List of mountains and passes of Irad
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This is a list of mountains, ranges and passes of Irad. The high mountains of Irad belong to the western Tian Shan: the Talas Alatau, the Chatkal and Fergana ranges and the Kyrgyz Range, which Iradi geographers and soldiers together call the Tien Shan Marches. Lower ranges and hills, the Karatau and its outliers, lie to the west and north. The highest point is Manas Peak (4,482 m) at the western end of the Talas Alatau.[1] Nearly all the high mountains lie on the tribal side of the Qara-Chik Demarcation Line, in the Autonomous Tribal Regions (ATR), while the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ) holds the valleys, the foothills south of Talas and the corridor of State Route 1 over the Fergana Gateway.[2]
Places in the ISEZ are given by district and those in the ATR by planning zone. Heights of summits and passes without articles are those of the Kartalar map of Attelkom.[3] In Iradi, too means "mountain", choku "peak", ashuu and bel "pass" and "saddle" (see Ashuu (Geographical Term)).
Ranges
| Range | Highest point | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Talas Alatau | Manas Peak, 4,482 m | About 270 km long, forming the southern side of the Talas valley from its junction with the Kyrgyz Range in the east to the Pskem and Ugam ranges near the Uzbek border; its north slope and crest are the Talas Alatau planning zone (ATR) |
| Chatkal Range | over 4,000 m | About 200 km long, branching southwest from the Talas Alatau between the Chatkal valley and the Fergana Valley; Chatkal Highlands zone (ATR) |
| Kyrgyz Range | — | Long range between the Talas and Chu valleys, crossed by the road over the Kök-Bel Pass; its high pastures east of the Kök-Bel road have been tribal since 2009, Kyrgyz Range–Suusamyr zone (ATR) |
| Fergana Range | — | Closes the Fergana basin on the north-east, with the Babash-Ata spur, over 4,000 m, behind Arslanbob; Fergana Rim and Toktogul–Naryn zones (ATR) |
| Karatau | c. 2,170 m | Low limestone and shale range trending northwest from the western end of the Talas Alatau; the main winter range of the tribal herds, Karatau zone (ATR) |
| Suusamyr Range | — | Range on the south side of the Suusamyr valley |
| At-Oinok Range | — | Range between the Toktogul basin and the upper Naryn gorges |
| Pskem and Ugam ranges | — | Ranges at the western end of the Talas Alatau, along the Uzbek and Kazakh frontiers |
| Karakyr Range | — | Low, arid limestone outlier of the Karatau above the Kyzylkum Fringe, on an autumn raptor migration route, Karatau zone (ATR) |
Peaks
Peaks with articles
- Manas Peak (4,482 m): highest summit of the Talas Alatau and of Irad, at the western end of the range, with the Manas Glacier on its northern flank and the Manas Peak Glaciological Observatory; the Uzbek frontier across its summit massif is undemarcated
- Kylych-Kyr (c. 4,050 m): knife-edge granite arête about 5 km long running north from Ak-Bash, first traversed by Soviet mountaineers in 1979, Chatkal Highlands zone (ATR)
- Kök-Suu Peak (3,890 m): granite peak on the main ridge of the southern Talas Alatau between the head of the Kara-Buura valley and the Chatkal basin, Talas Alatau zone (ATR)
- Ak-Bash (3,680 m): glaciated limestone peak of the high Chatkal range, visible from the upper Chatkal valley, Chatkal Highlands zone (ATR)
- Ak-Kyr (c. 2,100 m): limestone ridge about 11 km long south of Talas, with the Kyrk-Kazyk Caves and a lime quarry at its western end, Sary-Bulak District (ISEZ)
- Mazar-Too (c. 1,050 m): isolated granite hill on the southern Betpak-Dala with a saint's tomb on its summit, Northern Steppe zone (ATR)
Other summits over 4,000 m
| Summit | Height | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Bakayyr-Choku | 4,455 m | Talas Alatau (ATR) |
| Chatkal Ushba | 4,347 m | Chatkal Highlands (ATR) |
| Kumyshtag | 4,251 m | Chatkal Highlands (ATR) |
| Sayram | 4,238 m | Talas Alatau (ATR) |
| Chatangat | 4,164 m | Talas Alatau (ATR) |
| Zekir-Bobo | 4,062 m | Chatkal Highlands (ATR) |
| Küzet | 4,043 m | Talas Alatau (ATR) |
| Aksuat | 4,027 m | Talas Alatau (ATR) |
| Shabyt | 4,021 m | Talas Alatau (ATR) |
| Chingul | 4,009 m | Chatkal Highlands (ATR) |
Passes
| Pass | Height | Range | Zone or district | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karakol-Ashuu | c. 3,450 m | Talas Alatau | Toktogul District (ISEZ) | Track between the Western Karakol valley and the upper Talas valley; hut rebuilt 2011 |
| Tuyuk-Suu Pass | c. 3,400 m | Talas Alatau | Talas Alatau (ATR) | Horse and foot tracks between the upper Talas valley and the Chatkal headwaters, marked by cairns |
