Karakol

Karakol (black wrist in Kyrgyz) is a city in Kyrgyzstan, located near the eastern tip of lake Issyk-Kul. It is the capital of the Issyk-Kul region. Population: 75,000.

Initially a Russian military outpost, Karakol grew in the 19th century after explorers came to map the peaks and valleys separating Karakol from China (Karakol is 150km away from the Kyrgyz-Chinese border).

In the 1880s Karakol's population surged with an influx of Dungans, Chinese Muslims fleeing persecution in China.

In 1888, when the Russian explorer Przhevalsky died in Karakol of typhoid, whilst preparing for an expedition to Tibet, the city was renamed Przhevalsk in his honor. After local protests, the town was given its original name back in 1921 - a decision reversed in 1939. Karakol then remained Przhevalsk until the fall of the Soviet Union.