchek glacier, Khan-Tengri, Pobeda, Lenin peaks, Djety-Oguz gorge, Kozho-Kelen valley, Kokomeren river, Arslanbab forests, numerous gorges and passes, mysterious caves, waterfalls and healing springs are important landscape elements that have the potential to attract a large number of visitors. While none of these objects are the tallest, largest, deepest, or rarest in the world, they are strikingly beautiful and world-class landmarks. However, it should be emphasized that the potential of these attractions is used no more than 15%.

The mountainous landscape of the republic is complex and extremely diverse. The smallest height of the territory above sea level is 401 m, and the highest is 7439 m. More than 93% of the territory is occupied by mountains and only 7% is accounted for by valleys and plains.

A characteristic feature of the landscape is the alternation of high mountains and intermontane basins, sultry deserts and dry mountain steppes, alpine and subalpine meadows, alpine glaciers and peaks.

It is not for nothing that Kyrgyzstan is called “the land of heavenly mountains”. Almost 90% of the territory of the republic lies above 1500 meters above sea level. Other peaks of mountain ranges soared up to 6, or even 7 thousand meters. There are three highest (after the peak of Communism in the Pamirs, 7495) peaks: Pobeda (7439), Lenin (7134), Khan-Tengri (6995) peaks.

Hard-to-reach peaks attract courageous athletes. Climbers from various cities and countries come here annually to conquer the icy peaks of the Tien Shan.

The first ascent to the Khan Tengri peak, which was considered inaccessible, was made on September 11, 1931 by the expedition of M. T. Pogrebetsky.

It has a pointed pyramidal shape, composed of marbles and marbled limestones. Translated from the Kyrgyz language, it means "lord of the sky."

Located 20 km south of Khan Tengri. The first ascent was made in 1938 by members of the Soviet expedition led by A.A.Letavet. The summit was named the peak of 20 years of the Komsomol.

In 1943, Soviet topographers headed by P.N. Rapasov determined the true height of the peak - 7439 m and it was named Pobeda Peak.

The highest peak of the Chon-Alai ridge - Lenin Peak- rises in its central part on the border of Kyrgyzstan with Tajikistan. The crest of the ridge, over which the Lenin Peak rises, has a continuous cover of firn and ice. Glaciers of the Big and Small Saukdar descend to the south, to the north - Lenin glacier.

The first Soviet ascent was made by climbers E. Abalakov, K. Chernukha, I. Lukin in 1934. Having reached the top, they made a stone tour on it, wrapped it in scarlet cloth and installed a bust of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Eternal ice, 50-degree frosts, blizzard, blizzards. We associate all this with the Arctic, the Arctic Ocean. But it rarely occurred to anyone that sunny Kyrgyzstan has its own Arctic, which is in some way not inferior to the Arctic of the Far North. The same ice, the same frosts, the same blizzard and blizzards, and all this all year round.
"Sky-high country" in the truest sense of the word. The gigantic mountains hold it on their shoulders, clouds close it from the human sight ...

The transcendental country has its own seasons, which essentially boil down to eternal winter. There are non-melting ice, the area of ​​glaciation in the Tien Shan is 7200 sq. km. Glaciers are storehouses that store water among the vast arid expanses of Central Asia. Here the word "water" is synonymous with the word "life".

The volume of water contained in the glaciers of the Central Tien Shan is 650 cubic kilometers. The glaciers surrounding Issyk-Kul contain 13 times more water than all 80 rivers bring to the lake annually.

In one massif, Khan-Tengri, glaciers occupy an area of ​​almost 2.5 thousand square meters. km, equal to the territory of Luxembourg.

One of the largest centers of glaciation in the Tien Shan, and throughout Central Asia, is Akshiirak. There are 131 glaciers in Aksheirak.

The largest in the Tien Shan and the second (after the Fedchenko glacier in length) of the mountain-valley glaciers is Enilchek, consisting of South and North Enilchek. The length of South Enilchek is over 60 km. On the left side it has tributaries-glaciers: Zvezdochka, Dikiy, Proletarskiy tourism, Komsomolets and others.

The northern Enilchek, or Reznichenko glacier, is separated from the South by the latitudinal Sredinny ridge with Khan-Tengri peak in the east. Its length is over 38 km.

It was first described by the geographer-researcher of Central Asia A.V. Kaulbars in 1869.

90 years later, glaciologists established that the glacier had shortened by 1.5 km since the time of Kaulbars.