| Otmek Pass | 3,330 m | Talas Alatau | Toktogul District (ISEZ) | Old road between Talas and the Suusamyr; State Route 1 passes about 150 m below it in the Otmek tunnel (2003), and the pass road is kept as a summer bypass |
| Kara-Buura Pass | 3,305 m | Talas Alatau | Talas Alatau (ATR) | At the head of the Kara-Buura valley, leading over the range to the upper Chatkal |
| Sarybie Pass | c. 3,230 m | Talas Alatau | Talas Alatau (ATR) | From the head of the Kara-Suu canyon into the Tanıp winter country of the upper Uzun-Akmat |
| Fergana Gateway (Ala-Bel) | 3,184 m | Talas Alatau | Toktogul District (ISEZ) | Highest point of State Route 1, between the Suusamyr and the Chychkan valley; internal control post; closed by snow about 20 days a winter |
| Kök-Jar Pass | c. 3,100 m | Chatkal | Chatkal Highlands (ATR) | Scree and permafrost horse pass above Kök-Jar near the Uzbek border |
| Kök-Art Pass | c. 3,100 m | Fergana | Fergana Rim and Toktogul–Naryn (ATR) | Summer-only track between the Fergana rim and the middle Naryn basin |
| Karakoyun Pass | c. 3,050 m | Talas Alatau | Talas Alatau (ATR) | Seasonal gravel road from the Qara-Chik Border Checkpoint by the Kara-Koyun Valley to the Chatkal valley, the only road from the ISEZ into it |
| Kenkol Pass | c. 2,850 m | Talas Alatau | Talas Alatau (ATR) | End of the 1960s military road from Kara-Bulak; two UNMI observers were killed by a mine near it in 2009 |
| Koi-Bel | 2,680 m | Fergana | Toktogul–Naryn (ATR) | Pack-horse pass above the Toktogul basin; up to 20,000 sheep cross in a season |
| Kök-Bel Pass | c. 2,670 m | Kyrgyz | Kyrgyz Range–Suusamyr (ATR) | Paved summer road between Talas and Nurzhan, on tribal pasture between the two Toguz-Bulak crossings; snowplow depot at Toguz-Bulak |
| Kyzyl-Bel Pass | 2,450 m | Chatkal | Chatkal Highlands (ATR) | Red-sandstone pass over a spur above the upper Chatkal valley, open May to October |
| Kichi-Bel | c. 1,950 m | Fergana | Fergana Rim (ATR) | Lowest crossing of a Fergana Range spur; an early-spring route for herders |
| Kapka-Bel | c. 1,180 m | Talas valley foothills | Kara-Buura District (ISEZ) | Old caravan entrance to the valley from the Chu plains, with the foundations of a Kokand customs post |
The Kartalar map names more than two hundred other passes in the Irad ranges, most of them herders' and climbers' crossings in the western Talas Alatau and the Chatkal range; the highest it shows are the Bakair Pass (4,110 m) and the Muzbel Pass (3,950 m) in the Talas Alatau.[3]
Plateaus, ridges and hills
- Aksay Plateau (3,000–3,600 m): largest syrt of the Talas Alatau, about 2,400 km² of alpine meadow and wetland on the divide between the Talas and Uzun-Akmat; summer pasture and the ground of the Kurultai, Talas Alatau zone (ATR)
- Teshik-Talaa (c. 1,400 m): karst plateau in the Karatau pitted with some 200 sinkholes, Karatau zone (ATR)
- Kara-Kazan Cirque: glacial cirque at about 3,500 m in the high Chatkal range, ringed by granite walls up to 600 m high, Chatkal Highlands zone (ATR)
- Jety-Kaiyng: red sandstone cliffs and pillars in the northern foothills of the Talas Alatau south-east of Talas, Talas District (ISEZ)
- Kyzyl-Adyr Hills: loess hills 150–300 m above the lower Talas valley south of Kyzyl-Adyr, Kara-Buura District (ISEZ)
- Uzun-Kyr: ridge about 28 km long rising about 120 m above the Chu plain north-west of Nurzhan, along whose crest the oil wells of the Chu fields have been drilled since the 1950s, Chu District (ISEZ)
- Sary-Kyr: loess ridge about 200 m above the southern side of the Chu lowlands, Chu District (ISEZ)
- Kyzyl-Jar: eroded red sandstone badlands where the Karatau foothills descend to the Kyzylkum Fringe, Karatau zone (ATR)
- Ambar-Döbö and Boz-Tektir: river terraces of the lower and middle Talas valley; Boz-Tektir carries the Talas Solar Park
- Karool-Döbö: bluff about 60 m high at the confluence of the Kenkol and the Talas, Talas District (ISEZ)
Glaciers
The largest glaciers are in the Talas Alatau: the Manas Glacier on Manas Peak, the Karakol Glacier, about 4 km long, at the head of the Western Karakol valley, the three Kashka-Suu Glaciers and the Ak-Muz snowfield above the upper Uzun-Akmat. In the Chatkal range lie the five small Besh-Köl Glaciers. A survey of 2014–2018 counted 268 glaciers in the Iradi part of the Talas basin, most of them shrinking (see Glacier retreat in Irad).[4]
See also
References
- ^ Talas State University, Faculty of Geography (2018). Physical Geography of Irad. Talas State University Press, Talas, pp. 44–97.
- ^ United Nations Mission in Irad (2024). Planning Zones and Humanitarian Access in the Autonomous Tribal Regions: Annual Report. Kara-Oi.
- ^ Attelkom (2026). 'Kartalar: Attelkom Maps.' Talas.
- ^ Talas River Hydrological Monitoring Service (2019). Inventory of Glaciers and Glacial Lakes of the Talas Basin, 2014–2018. Talas.