KARA-KALPAK, an Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, N. of the Khiva oasis and stretching S.E. from the shores of the Aral sea along the right bank of the Amu-Darya; it is linked administratively with the Uzbek Republic (q.v.). Its area is 119,474 sq.km. and for the most part it consists of the Kizil kum (red sand) desert (q.v.), vast plains having an elevation of about 16o ft. near the Sea of Aral and rising gradually towards the south-east. Near the Aral sea the Kizil-kum is covered with sand dunes from 3o to 6o ft. high, mostly arranged in parallel lines. In the intervening spaces are clay covered belts. During the short spring, there is rich pasture available for the nomad Kirghiz flocks. But in summer the great heat and the lack of water, combined with strong winds raising hot sandstorms, make it almost impassable; a sudden heavy rain storm is even more disastrous in the clay area, reducing it to a trackless sea of mud. The average annual rainfall is 4 inches. Farther east are dunes covered with a species of sedge forming food for sheep, and saksaul trees, used as fuel and from which charcoal is made and sent to Bokhara. The climate is continental in type and very dry. At Turt-Kul (Petro-Alexandrovsk) the average January temperature is C, average July C, though temperatures as high as C and as low as C have in the past been recorded.
The region of the right bank of the Oxus or Amu-Darya and the right portion of its delta have much fertile alluvial soil, and irrigation is successfully practised here from Turt-Kul (Petro Alexandrovsk) to the sea. Figs, melons, pomegranates, grapes and other fruits and vegetables grow luxuriously. Wheat forms 33.5% of the harvest, maize 16.5%, lucerne 12.6%, cotton 11.5% and millet 8%. Transport across the river to Khiva is by flat-bottomed boats towed through the channels between the numerous islands; at some places swamps make landing difficult. Steam navigation on the Amu-Darya is just possible for military purposes from Charjui onwards, and a fleet of steel-built steamers carrying 200 tons of cargo and with a draught of 2 ft. was inaugurated in 1887, but for purposes of commerce it is impracticable, since the chan nel is constantly shifting and sandbanks may appear and disappear in a couple of hours. The Oxus once bifurcated at Kohna Urgani, 7o m. S. of the river, and a branch flowed south-westwards to the Caspian, entering Balkhan bay. At some period in the i5th or 16th centuries, either because of an artificial dam raised by the Khivans, or through some natural obstruction, this branch was diverted and entered the Sea of Aral. Projects for re-opening the exit to the
Caspian have at various times been discussed, but have never materialized.
The region came under Russian rule in 1867, forming part of the Turkistan province created after the successful campaigns of General Kaufmann, when Tashkent and Kokhand were captured.
In 1873 Khiva was subdued and made a protected native state of Russia, losing the irrigated right bank areas of the Amu-Darya.
The river swings perpetually to the right, and thus favours the Kara-Kalpak irrigation systems at the expense of the left bank Khivan district. The population in 1926 was 303,470, and con sisted of 37.7% Kara-Kalpaks, Kirghiz-Kazaks 28.9%, Uzbeks 27.3%, Turks 3.o% and Russians 1.6%. The Kara-Kalpaks, or Black Bonnets, so called from their sheepskin hats, are a tribe allied to the Kirghiz-Kazaks. They followed Attila in his raiding expeditions in the 5th century and probably settled on the east of the Sea of Aral after their migration from the Volga region.
Little, however, is known of this period of their history. There is a definite record that they were settled and practising cultiva tion and sheep raising on the eastern side of the Sea of Aral in the early 18th century, and were divided into an Upper and a Lower Horde. A Khan of the Kara-Kalpaks made friendly overtures to the Russians in 1722. They are taller and larger eyed than the Kazaks, and prefer a settled agricultural life. They were much persecuted by their nomad neighbours, so that some returned to the Volga and settled in the Astrakhan district, whilst others crossed the Dzungharian gate into Mongolia. The literacy rate amongst them is barely 3%.
The Kara-Kalpak area is entirely dependent on caravan routes for communication with the outside world, and Kungrad on a left bank arm of the delta of the Amu-Darya, is an important starting point for caravans, whilst other routes link up with Kazalinsk and Kizil-Orda on the Orenburg-Tashkent railway. Chimbai, on the delta, pop. 5,426, is the administrative centre, and the only other towns are Kungrad (q.v.), pop. (1926) 3,o98, and Turt-Kul, formerly Petro-Alexandrovsk, a fort built by the Russians on the site of a house and gardens formerly belonging to the family of the khan of Khiva. Its population is barely i,000, mainly occupied in gardening, though a cotton factory has recently been built.