Glacial is one of the wonders of the Tien Shan. It is named after the German traveler who first described it.

Between the South and North Enilchek glaciers there is a lake filled with melt water from the glacier and snowy shores. The mountain shores of the lake are here and there encased in an ice shell. From time to time a "piece" weighing several thousand tons breaks off from them and crashes into the water with a crash. It dives, and then floats up and floats like a white iceberg.

Gradually the lake fills up, the water level becomes higher, the heap of hummocks and icebergs rises higher until those ice floes that have "plugged" a hole somewhere at the bottom rise. There is a breakthrough of the lake. The water goes into the tunnel cut by it in the thickness of the glacier and goes under the ice bed for about 20 km, breaking out in the place where the glacier ends and the river Enilchek begins.

Sometimes up to two spillways occur a year, usually in August and September. During a breakthrough, the small rivulet Enilchek becomes a powerful and formidable stream, which carries huge boulders like grains of sand. When the water subsides, the retaining wall of the glacier is exposed - 40-60 m.

Then the lake gradually fills up again with water, and it again murmurs in light streams along the wall, flowing into the valley.

When there is a spillway, there is a rumble along the entire route of the under-ice channel. Strange sounds are heard near the lake: a low uterine rumble, as if someone huge swallows stones and grinds them in his monstrous stomach. This is Enilchek's voice. The glacier resembles a round-the-clock running stone factory. There are never lunch breaks here.

Is ice hot? Everyone knows that his temperature does not rise above zero. However, a day on the glacier will reward you with the kind of burns you can get from a fire.

At noon, 1.5 calories of heat are supplied to a square centimeter of the horizontal surface of the Tien Shan glaciers in one minute, and about 600 calories during the daytime. With light cloudiness, which promotes the return of heat, the amount of solar heat on the glacier can increase up to 800 calories. These numbers are the highest for our planet. Neither the equator nor the tropics have such a high voltage of solar radiation.

"Country of mountains", Kyrgyzstan can be called "country of valleys". There are many valleys in the republic - wide and narrow, sunny and shady, fertile and deserted. The most famous of them is Chuiskaya.

The most important of the intermontane basins: low-mountain depressions - Talasskaya (length 140 km, width up to 26 km) and Chuiskaya (250 and 60 km respectively); medium-mountainous - Issyk-Kul (250 and 70 km) and Srednaryn (170 and 54 km); alpine ones - Aksai-Myudyurumskaya (180 and 30 km) and Alay (165 and 25 km). The largest of the hollows is Fergana, 340 km long and 160 km wide.

The Tien Shan is characterized by many formidable natural phenomena. One of the most destructive is the earthquake.

It can last for a split second, but cause enormous damage. Scientists have calculated that about a million earthquakes of various strengths occur on Earth every year. More than 100 thousand of them are registered with sensitive devices. About a thousand of them are destructive and more than a hundred are catastrophic.

Our mountains shudder every year and many times. Mountain building in the Tien Shan is not completed, the mountains are still "growing", this is one of the causes of earthquakes. Now in all large cities In the Tien Shan and in the neighboring lowland regions of Central Asia, seismic stations equipped with the latest instruments are equipped, which keep a round-the-clock watch, sensitively listening to the pulse of the planet.

In 1975, the Institute of Seismology was founded as part of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR. Its tasks are to study seismicity on the territory of the republic, monitor the deformation of the earth's crust in order to detect signs of an earthquake.

The Institute of Seismology has determined the degree of seismic hazard for a number of regions of Kyrgyzstan, in particular, microseismic mapping of Frunze, Tokmak, Rybachye, Osh has been carried out.

The strongest earthquake in the Tien Shan (the force at the epicenter is 10 points) over the past 2-3 centuries occurred on the night of January 4, 1911. Its epicenter was in the middle reaches of the Chon-Kemin River. It went down in history as the Kemin earthquake. Only in the valley of the river. Chon-Kemin killed 248 people and a lot of livestock.

Scientists have calculated the energy of the earthquake. It turned out that the energy released in this case was equivalent to the amount that Dneproges can generate in 325 years at full load of all turbines.

In November 1946, the Chatkal earthquake with a magnitude of 9 broke out, in 1954 - Dyurbeldzhinskoe (7 points), in 1955 - Ulugchat (6-7 points), in 1958 - Sonkul (6-7 points), in 1961 - Alai and Mailisai (6 points), in 1962 - Kokyangak (7 points). Other catastrophic earthquakes are also memorable. Tashkent (1966), Sarykamysh (1970), Tyup (1978).

