Country Information on Kyrgyzstan

Terrain Kyrgyzstan is a rugged country in the Tian Shan and Pamir systems, rising to 7,440 m at Pobeda Peak on the Chinese border. 94% of the country is 1,000 m above sea level, with an average elevation of 2,750 m. Lake Issyk-Kul, almost 700 m deep, lies in a vast indentation on the fringes of the Tian Shan in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. The southern border with Tajikistan lies along the Pamir Alay Range. Climate Climatic conditions in this mountainous region are influenced by the distance from the sea and the sharp change of elevation from neighbouring plains. Conditions vary from permanent snow in high-altitude cold deserts to hot deserts in the lowlands. From the end of June through mid-August, most afternoons reach 32°C or higher, with an average annual maximum of 40°C. During the winter months, temperatures remain below freezing point for about 40 days. Fauna/Flora Large steppes and alpine vegetation dominate the landscape in Kyrgyzstan, with 3.5% of the country covered by forests. In the woodland areas of Tian Shan, many rare species can be found. They include brown bears, red wolves, wild boars, lynxes and snow leopards. There are also eagles, vultures, ibex and marmots, while herds of antelopes live in the steppes. History/Politics The Kyrgyz, formerly known as the Kara (= black) Kyrgyz to distinguish them from the Kazakhs, migrated to Kyrgyzstan from the region of the upper Yenisei, where they had lived from the 7th to the 17th century. Under the influence of Mongol incursions they began migrating south into the Tian Shan - more swiftly with the rise of Ghenghis Khan in the 13th century. Present-day Kyrgyzstan was part of the inheritance of Genghis's second son, Chagatai. Peace was shattered in 1685 by the arrival of the Mongol Oyrats of the Zhungarian Empire, who drove vast numbers of Kyrgyz south into present-day Tajikistan. 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 and fought the establishment of Bolshevik control from 1917 to 1921. As a result of devastation following the war, there was a famine in 1921-22 and more than 500,000 Kyrgyz died. In 1924 the area was incorporated into the Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Region within the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, becoming an autonomous republic in 1926 and a constituent republic in 1936. With the collapse of Communism in the USSR, Kyrgyzstan became an independent republic in 1991. As early as 1992, the Kyrgyz Republic became a member of the United Nations. In 1990, Askar Akayev, president of the republic's Academy of Sciences and a non-Communist, was elected president by the legislature. After fighting off an attempted coup in 1991, the government declared Kyrgyzstan independent of the Soviet Union. Kyrgyzstan subsequently became a member of the Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States, and a new constitution was approved. Akayev remained in office after first presidential elections were held in 1995. Kyrgyzstan was the first of the Central Asian republics to establish democratic institutions. According to the constitution of 1993, it has a 105-member bicameral parliament. The president, elected by popular vote, is head of state. The country is divided into six administrative regions and the capital area. Economy Agriculture is the mainstay of Kyrgyzstan's economy. Cotton, wool, and meat are the main agricultural products. Exports include gold, mercury, uranium, and hydropower. Kyrgyzstan has been one of the most progressive countries of the former Soviet Union in carrying out market reforms. In 1995, Kyrgyzstan, along with Belarus and Kazakhstan, signed a pact with Russia providing for close economic co-operation. Following a successful stabilization program, which lowered inflation from 88% in 1994 to 15% for 1997, attention is turning toward stimulating growth. In 1998, Kyrgyzstan became the first former Soviet republic to join the World Trade Organization. Gross domestic product growth amounted to 5% in 2000; the same year saw an official unemployment rate of 2.9%. Culture Central Asian literature has traditionally been popularised in the form of songs, poems and stories by itinerant minstrels, called "akyn". But the Kyrgyz people is also associated with an entire cycle of oral legends, 20 times longer than the Odyssey, about a hero-of-heroes called Manas. The stories are part of a wider, older tradition, but have come to be associated with the Kyrgyz people and culture partly because Soviet scholars 'gave' Manas to them in efforts to create separate cultures for the various Central Asian peoples. Krgyzstan has two well-known living authors - Chinghiz Aitmatov and Kazat Akmatov.