Osh (/ɒʃ/, Kyrgyz: [ɔɕ], Russian: [oʂ]) is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country.

Osh has an important outdoor activity bazaar which has been taking place on the same spot for the past 2,000 years and was a major market along the Silk Road.

The proximity of the Uzbekistan border, which cuts through historically linked territories and settlements, deprives Osh of much of its former hinterland and presents a serious obstacle to trade and economic development.

Daily flights from Osh Airport link Osh—and hence the southern part of Kyrgyzstan—to the national capital Bishkek and some international destinations, mainly in Russia.

The river Vakhsh itself, known also as Surkhob or Kyzyl-Suu ( Turkic: “red water”) is a tributary of the Amu Darya, the course of the Vakhsh lying outside and to the South of the Fergana valley, rising as it does on the west side of the 3,536m Taunmurun pass (east of the village of Sary-Tash) [13][14] and flowing southwest to its confluence with the Panj at Takht-i Sangin to form the Amu Darya.

On the southeastern side of the Osh fortress is a well-proportioned mountain called Bara-Koh, where, on its summit, Sultan Mahmud Khan built a pavilion.

The population of Osh and other towns in the Fergana Valley that falls within Kyrgyzstan has traditionally consisted of a significant number of ethnic Uzbeks.

In 1990, shortly before the end of Soviet power in Central Asia, Osh and its environs experienced bloody ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.

[22] "An explosion of violence, destruction and looting in southern Kyrgyzstan on 11–14 June 2010 killed many dozens of Kyrgyz and Uzbek people.

"[23] Local media reported that gangs of young men armed with sticks and stones smashed shop windows and set cars aflame in the city center.

The city's police force proved incapable of restoring order resulting in a state of emergency being declared and the army being mobilised.

Many refugee camps have been organized in the Andijan, Fergana and Namangan regions of Uzbekistan for Uzbek citizens of Kyrgyzstan who cross the border seeking safety.

Osh receives on average roughly 400 millimeters of precipitation annually, the bulk of which typically falls on the city outside the summer months.