The destructive force of mudflows is enormous - mud-stone flows that suddenly appear and act for a short time in river beds. One of the catastrophic mudflows occurred in June 1966 from the breakthrough of the dammed mountain lake Zhashil-Kel in the valley of the river. Tegermech. The lake originated 200 years ago from an earthquake.

With a terrible roar, large granite boulders were thrown out of the burst dam like cannonballs. Water gushed after them, carrying away the mud-stone mass. The lake has disappeared. In the valley of the river. Tegermech collapsed 15 million cubic meters. m of water together with 3 million cubic meters. m of stones and mud. According to specialists' calculations, the maximum flow rate reached 5 thousand cubic meters. m per second.

Humanity does not remain an outside observer of the manifestations of the unbridled forces of nature. The republic's hydrologists have carried out a record of the prevalence of mudflow-prone valleys, which helps in the fight against the destructive force of mudflows. Nature itself suggests the way to tame mudflows. It turns out that the more the spurs of the mountains are covered with forest, the less mudflows are formed on their slopes.

In addition to forest reclamation works, the construction of herring over canals and roads, as well as mudflow protection dams near settlements... An avalanche of snow, which mountains can collapse at any moment, is a powerful weapon icy world against the person invading him. Nothing foreshadows her appearance: the sky is clear, the sun is shining, there is no wind, there is silence around. And suddenly ... an alarmingly growing whistle in an instant turns into a hum, a crash, an explosion. The sky, air, mountains disappear, the whole world begins to move - a white whirlwind, a white collapse, white heaviness, white death ... This is an avalanche, one of the most formidable natural phenomena.

No more than a minute passes, again - the gentle sky overhead, the hot sun, calmness, silence ...

Six avalanche scientific stations operate in the snows of the Kyrgyz ridge, Susamyr, Kavak, Chatkal.

The avalanches are monitoring the behavior of the snow, the development of avalanches around the clock, predicting the possibility of a catastrophe, and preventing it.

The unusual glacial landscapes and landscapes, the dangers and difficulties that a tourist experiences while on the glaciers are the strongest attractive factor. Glaciers are becoming a desirable tourist product and are widely used by tour operators in the resource base of adventure and extreme types of tourism.

Kyrgyz giants, stone giants, forever turned into idols, great heroes, every day trying to prove to themselves and to each other that they are not only higher than the sun itself, but can reach the farthest star with their icy tip. So what am I talking about? Oh yes, about the mighty, invincible Kyrgyz mountains - Tien Shan and Pamir.

"Heavenly Mountains" (as the name "Tien Shan" is translated from Chinese) in long chains stretch from west to east with 88 powerful ridges. In their central part - the Central Tien Shan - the highest peaks of Kyrgyzstan are located - with a height of 7439 meters and a height of 6995 meters.

The Tien Shan ridge is the longest ridge not only in Kyrgyzstan, but throughout Asia. Its length is 2800 km, width is 800 km. In addition to the Khan-Tengri and Pobeda peaks, there are about 40 more peaks over 6,000 meters high on the ridge. The ridge covers several states, but most of it lies on the territory. It is divided into the following zones: Central, Northern, Western, Southwestern, Inner and Eastern Tien Shan. Each of these zones is of a characteristic alpine type.

The Tien Shan mountains have a considerable area of ​​glaciation - 10.2 thousand square kilometers. The largest glaciation area is located in the ridges of the Central Tien Shan. Other centers are the Zailiyskiy Alatau, Terskey-Alatau, Akshiyrak, Kokshaltau ridges, and in the Eastern Tien Shan, the Irene-Khabyrga and Khalyktau ridges. Complex valley glaciers flow down from the ridges of the Central Tien Shan; the largest of them are (its length is 59.5 km), (38.2 km) and the most significant glacier of the entire Eastern Tien Shan - Kara-Jailau (34 km).

The first mentions of the Tien Shan ridge appeared in antiquity. According to the ancient writings and notes of travelers, expeditions to these places have been made since ancient times, but they all now look more like legends than reliable historical facts... The expedition of the Russian explorer Pyotr Semyonov in the middle of the 19th century shed light for the first time on the mystery of the "Heavenly Mountains". Thanks to his research, Semenov even received from the tsar a second honorary surname - Tianshansky.

