Its population was 18,008 (2009 Census results);^[2] and 20,095 (1999 Census results).^[2]

The most famous thermal baths are located in the village of Chundzha, 250 km from Almaty, where the journey by car takes about 4–4.5 hours. Water in springs with a high content of radon and silicon. Water from thermal springs is used to treat various kinds of diseases, including diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract. According to studies carried out in 2010, the water in the springs of the Karadalinsky field in the Uygur district of the Almaty region is a medical and canteen weakly mineralized acrotherm (hypertherma) of a complex sulfate-hydrocarbonate-chloride sodium composition.^[3]

Focusing on the work of the Mongolian language researcher Napil Bazylkhan, Alimgazy Dauletkhan left the following notes in the name of Chundzha: The last toponymic name of the fortress at the junction of nine roads, built by the heirs to the throne of Dschinghis Khan and monitoring the well-being of military and trade routes military (station, fire - means Lenger- Chundzha), came down to us as "Chundzha". “In modern Mongolian language occurs in the form of Conji. In the Kazakh language it is found as a toponym represented by "Шонжы". The meaning of the word "Conji" in the Mongolian language: 1. A high rock that guards from afar. 2. (figurative) Fortress; Fortification protecting the border areas”. Therefore, the word Conji translated into the Kazakh language are now used as "Chundzha" or “Шонжы”.^[4] In East Turkestan, near the city of Urimсhi, there is a district called "Shonzhi" where local Kazakhs are densely populated.

According to a report made by russian colonel Nikolai Friederiks in 1869, toponym "Chundzja" comes from the name of chinese citizen Junji of taranchi tribe.^[5]

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