Киргизская ССР (Kirgizskaia SSR) presents a vivid Soviet-era portrait of the Kyrgyz Republic as it stood in 1954, issued as plate 63 of the first Atlas Mira under the cooperative editorship of Anatolij Nikolaevic Baranov with V. N. Lysiuk and S. I. Shurov, in collaboration with the USSR’s Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography. In saturated colors, shaded relief, and disciplined hachures, the plate marries administrative precision with mountainous drama, setting the Kyrgyz SSR within its Central Asian context—bordered to the north by Kazakhstan and to the south by Tajikistan. Here, the cartographic language of the postwar Soviet project is unmistakable: crisp boundary lines of oblasts and raions, an assertive typographic hierarchy for cities and natural features, and an integrated depiction of infrastructure, all orchestrated to reveal a republic where the spines of the Tien Shan shape human settlement, movement, and state organization.

Urban and infrastructural geographies are rendered with a planner’s clarity. The then-capital Frunze (now Bishkek) anchors the Chüy Valley, its name emblazoned at the hub of roads and rail that link the republic to the broader Turkestan–Siberian corridor. Tokmok sits eastward as an industrial satellite, while Talas commands its namesake valley to the northwest. Southward, Osh and Jalal-Abad articulate the Kyrgyz reach into the fertile Ferghana Basin, their connections threading toward Andijan and the Uzbek rail network. Farther east, Przhevalsk—today Karakol—guards the shores of Issyk-Kul, with Naryn marking the ascent into highland corridors. Even remote Batken appears, a telltale punctuation of settlement in a labyrinth of frontiers, wadis, and passes—evidence of how transport and topography negotiated Soviet development ambitions.

The Tien Shan’s architecture dominates the sheet, and Baranov’s team renders it with tactile nuance. The Kyrgyz Ala-Too rises like a rampart above the capital; to the east, the Kungey and Terskey Ala-Too ranges clasp the great alpine basin of Issyk-Kul in a horseshoe of stone. South and southwest, the Ferghana and Alay ranges pitch steeply toward the valley floor, their serried hachures suggesting avalanche gullies and glacial cirques. In the interior, the At-Bashy and Naryn ranges lift a mosaic of plateaus and high passes, tracing corridors that long predate Soviet roads. The relief shading not only conveys elevation but also the directionality of travel and trade, turning the mountain system itself into a legible code for movement, settlement density, and the siting of strategic infrastructure.

Water—always the decisive currency of Central Asia—threads the map with equal authority. Issyk-Kul, the ice-free, endorheic jewel, occupies the center-east, its cobalt expanse circumscribed by alluvial fans and lacustrine terraces. The Naryn River cuts a sinuous, canyoned course from the highlands toward its ultimate marriage with the Kara Darya to form the Syr Darya, while the Talas River pours west through its namesake valley. The Chüy River meanders across the northern plain, feeding canal grids that the map symbolically accents, especially along the Ferghana and Chüy oases where irrigation underwrote cotton and diversified crops. Hydrographic symbols—rivers, lakes, and canals—are not mere ornament; they articulate a hydraulic civilization harnessed by Soviet planning, with watersheds and command areas precisely nested inside raion boundaries.

Beyond its geographical sweep, the map is a document of governance and vision. Administrative borders are traced with the confidence of a state that measured, named, and rationalized the land, aligning raion lines with valleys, watersheds, and transport corridors. Place-names reveal a palimpsest of cultures and epochs—Frunze beside Bishkek’s deep past, Przhevalsk layered over Karakol’s Kyrgyz roots—while the Ferghana fringe records a dense mosaic of settlements along sensitive frontiers. As part of Baranov’s Atlas Mira, it embodies the methodological rigor of GUGK: synoptic, didactic, and empirically grounded. Elegantly composed and information-rich, this plate distills mid-century Central Asia into a navigable tableau, capturing both the drama of the Tien Shan and the administrative logic that sought to master it.

Cities and towns on this map

• Bishkek (Capital)
• Osh
• Jalal-Abad
• Karakol
• Tokmok
• Talas
• Naryn
• Batken

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Administrative and political boundaries
• Major cities and capitals
• Railroads and roads
• Natural features including mountains and lakes
• Shaded relief to indicate elevation variations
• Hydrographic features like rivers and canals

Historical and design context

• Mapmaker/Publisher: Created by Anatolij Nikolaevic Baranov in 1954; part of the first edition of the Atlas Mira, published under the cooperative editorship of A. N. Baranov, V. N. Lysiuk, and S. I. Shurov alongside the Soviet Union's Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography.
• Date Created: 1954
• Design/Style: The map employs vibrant full-color illustrations with shading, hachures, and spotlights to depict relief. Its aesthetic reflects the era's cartographic techniques.
• Historical Significance: Represents the Soviet period and contributes to the understanding of Central Asia's administrative layout during that era. It serves as a historical artifact showing the geographical knowledge of its time.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 24x36in (60x90cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.