Now for the legendary Pamir mountains. Only the northernmost part of the Pamirs is located in Kyrgyzstan, represented by northern slopes Zaalaysky ridge and the northern part of the Pamir-Alai - the mountains that separate the Pamir and Tien Shan and which include the Turkestan and Alai ranges. Among these ridges, the Zaalaysky ( northern border Pamir), stretching 200 km from west to east, from the confluence of the Muksu and Kyzylsu rivers to the Irkeshtam peak on the border with China and further along the Chinese territory for another 50 km. Its average height is 5500 m. And it is famous for the fact that its highest point is the legendary and beloved in climbing circles, whose height is 7134 meters.

So, three Kyrgyz seven-thousanders:
1.
2.
3. (up to seven thousand this peak lacks only five meters, but proceeding from the fact that in terms of the complexity of the ascent it is in no way inferior to the seven-thousander, it was decided to give it this honorary status).

Lower peaks in Kyrgyzstan, most often used for trekking:

Adygene Peak (4393 m) - located on the territory of the Ala-Archa National Park, height;

Chapaev Peak (6371 m) - located in the Central Tien Shan, in the Muztag massif;

Korona Peak (4860 m) - located on the territory of the Ala-Archa National Park;

Gorky Peak (6050 m) - lies in the Pobeda massif;

Svobodnaya Korea Peak - located on the Ak-Sai ridge on the territory of the Ala-rcha National Park;

Karakol Peak (5216 m) - located in the Oguz Bashi massif on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul Lake;

Peak Manas (4482 m) - the highest point of the Talas ridge;

Peak Marble Wall (6400 m) - located in the Central Tien Shan, in the Muztag massif;

The photos were taken during a trip to Kyrgyzstan in the spring of this year, somehow all hands did not reach them. It's just a set beautiful views this wonderful mountainous country... As usual, we will accompany the photo with a short story.

More than three quarters of the territory of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous. Pobeda Peak, 7439 m high, is the highest point of the country (the northernmost seven-thousander on Earth from the side of China Pobeda Peak is called Mount Tomur). The territory of Kyrgyzstan is located within two mountain systems... Its northeastern part, which is larger in area, lies within the Tien Shan, and its southwestern part lies within the Pamir-Alai. The state borders of Kyrgyzstan run mainly along the ridges of mountain ranges. Only in the north and southwest, in the densely populated Chui and Fergana valleys, along the foothills of the mountains and foothill plains.
2.

The entire territory of the republic lies above 401 m above sea level; more than half of it is located at altitudes from 1000 to 3000 m and about a third - at altitudes from 3000 to 4000 m. Mountain ranges occupy about a quarter of the territory and extend in parallel chains mainly in the latitudinal direction. In the east, the main ridges of the Tien Shan converge in the area of ​​the Meridional ridge, creating a powerful mountain knot. Here (on the border with China and Kazakhstan) the peaks of Pobeda (7439 m) and Khan Tengri (6995 m) rise.
3.

Geographically, Kyrgyzstan is conditionally divided into two parts - south (southwest) and north. The northern and southern regions are connected by the high-mountainous Bishkek-Osh highway. On the way of the north-south highway, the Tyoo-Ashuu pass (3800 m above sea level), the Suusamyr valley, the Ala-Bel pass (3200 m), protected area- Chychkan gorge, Toktogul reservoir, Kok-Bel pass (2700 m) and exit to the Fergana valley.
4.

The population of Kyrgyzstan is 5.5 million people (January 2010). This is significantly more than the population in the country in 1959 (2.065 million), 1970 (2.935 million), 1979 (3.523 million), 1989 (4.258 million), 1999 (4.823 million). Until the 1960s, the population of the republic grew rapidly due to migration and natural growth, which was especially significant among rural Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and other Central Asian peoples.
5.

The core of the country's population - 72.16% - are Kyrgyz. Kyrgyz live throughout the country and are dominant in most rural areas. Russians make up 6.87%, dispersed mainly in cities and villages in the north of the republic. Uzbeks, who make up 14.34% of the population, are concentrated in the south-west of the country in the regions bordering with Uzbekistan.
6.

Part of the Germans lived in the region already in the 19th century, when the first German Mennonites began to settle in this region, who left their homes due to religious persecution. There were only a few thousand people living in the north, in the Talas region, where they founded the village-settlements of Nikolaypol, Vladimirovka, Andreevka, Romanovka, later united with Nikolaypol. Back in 1944, about 4,000 Germans lived in the Kirghiz SSR. In 1941-1945, about 500,000 Germans were resettled to the republics of Central Asia. In 1989, 101,000 Germans lived in the Kyrgyz SSR, which constituted 2.4% of the total population of the republic.
7.

