Batken

Infobox Settlement
official_name = PAGENAME
native_name = Баткен


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pushpin_label_position =bottom
pushpin_mapsize = 300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Kyrgyzstan
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name =‎
subdivision_name1 = Batken Province
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population_total = 12,000
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latd=40|latm=4|lats=|latNS=N
longd=70|longm=50|longs=|longEW=E
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Batken (also called Batkent) is a small town of about 12,000 in southwestern Kyrgyzstan, on the southern fringe of the Fergana Valley. Its geographical location is coord|40|4|N|70|50|E|region:KG_type:city(12,000). It is the capital of the Batken Province of the same name.

History

The name Batkent is from the Iranian language of Sogdian and means "The city of wind".

Batken became the administrative headquarters of the youngest of Kyrgyzstan's seven "oblasts", created from the three westernmost "raions" of the former Osh oblast in 1999, after concerns over radical Islamist activities in neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan led to demands for a more direct and visible governmental presence in this remote and mountainous region. There is a small airport and, since 2000, a small university as well.

Geography

Batken oblast contains several small enclaves belonging to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, created during Stalin's willful redrawing of maps in the 1930s; this causes significant problems for the movement of persons and goods within the oblast.

The name Batkent is from the turkish language of kirqiz and means "The western city, where the son set".

Batken became the administrative headquarters of the youngest of Kyrgyzstan's seven oblasts, created from the three westernmost raions of the former Osh oblast in 1999, after concerns over radical Islamist activities in neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan led to demands for a more direct and visible governmental presence in this remote and mountainous region. There is a small airport and, since 2000, a small university as well.