CHIMKENT, a town in the Syr Dania province of the Kazak (Kirghiz) A.S.S.R. of the R.S.F.S.R., Lat. 20' N., Long. 69° 40' E. Pop. (1926) mostly Sarts. It lies in a fertile valley between the Alexander range and the Ala-tau, and is the centre of a grain, fruit growing and cattle rearing district, watered by streams from the Ala-tau. Above the town are the ruins of its citadel, stormed by the Russians in 1864. Its clear, dry air makes it a health resort for tubercular patients taking the kumiss (fer mented mare's milk) cure. Its industries include the preparation of santonin, cotton, tobacco, oil and flour.
The construction of a branch line from the Orenburg-Tashkent Railway through Chimkent to link up with the Trans-Siberian Railway at Semipalatinak has already (1928) proceeded as far as Aulie-Alta, and should restore to Chimkent much of its former trading importance.