Kyrgyzstan or Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzstan: Кыргызстан, Kyrgyzstan), formerly also known as Kyrgyzstan (Russian: Киргизия, Kirgizia) is a country in Central Asia. The country is not located by the sea and has 6.5 million inhabitants. The country is more than 4 times the size of the Netherlands and the capital is Bishkek.

Name

According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER, the official name of the country is Кыргызстан, translated into Turkish this is Qırğızstan, the suffix -stan comes from Persian and means ‘land of’, in this case the land of the Kyrgyz. The alternative name Kyrgyzstan comes from Russian: Киргизия, Kirgizia), however, this has never been the official name of the country, at the time of the Soviet Union the official name was the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic and after independence Kyrgyzstan. The official name of the country Kyrgyzstan uses a different Cyrillic letter for the ‘i’, namely ы instead of и, so the name should be written as Kyrgyzstan instead of Kyrgyzstan.

Geography

Kyrgyzstan is an enclosed country, it is not located by the sea. What is also special is that none of the rivers in the country reach the sea. The country borders Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The capital Bishkek is centrally located in the north of the country. Kyrgyzstan measures a maximum of 950 kilometers from west to east and 420 kilometers from north to south. Kyrgyzstan has several enclaves and exclaves with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, around the Fergana Valley.

The country is dominated by mountains and has been referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Central Asia’. The Jengish Chokusu is the highest point at 7,439 meters. About 90% of the country is above 1,500 meters altitude. The country has several mountain ranges and generally east-west valleys. To the north is Issyk-Kul, the second largest mountain lake in the world.

The country has a continental climate with characteristics of an alpine climate, the temperature varies greatly according to the altitude. Many mountain ranges in Kyrgyzstan are permanently covered with snow and glaciers. The Issyk-Kul does not freeze over in winter. The average maximum temperature in the capital Bishkek is 32°C in summer. The average minimum temperature is -7 °C in winter. Due to the continental climate and the differences in altitude, the temperature extremes are far apart, from below -50 °C to above 40 °C

Economy

Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest countries in Central Asia, about a third of the population lives in poverty. The economy was severely damaged by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its internal market. The country produced many products that are less important in a market economy. The main export product is gold. There are several mines in the country, but the country has hardly any oil and gas reserves. A large part of the population is employed in barely mechanized agriculture. A significant part of the economy is informal. Many villages are self-sufficient in food. The country has tourist potential, but the persistently unstable situation does not make the country attractive for many tourists.

Demographics

Population growth stagnated for several years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but since then has shown a steady, almost linear growth that started in the late 1950s and continues today. The Kyrgyz are a Turkish people who make up about 72% of the population. See Kyrgyzstan population density. Many Uzbeks live in the south, who comprise 15% of the population. In the north, especially around Bishkek, there are many Russians who make up 9% of the population. There are also small minorities such as Uyghurs and Tajiki. After independence, many Russians migrated and the proportion of ethnic Kyrgyz grew from barely 50% to more than 70%. The official language of the country was originally Russian, but Kyrgyz was added in 1991. Kyrgyz was originally written in Arabic script,

By far the largest city is the capital Bishkek, where more than 800,000 people live. The second city is Osh in the Fergana Valley with approximately 250,000 inhabitants. Other cities have fewer than 100,000 inhabitants. A large part of the population lives in rural areas.

History

The Kyrgyz people have their origins in western Mongolia. The 12th century saw a fairly large empire in what is now Southern Siberia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. With the rise of the Mongols, the Kyrgyz migrated south to the present country. In 1207 it became part of the Mongol Empire. In the 19th century, the area came under the influence of the Russian Empire and became part of it in 1876. It subsequently became part of the Soviet Union, first as the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast, in 1936 as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). The capital was then called Frunze. The country was somewhat developed during the Soviet years, but was always the second poorest republic in the Soviet Union. In 1991, the country gained independence from the Soviet Union and the capital was renamed to Bishkek. The Russian name Kyrgyzstan (Kirgizija) was also changed to Kyrgyzstan.