Residents mainly engage in livestock breeding and agriculture. The area of irrigated land amounts to 1,200 hectares.
According to the 2022 census, the population of Chon-Tash is 1,426 people. The village is situated 28 kilometers from the district center of Tyup and 57 kilometers from Karakol. As a result of the administrative reform, the Chon-Tash rural district was incorporated into the Karkyra rural district, with the administrative center being the village of Taldy-Suu.
Each family in the village keeps both large and small livestock, which contributes to their income.
Local resident Asan Japaev shared a folk legend explaining the origin of the name of the village Chon-Tash (translated as Big Stone).
“The village emerged around the 1860s when the local leaders were called Bolush. One of them was Ybyke Bolush, during whose time the Kyrgyz began to settle, and their numbers gradually increased. To the right of the village, there is a large stone, next to which grows a huge apricot tree. This place was considered a sacred 'mazar,' where people came to pray. When discussing a name for this area, attention was drawn to the large stone. Thus, the name of the village 'Chon-Tash' was born,” Japaev shared.
Among the notable figures born in Chon-Tash is the writer and poet Mukai Elebaev, who became one of the first enlighteners and founders of Kyrgyz Soviet literature. His novel "Uzak jol" ("Long Way") is the first example of realistic prose in Kyrgyz literature. In it, he describes the events of the 1916 popular uprising, as he, being an orphan, fled to China with fellow villagers and returned in 1919. Later, he completed his studies at a pedagogical college in Frunze.
Elebaev also became a pioneer in translating world and Russian classical works into the Kyrgyz language, with translations of works by N.V. Gogol, L.A. Tolstoy, fairy tales by A.S. Pushkin, and poems by S. Marshak in his portfolio. His novel "Long Way" was published in Russian and Latvian. During the Great Patriotic War, he volunteered for the front and died in 1944, being buried in the Pskov region. A museum dedicated to the memory of the outstanding writer operates in the village, where his personal belongings, manuscripts, and other artifacts are kept.
