Turtkul District

Setting and history

Turtkul District lies on the right bank of the Amu Darya on a plain 169–206 metres above sea level, bordering Ellikqala to the west, Xorazm to the southwest and the Navoiy and Bukhara regions to the east, across 7,480 km² watered by the Pakhtaarna, Bogyop, Kaltaminor and other canals. With 236,100 residents in 2026 it is Karakalpakstan’s most populous district.

Turtkul, formerly Petro-Alexandrovsk, was the seat of the Russian Empire’s Amu Darya department in the late 19th century and in 1925 became the centre of the Karakalpak autonomous region — until the river began eating away its banks and the capital moved to Nukus in 1932.

What to see

The southern sites of the Ellikqala oasis are here: Janbas Kala (4th century BCE–2nd century CE), the round temple of Koi Krylgan Kala, and the ruins of Angka Kala, Bazar Kala and Adamli Kala. The Stone Age site of Janbas-4 was found near Janbas Kala.