title: Karatau, Kazakhstan
text: # Karatau, Kazakhstan
  
  Karatau (Kazakh: Қаратау, Qaratau) is an administrative center in the Talas region located in the Jambyl Region in the south of Kazakhstan. It has an estimated population of roughly 30,000 in 1999. As of 2019, the population is now 27,667. The largest city from Karatau, Taraz, is approximately 100 km to the southwest.
  
  ## Name
  
  The name Karatau means Black Mountain in the Kazakh language. Karatau was named after the Karatau Mountain range which it is located next to and was famous during the Soviet era for phosphate.
  
  As part of the de-russification of the Kazakh language, Karatau will be re-written with Latin scripts in 2025 and spelled Qaratau.
  
  ## Ghost Town
  
  Krisha KZ reported on Karatau describing this town as a ghost town in December, 2019. The value of apartments in Karatau, according to Krisha, was between $3300–$11,500 USD.
  
  ## Economy
  
  ### Industry
  
  During the Soviet Union times, the main functioning industrial enterprise in the town was the phosphorite factory.
  
  ### Transportation
  
  Karatau is connected by railway with Taraz. There is also a bus and private taxi services to Taraz.
  
  ## Geography
  
  Karatau is located along a mountain range, a northwest spur of the Tien-Shan. Length, about 420 km (260 mi); maximum altitude, 2,176 m (7,139 ft) at Mount Bessaz. The range is composed of shale, sandstone, and a considerable amount of limestone and dolomite, in which karst formations are well developed. The mountains have flattened tops and steep slopes and are covered with steppe vegetation and mountain xerophytes. There are important deposits of phosphorites.
  
  ### Climate
  
  Karatau has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk) with strong continental influences. It has a mean January temperature of −5 °C (23 °F) and a mean July temperature of 26.5 °C (79.7 °F).
  
  Climate data for Karatau :
  
  | Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Average high °C (°F) | 0 (32) | 2 (36) | 11 (52) | 20 (68) | 28 (82) | 32 (90) | 35 (95) | 32 (90) | 27 (81) | 19 (66) | 9 (48) | 1 (34) | 18 (65) |
  | Average low °C (°F) | −10 (14) | −7 (19) | −1 (30) | 6 (43) | 11 (52) | 16 (61) | 18 (64) | 16 (61) | 10 (50) | 2 (36) | −4 (25) | −8 (18) | 4 (39) |
  | Average precipitation mm (inches) | 25 (1.0) | 27 (1.1) | 30 (1.2) | 35 (1.4) | 25 (1.0) | 10 (0.4) | 5 (0.2) | 5 (0.2) | 5 (0.2) | 15 (0.6) | 25 (1.0) | 35 (1.4) | 242 (9.7) |
  | Source: Svali.ru ||||||||||||||
  