Kyzyl-Kiya is a city of regional subordination in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan.
Population (2009) — 44.1 thousand people.
The city is located in the northeastern part of the Batken region, at the intersection of the highways "Osh—Sulyukta" and "Osh—Fergana," 150 km northeast of the regional center — the city of Batken; 86 km southwest of the city of Osh and 39 km southeast of the regional center, the city of Fergana in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The city is situated at an altitude of 1058 m above sea level. The winter period is short and relatively warm. Spring and autumn in the last decade have been characterized by heavy rains. Summer is hot and dry.
Right on the territory of the modern city of Kyzyl-Kiya, Leningrad archaeologist Yuri Zadneprovsky surveyed a medieval settlement of miners a quarter of a century ago. The ancestors of the Kyzylkiyans mined brown coal as far back as the 9th to 12th centuries.
Exactly one hundred years ago, French entrepreneurs Foss and Schott organized industrial coal mining here. The French were succeeded by the Russian Batyushkov, and Belgian capital also penetrated here!
In 1908, a narrow-gauge railway connected the settlement with the Fergana railway ring.
The miners were ruthlessly exploited: a 12-hour workday, barrack-style housing, harsh conditions in underground workings: “Once you descend into the mine — you bid farewell to the light of day.”
In general, the Soviet power in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Tashkent was supported by the Kyzylkiyans in 1917, being the first among Kyrgyzstanis. The local red miners' detachments were known as a terror to the Basmachi and the white "Peasant Army" during the Civil War. The name of the chairman of the local Council of Workers' Deputies, miner Ivan Yedrenkin, echoed throughout the Fergana Valley.
The miners did not regret their support. The first bathhouse, a decent hospital, and a mountain school appeared in Kyzyl-Kiya as early as the early 1920s.
The settlement grew rapidly and received city status in 1938. In terms of the number of workers, Kyzyl-Kiya was second in the republic only to the capital, Frunze, and Osh. In addition to the coal mines, tobacco fermentation and dairy factories, central electromechanical workshops, and a construction materials combine were established. However, the city newspaper continued to be called “For Coal.”
A few years ago, Kyzyl-Kiya, with its industrial fame, was even considered as a candidate for the center of the Batken region. But the center became the village of Batken, which received city status — a rare case — later on.