At the end of the 19th century, soon after the suppression of the Dungan uprising by the central government of China, thousands of Dungans (Muslim Chinese) moved to Kyrgyzstan from northwestern China. Traditionally, the Dungans were valued as good farmers and gardeners, and their irrigated gardens served as a model for their neighbors. (It should be noted that the ethnonym "Dungan" is used mainly on the territory of Russia and other CIS countries: in China, their self-name is "Hui." The region of the predominant settlement of this minority is the Chuy valley (Tokmok, the village of Aleksandrovka, Milianfan, Ken-Bulun), the village of Tashirov (Osh region, Kara-Suu district) and the area of ​​Lake Issyk-Kul (Karakol, the village of Yrdyk). street in Bishkek used to be called Dungan.
8.

The overwhelming majority of believers in Kyrgyzstan are Sunni Muslims. There are also Christians: Orthodox, Catholics.
10.

Since ancient times, the Scythians, also called Saks, have lived on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan. At the beginning of our era, the Usuns migrated to the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan from the east (Xinjiang), who were replaced by the Hephthalites ("White Huns"), and then the Sassanids. In the early Middle Ages, the Turks, direct descendants of the Saks, lived on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan. In the 7th century, the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan became part of the Western Turkic Kaganate, and in the 8th century - into the Turkic Karluk Kaganate. In the XII century, the city of Uzgen ( oldest city on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan) and Balasagun become the centers of the Karakhanid state, which is replaced by the Karakitai Khanate. In the XIII century, the lands of modern Kyrgyzstan were conquered by the Mughals and entered the Chagatai ulus, from which in 1347 the semi-nomadic Mogolistan emerged, where the hegemony belonged to the Dulats.
11.

The first state formations on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan emerged in the second century BC. e., when the southern agricultural regions of the country became part of the state of Parkan. In the IV-III centuries. BC, the ancestors of the Kyrgyz were part of the powerful tribal unions of Central Asian nomads, which very seriously worried China. It was then that the construction of the Great Wall of china... In the 2nd - 1st centuries. BC, part of the Kyrgyz tribes left the power of the Huns (Huns) to the Yenisei. It was here that they formed their first state, the Kyrgyz Kaganate. It was the center for the consolidation of the Yenisei Kyrgyz, the formation of their culture. The first ancient Türkic runic script originated here. Runic inscriptions have survived on stone monuments... The destruction of the state under the blows of the conquerors led to the loss of writing. The epic "Manas", unprecedented in volume, is a genuine encyclopedia that has absorbed the events of history, information about the society, customs and life of the Kyrgyz.
12.

From the middle of the 9th to the beginning of the 10th century, the Kyrgyz Kaganate covered southern Siberia, Mongolia, Baikal, the upper reaches of the Irtysh, part of Kashgaria. The heyday of the state of the Yenisei Kyrgyz was not only a period of conquest, but also a trade exchange with the Chinese, Tibetans, peoples of South Siberia, Central and Central Asia. It was during this period that the ancestors of the modern Kirghiz, after the victory over the Uyghur Kaganate, first entered the territory of the Tien Shan. However, in the 10th century, only Southern Siberia, Altai and Southwestern Mongolia remained under the rule of the Yenisei Kyrgyz. In the XI-XII centuries. their possessions were reduced to Altai and Sayan. Meanwhile, parts of the Kyrgyz tribes scattered over the vast space took an active part in the events that are rich in the history of the countries of Central and Inner Asia.
14.

Resisting the power of the Kokand khans, individual Kyrgyz tribes took Russian citizenship and became the conductors of Russian expansion in Central Asia. In 1855-1863, the territory of modern northern Kyrgyzstan was conquered from the Kokand Khanate by the detachments of Colonel Chernyaev and became part of the Russian Empire. A number of Kyrgyz leaders resisted the Russian conquest. One of the most powerful uprisings against Russia was the movement of the Kyrgyz mullah (the uprising of Pulat Khan) in Fergana in 1873-76.
15.

On the Kyrgyz lands was founded in the outpost Przhevalsk. Southern Kyrgyzstan (together with Fergana and northern Tajikistan), after the defeat of the Kokand Khanate in 1876, was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the Semirechensk region (the administrative center is the city of Verny).
16.

In Russia, it was difficult to distinguish Kazakhs (Kirghiz-Kaisaks) from the Kirghiz proper (Kara-Kirghiz), many of whose tribes continued to engage in nomadic cattle breeding, in contrast to the Ferghana Kyrgyz, Kypchaks, Tajiks, Turks and Sarts.
17.

