a city; administrative center of Osh Oblast, Kirghiz SSR. Osh is situated where the Akbura River flows out of the foothills of the Alai Range into the Fergana Valley, at an elevation of 870–1,110 m. The city has a railroad station, and it is a junction of highways to a number of cities, including Frunze, Khorog, Andizhan, and Kyzyl-Kiia. In 1974 the population was 143,000 (33,000 in 1939, 65,000 in 1959, and 120,000 in 1970).

One of the oldest cities in Middle Asia, Osh was considered the third largest city in Fergana as early as the tenth century. Trade routes from Middle Asia to China and India passed through the city. In 1876, after the conquest of the Kokand Khanate, Osh was incorporated into Russia. Under Soviet power, it has been transformed into a major industrial center. (In Kirghizia, it is second in importance to the city of Frunze.)

Osh produces a third of the oblast’s industrial output. Light industry is the leading branch. Located in the city are the largest textile combine in Middle Asia, a silk combine, a cotton-ginning plant, and a garment and footwear factory. Food processing, a well-developed branch of industry, is represented by a meatpacking plant, a milk plant, and a fruit wine combine. Machine building and metalworking are also among the city’s industries (a pump plant and a motor-vehicle repair plant). The production of building materials is being developed (a building materials combine, reinforced-concrete products plants, and a brickyard). There is a furniture factory in the city.

Among the educational institutions in Osh are a pedagogical institute; the general technical department of the Frunze Polytechnic Institute; agricultural, Soviet trade, and construction technicums; a branch of a road transportation technicum; and pedagogical and music schools. Also located in the city are the Uzbek Theater of Musical Drama, a museum of regional studies, and a tourist center.