Kara-Suu is a town, river and valley in Osh Province

Osh Province

Osh Province is a province of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Osh. It is bounded by Jalal-Abad Province, Naryn Province, Xinjiang, China, Tajikistan, Batken Province and Uzbekistan.-Geography:...

, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...

, in the Fergana Valley

Fergana Valley

The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Divided across three subdivisions of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse, and in the early 21st century was the scene of ethnic conflict...

. The town is 23km northeast of Osh

Osh

Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". The city is at least 3,000 years old, and has served as the administrative center of Osh Province since 1939...

 and is the capital of Kara-Suu District

Kara-Suu District

Kara-Suu is a raion of Osh Province in south-western Kyrgyzstan. The capital lies at Kara-Suu.:-Towns, rural communities, and villages:...

.

The Kara-Suu valley is home to two towns with similar names. The first, at N 40.71 E 72.89, is divided by a Soviet-era border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

. The Kyrgyz town is called Kara-Suu and is a major industrial and trade center, its Uzbek counterpart is called Qorasuv

Qorasuv

Qorasuv is a town in Andijan Province in eastern Uzbekistan, about 50 km from the district capital of Andijan. The town's name means "black water" in Uzbek...

 (or Kara-Soo or Qorawsuw). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Uzbek authorities destroyed the main bridge across the river, but cross-border trade continued via improvised ropeways that ferried goods and people across.

The Karasuu Bazaar in the Kyrgyz town of Kara-Suu is a highly important center of re-export of Chinese consumer goods into Uzbekistan, comparable with Dordoy Bazaar

Dordoy Bazaar

Dordoy Bazaar is a large wholesale and retail market in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It is one of Asia's greatest public market places, comparable to Bangkok's Chatuchak weekend market or Tehran's Grand Bazaar...

 in Bishkek

Bishkek

Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...

 (which targets Kazakh and Russian markets).

Kara-Suu gained international prominence following the May 2005 unrest in Uzbekistan and massacre in nearby Andijan

Andijan

Andijan or Andizhan is the fourth-largest city in Uzbekistan, and the capital of the Andijan Province. It is located in the east of the country, at , in the Fergana Valley, near the border with Kyrgyzstan on the Andijan-Say River...

, after which refugees streamed across the border into Kyrgyzstan.

Demographics

The permanent population of Kara-Suu, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009, was 20,862. The average age is 26.5 years old.