Balykchy

Balykchy Балыкчы
From the top to bottom-right, Apartment Buildings in Balykchy, The Train station, Aerial view of the town
Flag Coat of arms
Balykchy Location in Kyrgyzstan
Coordinates: 42°28′N 76°11′E / 42.467°N 76.183°E / 42.467; 76.183
Country	Kyrgyzstan
Region	Issyk-Kul Region
Founded	1884
Current from	1954
Area
• Total	38 km2 (15 sq mi)
Elevation	1,630 m (5,350 ft)
Population  (2021)[1]
• Total	51,305
• Density	1,400/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
Postal code	721900
Area code	+996 3944

Balykchy (Kyrgyz: Балыкчы) is a town at the western end of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, at an elevation of about 1,900 metres. Its area is 38 square kilometres (15 sq mi),^[2] and its resident population was 42,875 in 2021 (both including Orto-Tokoy).^[1] A major industrial and transport centre (wool and crop processing, lake shipping, rail terminal, and road junction) during the Soviet era, it lost most of its economic base after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the closure of virtually all of its industrial facilities.

The main road from Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, to China, a part of the ancient Great Silk Road, passes through Balykchy before it starts its long and arduous way across the alpine ranges of Naryn Province in central Kyrgyzstan to the Chinese border at Torugart Pass. Plans for the rail road from the Chinese border to Balykchy, where the line from Bishkek currently ends, are under discussion. Two other roads go around the north and south sides of Issyk Kul to Karakol and then around the east end of the Kungey Alatau to the far southeast of Kazakhstan. ^[3]