Toʻrtkoʻl (; , also spelled as Turtkul (), is a city in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan and the administrative center of the Toʻrtkoʻl District.
History
The city was founded as a Russian garrison after the Khivan campaign of 1873 and before 1920 was known as
Petroaleksandrovsk (). It was then a major jewelry producing center of Uzbekistan,
[Chahryar Adle et al. (2005) History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Towards the contemporary period : from the mid-nineteenth to the end of the twentieth century, Volume 6 of History of Civilizations of Central Asia, UNESCO
, p. 632] and was equipped with telegraph in 1913 and with a radio station in 1922; the station began regular translations in 1930.
[ History of communication in Uzbekistan]
In 1932, the city was renamed to Turtkul (from Turkish törtkül meaning square[Bertold Spuler, F.R.C Bagley The Muslim world : a historical survey, Part 4, p. 151]) and between 1932 and 1939 was the capital of the newly formed autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan. The city was located near the major Amu Darya River, which is known for having significantly altered its flow path several times in its history. In 1932, the Amu Darya once more changed direction and flooded Turtkul. This and past damage by the Amu Darya prompted the authorities to move the capital of Karakalpakstan over 170 km to Nukus in 1939.[ Турткуль, Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian)][ Нукус, Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian)] The river banks were reinforced, stopping further flooding. However, in 1942, the river suddenly flowed towards Turtkul, destroying it overnight.[
]
Climate
Toʻrtkoʻl has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk). The climate is continental, arid and hot. The coldest month is January with the average temperature of and the hottest month is July with an average temperature of . The annual average is . Annual precipitation is 97 mm; it is the highest in March at about 20 mm and is nearly zero between July and September.[Maria Shahgedanova (2002) The physical geography of northern Eurasia, Volume 3 of Oxford regional environments, Oxford University Press, p. 269][Robert E. Gabler et al. (2008) Physical Geography, p. 246] The evaporation exceeds precipitation on average by 36 times and sometimes up to 270 times.[Kenneth Walton (2007) The Arid Zones, Transaction Publishers, , p. 37]
Economy
The city has a cotton processing factory, a reinforced concrete plant, an Asphalt concrete plant and an external section of Nukus Medical School.
Notable person
-
Tuti Yusupova, longevity claimant, died in 2015, possibly 134 years old.
