Turkistan Region

Turkistan Region
Region
From the top, Sayram-Ugam National Park, Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve
Area codes		+7 (725)
ISO 3166 code	KZ-YUZ
Vehicle registration	13, X
Districts	11
Cities	8
Townships	13
Villages	932
Website	www.ontustik.gov.kz

Turkistan Region (

The Region was created as South Kazakhstan Oblast in Kazakh SSR of Soviet Union. Between 1962 and 1992 it was named Chimkent Oblast. The administrative center of the Region was Shymkent. On 19 June 2018 Shymkent was taken out of the Region and subordinated directly to the government of Kazakhstan, the administrative center moved to Turkistan, and the Region renamed Turkistan Region.^[6]

Administrative divisions

As of 2013, the region was administratively divided into eleven districts and the cities of Shymkent, Arys, Kentau, and Turkistan.^[7]

1. Baydibek District, with the administrative center in the selo of Shayan;
2. Kazygurt District, the selo of Kazygurt;
3. Maktaaral District, the town of Zhetisay;
4. Ordabasy District, the selo of Temirlan;
5. Otyrar District, the selo of Shauldir;
6. Saryagash District, the town of Saryagash;
7. Sayram District, the selo of Aksukent;
8. Shardara District, the town of Shardara;
9. Sozak District, the selo of Sholakkorgan;
10. Tole Bi District, the town of Lenger;
11. Tulkibas District, the selo of Turar Ryskulov.

Archaeology

• Excavations of the Kul-Tobe settlement near the village of Saryaryk on the terrace of the Arys River (42°29′32″N 68°57′45″E / 42.49222°N 68.96250°E / 42.49222; 68.96250) on the territory of the South Kazakhstan region in 2006, made by Kazakh archaeologists led by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor A. N. Podushkin, according to some statements, allow to identify the culture of Kangju with the peoples of the Scythian circle.^[8] Ceramics (large jugs or persimmons) and weapons (arrowheads, knives, bows and daggers) were found in three graves of nomad warriors who lived about two thousand years ago. 13 epigraphic monuments were found on ceramic bricks-tables — two almost complete texts and eleven fragments.^[9] Writing after decryption is defined as alphabetic, lowercase, Aramaic, which also includes ideograms. It marks one of the eastern dialects of the proto-Iranian language. Paleographic and linguistic analysis of the Kultobin script showed that it dates from the II — beginning of the III century AD, that is, more than a century older than the so-called "Old Sogdian letters".^[10]
• Excavations of the Tutta Cave, the oldest cave in the country, located in the Turkestan region on the territory of the Syrdarya–Turkestan State Regional Natural Park, it was discovered in the middle of the last century, but excavations began in 2017. The cave is being explored as part of a European Union project, and archaeologists from Germany, Greece, and Spain are involved. Household items of primitive man, who presumably lived during the Stone Age, have been found.^[11]

References

• National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition.

External links

Media related to Turkistan Province at Wikimedia Commons

• Official regional website