Olmaliq

For other uses, see Almalyk (disambiguation).

Olmaliq Олмалиқ (Uzbek) Алмалык (Russian)
Town
250px
Olmaliq Location in Uzbekistan
Coordinates:
Country	Uzbekistan
Region	Tashkent Region
City status	1951
Elevation	530 m (1,740 ft)
Population (2012)
• Total	112,078
Time zone	UZT (UTC+5)
Postal code	110103
Area code(s)	(+988) 7161
Vehicle registration	10

Olmaliq also spelled as Almalyk (Uzbek: Olmaliq / Олмалиқ; Russian: Алмалык) is a city (2004 pop est 138,000) in the Tashkent Region of central Uzbekistan, approximately 65 km east of Tashkent. It is located at latitude 40° 50' 41N; longitude 69° 35' 54E; at an altitude of 585 meters.

Almalyk is a company town developed by the Soviet Union in the 1930s, to exploit local reserves of copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver and barite. The town contains several enormous smelting facilities and related industries operated today by JSC Almalyk MMC, one of the largest mining-metallurgical enterprises in Uzbekistan.

The smelter operations have extensively contaminated Almalyk, which is considered one of the most polluted places on earth. The air has high concentrations of sulphuric acid fumes and the ground has hundreds of tons of toxic waste. The Uzbek government has resisted calls to close the plant, arguing that the country's economy cannot afford to do so: The plant employs around 25,000 residents of the city, and accounts for a substantial share of the region's economy. However, in January 2005 the government announced plans to clean up the area, with a target of 2010.