AResortIndependent states
Cholpon-Ata
A resort town on the north shore of Issyk-Kul, known for its sanatoria, open-air petroglyph museum and the World Nomad Games.
Cholpon-Ata is the centre of Issyk-Kul District and has more than 14,000 residents, swelling with tens of thousands of visitors in summer. Since Soviet times it has been the lake's main resort, with many sanatoria, hotels and guesthouses.
On the edge of town an open-air petroglyph museum shows ibex, deer and hunting scenes carved on boulders in the Bronze Age and Saka period.
Cholpon-Ata's hippodrome hosted the World Nomad Games in 2014, 2016 and 2018, and in 2026 the games returned to Kyrgyzstan.
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Updated: October 3, 2026