In 1910, on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, the first mines were opened and industrial production of coal (Kok-Zhangak) began. The miners were immigrants from Russia, who very early fell under the influence of revolutionary social democratic circles.
18.

For the time being, the tsarist government did not interfere in the life of the Kirghiz, but the First World War led to the need to mobilize the population for trench work. As a result, on August 10, 1916, an uprising broke out that engulfed Russian Turkestan, including the nomad camps of the Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. The anger of the rebels first of all fell on the Russian settlers, who were killed up to 2000 people. The uprising was brutally suppressed. Almost half of the Kyrgyz population of the Issyk-Kul region was exterminated. Part of the Kirghiz fled to China, where the Kyzylsu-Kirghiz Autonomous Okrug was later formed in the border province of Xinjiang.
19.

The revolutions in Petrograd in 1917 were met ambiguously on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan (southern Semirechye). It is known that not only Russian miners, but the "feudal elite" of the Kyrgyz tribes supported the revolution. Whereas the Russian settlers-peasants were nominated as "kulaks" and they rebelled against the policy of surplus appropriation. The uprising was suppressed, and the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan was included in Soviet Turkestan, the administrative center of which was Tashkent. In 1924 Railway Turksib (the construction of which was started back in tsarist times) connected Pishkek with Alma-Ata and Novosibirsk
20.

On the national-state demarcation of the Soviet republics of Central Asia, on October 14, 1924, the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region (from May 25, 1925 - the Kyrgyz) Autonomous Region was formed as part of the RSFSR (headed by Kamensky and Aidarbekov), on February 1, 1926 it was transformed into the Kyrgyz ASSR (one of the first chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars the republic became J. Abdrakmanov), and on December 5, 1936 - in the Kirghiz SSR. In 1936, Kyrgyzstan received the status of a union republic (SSR), the capital of which was the city of Frunze (formerly Pishpek).
21.

In a short time, the Kyrgyz (like many other Turkic peoples of the USSR) changed the alphabet three times: from Arabic to Latin, and from Latin to Cyrillic.
22.

During the years of Perestroika, there was an increase in national revival on the one hand and interethnic tension on the other in all the national outskirts of the USSR. Coupled with the ineffectiveness of command and control, this often led to bloody excesses, one of which was the Osh massacre of 1990.
23.

In the wake of the crisis in the USSR, which culminated in the defeat of the State Emergency Committee, the Supreme Soviet of Kyrgyzstan proclaimed the republic's sovereignty on August 31, 1991. Two years later, on May 5, 1993, the first Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic was adopted, which enshrined the presidential form of government. Like Russia, Kyrgyzstan has gone through a stage of confrontation between the president and the pro-communist parliament. In 1993, the country was shaken by the first corruption scandal associated with the name of Prime Minister Tursunbek Chyngyshev, as a result of which the representative of the old party nomenklatura Apas Dzhumagulov (1993-1998) became the new head of government. On May 10, 1993, Kyrgyzstan introduced its own national currency - the som.
24.

At the turn of the millennium, the republic was involuntarily involved in the fight against terrorism, which was anticipated by geopolitical instability along its southern borders. In 1999, Kyrgyzstan was shaken by the Batken events, when militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan tried to break through from Tajikistan through the territory of Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. In 2001, the American Manas airbase was located in Kyrgyzstan. The first symptom of the crisis was the Aksy events of 2002. Then came the Tulip Revolution on March 24, 2005, which ended the 15-year rule of Askar Akayev (1990-2005). The new president was a representative of the "poor south" Kurmanbek Bakiev (2005-2010), who failed to stabilize the situation in the country.
25.

Bakiyev was overthrown during another revolution on April 7, 2010. Power passed to the interim government headed by the leader of the last revolution, Roza Otunbayeva. Clashes between supporters of the new and old authorities provoked an interethnic conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country, during which more than 200 people died and hundreds of thousands of Uzbeks fled the country. On June 27, 2010, a referendum was held in Kyrgyzstan, which confirmed the powers of Roza Otunbayeva as head of state for a transitional period until 2011, and a new constitution was adopted, approving a parliamentary form of government in the country.
26.

On October 30, 2011, presidential elections were held, out of 16 candidates, A. Atambayev won with 63.24% of the vote. In total, about 1,858,596 (61.28%) citizens voted.
27. story about this trip

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