Cities: Bishkek (capital), Osh, Cholpon Ata, Karakol.
Population (July 2008): 5,356,869.
Annual growth rate (2008): 1.38%.
Ethnic groups (2007): Kyrgyz 68.9%; Russian 9.1%; Uzbek 14.4%; Dungan (ethnic Chinese Muslims) 1%; Uighurs 1%; Tajik 0.9%, Kazakh 0.8%, Tatars 0.7%; Korean 0.4%, German 0.3%.
Main religions: Islam; Russian Orthodox.
Languages: Kyrgyz (state); Russian (official, 2001).
Natural resources: Abundant hydropower; significant deposits of gold and rare earth metals; locally exploitable coal, oil, and natural gas; other deposits of iron, bauxite, copper, tin, molybdenum, mercury, and antimony.
Agriculture: Products--tobacco, cotton, wheat, vegetables (potatoes, sugar beets, beans), fruits (apples, apricots, peaches, grapes), berries, sheep, goats, cattle, wool.
Industry: Types--small machinery (electric motors, transformers), light industry (cotton and wool processing, textiles, food processing), construction materials (cement, glass, slate), shoes, furniture, mining, energy.
Trade: Exports (2008)--$1.6 billion: cotton, wool, meat, tobacco, gold, mercury, uranium, hydropower, machinery, shoes. Partners--Switzerland 27.3%, Russia 19.2%, Uzbekistan 14.3%, Kazakhstan 11.3%, France 6.7%, Afghanistan 2.8%. Imports--$3.3 billion: oil and gas, machinery and equipment, foodstuffs. Partners--Russia 44.3%, China 14.6%, Kazakhstan 11.4%, Uzbekistan 4.4%, U.S. 3.0%.
According to recent findings of Kyrgyz and Chinese historians, Kyrgyz history dates back to 201 B.C. The earliest descendents of the Kyrgyz people, who are believed to be of Turkic descent, lived in the northeastern part of what is currently Mongolia.
Later, some of their tribes migrated to the region that is currently southern Siberia and settled along the Yenisey River, where they lived from the 6th until the 8th centuries. They spread across what is now the Tuva region of the Russian Federation, remaining in that area until the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, when the Kyrgyz began migrating south. In the 12th century, Islam became the predominant religion in the region. Most Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school.
During the 15th-16th centuries, the Kyrgyz people settled in the territory currently known as the Kyrgyz Republic. In the early 19th century, the southern territory of the Kyrgyz Republic came under the control of the Khanate of Kokand, and the territory was formally incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1876.
In June 1990, ethnic tensions between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz surfaced in an area of the Osh Oblast, where Uzbeks form a majority of the population. Violent confrontations ensued, and a state of emergency and curfew were introduced. Order was not restored until August 1990.
In February 1991, the name of the capital, Frunze, was changed back to its pre-revolutionary name--Bishkek.
The Kyrgyz Republic's economy was severely affected by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting loss of its vast market. In 1990, some 98% of Kyrgyz exports went to other parts of the Soviet Union.
The Kyrgyz Republic's principal exports are nonferrous metals and minerals, woolen goods and other agricultural products, electric energy, and certain engineering goods. Its imports include petroleum and natural gas, ferrous metals, chemicals, most machinery, wood and paper products, some foods, and some construction materials. Its leading trade partners include Switzerland, Russia, China, and neighboring Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The Kyrgyz Republic exports antimony, mercury, rare-earth metals, and chemical products to the United States. It imports grain, medicine and medical equipment, vegetable oil, paper products, rice, machinery, agricultural equipment, and meat from the United States.
Interim president: Roza Otunbayeva
Red-haired and blue-eyed, they are believed to have migrated from the Yenisei River in Siberia between the 9th and 12th centuries. Central Asia's steppes and mountains had been home to waves of nomadic empires for thousands of years and the new arrivals found themselves fending off constant invasions by warrior tribes.
When the fiercest of the invaders, Chingiz Khan, swept through in 1219, life changed forever. The Mongol Empire stretched across the region, razing the Silk Road oases of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva to the ground. The Kyrgyz owed their survival to their nomadic mountain lifestyle, intricately evolved over 2,500 years, and their excellent horsemanship, which gave them supremacy over sedentary peoples.
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