Kant, Kyrgyzstan
Encyclopedia
Kant is a city in the Chuy Valley
of northern Kyrgyzstan
, some 20 km from Bishkek
, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
It is the administrative center of the Ysyk-Ata District
(formerly Kant District).
The Kyrgyz word for sugar is "kant", and the city received its name when a sugar plant was built there in the 1930s. (It is an often repeated myth that the town was named after the German philosopher Immanuel Kant
).
Kant is an industrial and service center. Among notable local enterprises is the Abdysh Ata Brewery, whose products are well known throughout Kyrgyzstan.
During the Soviet era, Kant and its surrounding area were home to a large number of ethnic Germans who had been forcibly relocated to Central Asia in 1941 from the Volga region when the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
was abolished. Most left for Germany during the 1990s and after the demise of the Soviet Union when the factories where they had worked shut down. Several other nearby settlements, such as Luxemburg and Bergtal
, still carry their German names, but retain only very small remnants of their Volga German and Russian Mennonite founders.
's 5th Air Army
's 999th Air Base positioned in Kyrgyzstan in response to the United States
presence at Manas Air Base
.
and Kant officially became sister cities. This cooperation between Kant and Joppatowne was initiated by the official bodies of both cities. Similarities are in their respective locations below the capitals.
Chuy Valley
The Chuy Valley is a large valley located in north Tian-Shan. It extends from Boom Gorge in the east to Moyun-Kum desert in the west. It borders Kyrgyz Ala-Too in the south, and Chu-Ili mountains in the north. Through Boom Gorge in the narrow east part Chuy Valley is linked with Issyk-Kul Valley...
of northern 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...
, some 20 km from 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...
, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
It is the administrative center of the Ysyk-Ata District
Ysyk-Ata District
Ysyk-Ata District is one of the eight districts of Chuy Province in the northern Kyrgyzstan. The administrative center of the district is the city of Kant, and the district itself was known as Kant District in the past...
(formerly Kant District).
The Kyrgyz word for sugar is "kant", and the city received its name when a sugar plant was built there in the 1930s. (It is an often repeated myth that the town was named after the German philosopher Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
).
Kant is an industrial and service center. Among notable local enterprises is the Abdysh Ata Brewery, whose products are well known throughout Kyrgyzstan.
During the Soviet era, Kant and its surrounding area were home to a large number of ethnic Germans who had been forcibly relocated to Central Asia in 1941 from the Volga region when the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic established in Soviet Russia, with its capital at the Volga port of Engels .-History:...
was abolished. Most left for Germany during the 1990s and after the demise of the Soviet Union when the factories where they had worked shut down. Several other nearby settlements, such as Luxemburg and Bergtal
Bergtal
Bergtal is a settlement 60 km east of Bishkek in the Chuy Province of Kyrgyzstan, near the border of Kazakhstan. Originally settled by Germans, a significant minority remains.-History:...
, still carry their German names, but retain only very small remnants of their Volga German and Russian Mennonite founders.
Air base
The Kant Air Base near the city is now host to the Russian Air ForceRussian Air Force
The Russian Air Force is the air force of Russian Military. It is currently under the command of Colonel General Aleksandr Zelin. The Russian Navy has its own air arm, the Russian Naval Aviation, which is the former Soviet Aviatsiya Voyenno Morskogo Flota , or AV-MF).The Air Force was formed from...
's 5th Air Army
5th Air Army
The 5th Air Army was the Russian Air Force's smallest Air Army, with the headquarters located in Yekaterinburg, its zone of responsibility being the Volga-Ural Military District, on the border between Europe and Asia...
's 999th Air Base positioned in Kyrgyzstan in response to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
presence at Manas Air Base
Manas Air Base
Transit Center at Manas is a United States military installation at Manas International Airport, near Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, primarily operated by the U.S. Air Force....
.
Sister City
In April 2011, Joppatowne, MarylandJoppatowne, Maryland
Joppatowne is an unincorporated "bedroom community" in southwestern Harford County, Maryland, United States. It was established in 1961 as a Planned Unit Development . Joppatowne is a census-designated place - the population was 11,391 at the 2000 census.Joppatowne is only a small part of what is...
and Kant officially became sister cities. This cooperation between Kant and Joppatowne was initiated by the official bodies of both cities. Similarities are in their respective locations below the capitals.