Talas is a small town in northwestern Kyrgyzstan, beautifully located in a long valley between two imposing mountain ranges. Its geographical location is 42°31′ N 72°14′ E. Population is 32,538 (1999). It is the administrative headquarters of an administrative district (oblast) of the same name. Its economy traditionally oriented towards the Kazakh city of Djambul, the Talas valley has suffered severely from the imposition of rigid border controls by Kazakhstan following the demise of the Soviet Union, as transport and trade links to the rest of Kyrgyzstan are now constrained by the formidable mountains separating it from the Chui Valley and Bishkek. Jump to: navigation, search 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... An oblast (Slavonian verbalism or term, Czech: oblast, Slovak: oblasÅ¥, Russian, Ukrainian: о́бласть, Bulgarian: о́бласт) English equivalent area, province or zone. ... Talas Province (Kyrgyz: Талас областы) is a province (oblasty) of Kyrgyzstan. ... Kazakh may refer to An ethnic group: the Kazakhs The Kazakh language The Culture of Kazakhstan Suhbat. ... The Chui river drains the northern Kyrgyz ranges of the western Tien Chan, crossing the Chui valley before leaving Kazakhstan. ... Jump to: navigation, search Bishkek cityscape Bishkek landscape towards the south Bishkek (Бишкек, بىشكهك) (population in 2005 approx. ...

The mythical Kyrgyz national hero Manas is said to have been born in the Ala Too mountains in Talas oblast. A few kilometers outside of Talas lies a mausoleum for Manas. It contains a museum dedicated to the epic. A ceremonial mound also lies nearby. Manas is a traditional epic poem of the Kyrgyz people and the name of the epics eponymous hero. ... Jump to: navigation, search Alatau or Ala Too (from Turkic languages: motley mountain) is a generic name of a number of mountain ranges in Central Asia, characterized by interleaving areas of vegetation, scattered rocks and snows. ... A mausoleum is a large and impressive tomb, usually constructed for a deceased leader. ... A museum is typically a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment. ...

The Talas River was the site (and name) of a famous battle in 751 AD, fought between the Chinese and the Arabs in which the Arabs won. This battle began a precipitous decline from China's greatest golden age. It also brought paper to the west, by the Arabs' capture of Chinese paper makers. Jump to: navigation, search The Battle of Talas in AD 751 was a conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty over the control of Central Asia. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are an originally Arabian ethnicity widespread in the Middle East and North Africa. ...

References

• http://www.celestial.com.kg/around_kyrgyzstan/talas/talas.shtml