Kyrgyzstan (kuhr-guhz-STUHN), republic (77,199 sq mi/199,945 sq km; 1997 estimated population 4,574,100; 2004 estimated population 5,081,429), central Asia; (cap.) Bishkek.
Geography
Borders on China (SE), Kazakstan (N), Uzbekistan (SW), and Tajikistan (S). Bishkek and Osh are the chief cities. Mountainous country in the Tianshan and Pamir mountain systems, rising to 24,403 ft/7,438 m at Pobeda Peak on the Chinese border. Ninety-four percent of the country is over 3,281 ft/1,000 m above sea level, with an average elevation of 9,022 ft/2,750 m. Rich pasturage for goats, sheep, cattle, and horses, and vertical vegetation zones: cold summer pastures of the short-grass alpine meadows (above 10,000 ft/3,048 m; summer temperature 32°F/0°C–50°F/10°C); a high-grass subalpine zone (6,000 ft/1,829 m–10,000 ft/3,048 m; summer temperature 50°F/10°C–60°F/15.5°C), which includes the upper Naryn River valley and constitutes the most important grazing area; a warm agricultural zone (4,000 ft/1,219 m–6,000 ft/1,829 m; summer temperature 60°F/15.5°C–72°F/30.8°C), which has fall and winter pastures, irrigated agriculture, and dry farming; and a hot agricultural zone (below 4,000 ft/1,219 m; summer temperature 72°F/30.8°C–82°F/27.75°C). The climate is extremely continental with great regional variation. Summer temperatures reach 104°F/40°C in the S, while daytime winter temperatures average from 35.6°F/2°C in Bishkek to -40°F/ -40°C in the mountains. Rainfall averages 17.7 in/450 mm per year.
Population
The Kyrgyz, a Muslim, Turkic-speaking pastoral people, constitute 64.9% of the population; the rest are Russians (12.5%) and Uzbeks (13.8%), with smaller minorities of Ukranians, Tatars, Kazaks, Germans, Tajiks, Koreans, and Muslim Chinese (Dungans and Uighurs). The population is two-thirds rural.
Economy
Over 80% of the cultivated area is irrigated. Cotton, sugar beets, tobacco, wheat, potatoes, fruit, and grapes are grown; sericulture is carried on; and grain crops are cultivated in the nonirrigated areas; horse, sheep, and cattle stockbreeding. There are antimony, gold, molybdenum, tin, coal, tungsten, mercury, uranium, petroleum, and natural gas deposits. Industries include food processing, sugar refining, nonferrous metallurgy, and the manufacture of agricultural machinery, textiles, and building materials. Hydropower is exported.
History to 1978
Formerly known by the Russians as Kara [=black] Kyrgyz to distinguish them from the Kazaks (at one time called Kirghiz), the Kyrgyz migrated here from the region of the upper Yenisei River, where they had lived from the 7th to the 17th centuries. The area came under the rule of the Kokand khanate in the 19th century and was gradually annexed by Russia between 1855 and 1876. The nomadic Kyrgyz resisted conscription into the czarist army in 1916. Many Kyrgyz were killed, especially in the area near the W end of Issyk-Kol lake and many fled to Chinese Turkistan at this time. Bolshevik control was established 1917–1921. The area was formed into the Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Region within the RSFSR in 1924, an autonomous republic in 1926, and a constituent republic (Kirghiz SSR) in 1936. Most of the Kyrgyz Soviet leaders died in a political purge (1936).
History - 1978 to Present
In 1978 a new constitution was adopted. Kyrgyzstan became sovereign in 1990 and fully independent in 1991 with the breakup of the former Soviet Union. A new constitution established the Kyrgyz Republic in 1993. Askar Akaev became (1991) its first president. It was a signatory to the treaty establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States. Kyrgyzstan State University (now Kyrgyz State National University) was established in 1951 and the Kyrgyzstan Academy of Sciences in 1954; by 1994 there were twenty-one universities throughout the country. The republic’s cultural life stresses epic poems, tales, and folk songs, and the Kyrgyz have traditionally excelled in nomadic herding, wood carving, rug weaving (especially distinctive felt carpets known as shyrdaks. and jewelry making. It is divided into seven regions: Bishkek, Chüy, Issyk-Kol, Jalal-Abad, Naryn, Osh, and Talas. Also spelled Kyrghyzstan.
Government
Kyrgyzstan has a popularly elected 105-member bicameral legislature. The president, elected by popular vote, is chief of state. Since 1990, the post was held by Askar Akayev. In March, 2005, after a disputed election and mounting opposition to government corruption, popular protests caused the collapse of the government and forced President Akayev to flee. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a former opposition leader, became interim president; Bakiyev was subsequently and overwhelmingly elected (June 2005) president and officially assumed the post in August 2005.
