Mailuu-Suu

Mailuu-Suu (Kyrgyz: Майлуу-Суу, Russian: Майли-Сай Mayli-Say) is a mining town in the Jalal-Abad Region of southern Kyrgyzstan. It is a city of regional significance, and is not part of any particular district. Its area is 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi), and its resident population was 25,892 in 2021. It has been economically depressed since the fall of the Soviet Union. From 1946 to 1968 the Zapadnyi Mining and Chemical Combine in Mailuu-Suu mined and processed more than 10,000 short tons (9,100 t) of uranium ore for the Soviet nuclear program. By the early 1990s, uranium markets were facing hardships due to low demand and oversupply, and much of the uranium deposits in Mailuu-Suu had been depleted. These factors left much of the local population without meaningful work. The town was classified as one of the Soviet government's secret cities, officially known only as "Mailbox 200". Mailuu-Suu consists of the town proper, the urban-type settlement Kök-Tash and the villages Sary-Bee, Kögoy and Kara-Jygach.