Kerben (Kyrgyz: Кербен, older name Karavan) is a town in Jalal-Abad Region of Kyrgyzstan.

[2] Despite the fact that the town officially was founded in the early 1920s, medieval Persian historiographers noted in their works a caravanserai, or fortified “hotel” for merchants and travelers, in a place very close to today's Kerben.

The demonstrations were triggered by a political dispute between a local member of the national parliament, Azimbek Beknazarov, and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev over an agreement with China that ceded some territory in the high Tien Shan range to China.

He resigned his position in September 2005 under a cloud of suspicion concerning alleged secret deals of money for premature closure of investigations into other misdeeds.

Kerben is located in the center of the Aksy region, at a height of 1,200 meters above sea level.