Tashkömür

**Tashkömür** (, an aa written *Tash-Kumyr*) is ane o the five lairgest touns o the Jalal-Abad Province in soothren Kyrgyzstan.  It is locatit alang the Wast bank o the Naryn River, opposite the main Osh - Bishkek road.  Locatit at the edge o the Tien Shan Muntains, whan heidin sooth frae Bishkek, Tashkömür is the gateway tae the Fergana valley.

## History
Offeecially foondit on December 17, 1943, Tashkömür , meanin stane-coal, grew intae ane o the lairgest industrial centres o the Central Asian region o the Soviet Union.  It wis primarily a minin toun, but haed a cigarette factory an ither industries as well, which complementit the ootput o the coal mines.  A railwey wis constructit, an trains transportit the coal oot o Tashkömür tae aw corners o the Soviet Union.  At its peak, Tashkömür haed a population o aroond 35,000.

## Economy
Dams constructit alang the Naryn river transformed wha uised tae be a stream intae a sizable river.  Residents will an aa attest tae a chynge in climate, which thay attribute tae the dams.  Furthermair, the Tashkömür dam an the Shamaldysay dam raised the watter level considerably, causin certain settlements tae be submerged bi the watter.  Despite the presence o the dams an hydroelectic plants, Tashkömür still daes no hae 100% reliable electricity.

## The Land an The Fowk
Tashkömür is locatit in what coud be describit as a canyon, which the Naryn river runs throu.

Fossils o dinosaurs an dinosaur eggs hae been discovered in the aurie, an paleontologists hae speculatit that ance the aurie wis uised bi dinosaurs tae lay thair eggs.  The muntains surroondin the toun are rich in minerals, no anerlie in coal, which gae Tashkömür its fame.

The toun spans 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) north tae sooth, but is less nor a kilometer (0.6 mile) athort.  Thare is nae arable land in Tashkömür, awtho juist a few kilometers sooth the Fergana Valley begins, an the cotton plantations are ubiquitous, alangside the melons an ither crops.

Tashkömür is dividit intae five neighborhuids: Severniy (the North), Bayetova, the Center, Dostuk, an the Mikrorayon.  Each neighborhuid haes its awn schuil, except for the centre, whaur thare are 3 schuils.

The toun o Tashkömür an aa owersees fower veelages: Shamaldysay, Kyzyl-Alma, Bazyl-Ata, an Mailisay.  Shamaldysay, the lairgest o thir fower veelages, haes three schuils (#2, #8, an #10) while the ither three veelages hae anerlie ane schuil each (#11, #6, an #9 respectively).

At the time o its fundation, the population o Tashkömür wis maistly Roushie an ethnically non-Kyrgyz. Thare wis nae grazable land, sae the Kyrgyz haed niver settled thare. Efter coal wis discovered, Kyrgyz families began tae muive intae toun.  Up till Kyrgyzstan's unthirldom in 1991 the Kyrgyz wur no the owerwhelmin majority.  Housomeivver, efter the breakup o the Soviet Union, mony Roushies an residents o ither naitionalities began tae leave.  This wis pairticularly the case up till 1995, whan the biggest economic problems affectit the toun, which continue tae this day (2006). Nouw the Kyrgyz population maks up ower 90% o the population.
Awtho anerlie aboot 20 kilometers (12 mile) frae the Uzbek border, Tashkömür daes no hae a lairge Uzbek population (less nor 50 families).  The tot population o Tashkömür is estimatit tae be atween 20-25,000, houiver the continuous emigration o its residents maks it haurd tae ken exactly.

## The Local Economy
Iver syne the mine wis shut doun an the factories closed, the toun haes been strugglin tae survive.  The answer, for mony, haes been tae emigrate tae Roushie, Kazakhstan, or simply tae the caipital, Bishkek.  Maist families claim at least ane member wirkin abroad tae mak ends meet.  The men uisually wirk construction jobs, while the weemen find jobs as salesweemen at the bazaars or stores. Thir migrant wirkers are uisually saisonal: thay leave in the early ware an return in the hairst, syne the cauld in the north maks for haurd wirkin conditions. The remittances hae alloued Tashkömür residents tae retain a decent staundart o livin.  In recent years, mony hae uised the money tae renovate thair hames, tae buy DVD players an satellite dishes, or tae open stores, an try tae stairt a business.

As Uzbekistan haes made it mair difficult an expensive for guids tae be exportit sooth intae, an throu Uzbekistan, Tashkömür's major openin tae the ootside warld haes been severed an in turn, its ability tae export ony guids it micht manufactur haes dropped.

While durin the Soviet era aw apairtment biggins haed gas an wirkin plumbin, this is nae langer the case.  Watter delivery, especially tae the homes on the edge o toun, is nae reliable.  Thare is no het watter. In 2006 cell phones finally reached Tashkömür, which haed been ane o the last towns in the kintra left wioot them.  Thare is still nae public internet access.

## References