Mirzachoʻl District

The relief of Mirzachol district consists of low plains. The climate is sharply continental and dry, cold in winter and hot in summer. The average temperature is –1.5 °C in January and 30 °C in July; the minimum temperature is –30 °C (in January), and the maximum temperature is 42 °C (in July). The vegetation period lasts 224 days. The average annual precipitation is 240 mm. The soil is light gray and saline. Among wild plants, there are species such as feather grass, wormwood, camelthorn, saltwort, rang, iloq, sedge, reed, black nightshade, asparagus, shamak, tamarisk, wild jujube, poplar, willow and others. Wild animals include hare, bustard, fox, jackal; rodents such as rats, mole rats, and field mice; reptiles such as tortoises, snakes, and lizards; birds such as steppe eagles and wild ducks.

The district economy is mainly specialized in agriculture. Industrial enterprises, transport, communication, and construction sectors are also active. Cotton growing, grain farming, horticulture, and livestock breeding are developed. There are small and private enterprises in the district. The total cultivated area of Mirzachol district is 28.2 thousand hectares, including 13.8 thousand hectares of cotton, 11 thousand hectares of grain crops, 1.2 thousand hectares of legumes, and 321 hectares of melons and vegetables. There are dehkan farms, collective farms, fattening farms, and 9 cooperative farms.

A main railway passes through the district. Highways such as Syrdarya–Jizzakh, Kazakhstan’s Yettisoy district–Pakhtakor, and Gulistan–Gagarin are available. Cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry are raised in farms. In Mirzachol district, there are a motor transport enterprise, a cotton processing plant, a textile production cooperative, a technical alcohol production plant, rental enterprises, joint-stock companies, as well as trade, cultural, and бытовые (household service) facilities. There are 17 state and 26 non-state preschool institutions (more than 3,300 children), 20 general secondary schools (more than 9,000 students), 2 vocational schools, 1 library, 4 cultural and recreation parks, 7 stadiums, and monuments. There is 1 central hospital, 3 private medical institutions, 5 rural medical outpatient clinics, 2 feldsher-midwife points, and 10 pharmacies. The Gagarin sanatorium operates in the district. Since 1968, the newspaper “Mirzachol Ovozi” (formerly “Dostlik”) has been published.