General Information

Country name: (conventional long form) Kyrgyz Republic (conventional short form) Kyrgyzstan

Area: 198 500 sq km

Population: 5 081 429 (2004)

Capital: Bishkek (called Frunze from 1926 to 1991)

Population: 762 308

Administrative divisions: (7 provinces (oblastlar, singular - oblasty) and 1 city* (shaar)) Batken Oblasty(1), Bishkek Shaary*, Chuy Oblasty (Bishkek)(2), Jalal-Abad Oblasty(3), Naryn Oblasty(4), Osh Oblasty(5), Talas Oblasty(6), Ysyk-Kol Oblasty (Karakol)(7)
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Map of Administrative Divisions

Ethnic groups: Kyrgyz 64.9%, Uzbek 13.8%, Russian 12.5%, Dungan 1.1%, Ukrainian 1%, Uygur 1%, other 5.7% (1999 census)

Government: Republic. Independence: 31 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Head of State: President Askar Akayev since 28 October 1990
Head of Government: Prime Minister Nikolay Tanayev since 22 May 2002

Language: Kyrgyz - official language, Russian - official language
note: in December 2001, the Kyrgyzstani legislature made Russian an official language, equal in status to Kyrgyz

Religion: The major religion is Islam with the majority of Kyrgyz being Sunni Muslim with Christian and Russian Orthodox minorities

Time Zone: GMT + 5 (GMT + 6 from second Sunday in April to Saturday before last Sunday in September)

Electricity: 220V AC, 50Hz

Weights & measures: Metric

Visas: The information about visa regimes should be learned in Embassy of Kyrgyz Republic or in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyz Republic
Websites: http://www.mfa.kg/ and http://eng.investment.kg/visa

Economy

Kyrgyzstan is a poor, mountainous country with a predominantly agricultural economy. Cotton, tobacco, wool, and meat are the main agricultural products, although only tobacco and cotton are exported in any quantity. Industrial exports include gold, mercury, uranium, natural gas and electricity. Kyrgyzstan has been fairly progressive in carrying out market reforms, such as an improved regulatory system and land reform. Kyrgyzstan was the first CIS country to be accepted into the World Trade Organization. With fits and starts, inflation has been lowered to an estimated 7% in 2001, 2.1% in 2002, and 4.0% in 2003. Much of the government's stock in enterprises has been sold. Drops in production had been severe after the breakup of the Soviet Union in December 1991, but by mid-1995 production began to recover and exports began to increase. Kyrgyzstan has distinguished itself by adopting relatively liberal economic policies. The drop in output at the Kumtor gold mine sparked a 0.5% decline in GDP in 2002, but GDP growth bounced back to 6% in 2003. The government has made steady strides in controlling its substantial fiscal deficit and aims to reduce the deficit to 4.4 percent of GDP in 2004. The government and the international financial institutions have been engaged in a comprehensive medium-term poverty reduction and economic growth strategy. Further restructuring of domestic industry and success in attracting foreign investment are keys to future growth.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)composition by sector: agriculture 35%, industry 25%, services 40% (2002)

Labor force (by occupation): industry 15%, agriculture 55%, services 30% (2000)

Unemployment rate: 7.2% (1999)

Industries: small machinery, textiles, food processing, cement, shoes, sawn logs, refrigerators, furniture, electric motors, gold, rare earth metals

Agriculture - products: tobacco, cotton, potatoes, vegetables, grapes, fruits and berries; sheep, goats, cattle, wool

Exports - commodities: cotton, wool, meat, tobacco; gold, mercury, uranium, natural gas, hydropower; machinery; shoes

Exports - partners: Switzerland 19.8%, Russia 16.5%, UAE 14.2%, China 8.4%, Kazakhstan 7.6%, US 7.4%, Uzbekistan 5.8% (2002)

Imports - commodities: oil and gas, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs

Imports - partners: Kazakhstan 21.1%, Russia 19.9%, Uzbekistan 10.2%, China 10.1%, US 8%, Germany 5.3% (2002)

Money

Currency:The national currency of the Kyrgyz Republic is the Som consisting of 100 Tyin . At present, banknotes with nominal values of 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 Som and 50, 10 and 1 Tyin are in circulation

Currency exchange: Foreign currencies can be exchanged at commercial banks and at authorised bureaux de change. The US Dollar is the easiest currency to exchange

Exchange rate indicators: £1.00=76.84 Som, $1.00=41.71 Som (Auguest 2004)
Website: http://www.nbkr.kg/web/interfeis.builder_frame?language=ENG

Banking hours: Mon-Fri 09.30-17.30

History

The earliest notable residents of what is now Kyrgyzstan were warrior tribes of Saka (also known as Scythians), from about the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD. Alexander the Great met perhaps the stiffest resistance from Saka tribes in his 4th century BC advance through Central Asia. Rich bronze and gold relics have been recovered from Scythian burial mounds at Lake Issyk-Kul and in southern Kazakstan.

The region was under the control of various Turkish alliances from the 6th to 10th centuries, with a sizeable population living on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. Kyrgyzstan was the scene of a pivotal battle in 751, when the Turks and their Arab and Tibetan allies drove a large Tang Chinese army out of Central Asia. Ancestors of today's Kyrgyz people probably lived in Siberia's upper Yenisey basin until at least the 10th century, when under the influence of Mongol incursions they began migrating south into the Tian Shan - more urgently with the rise of Genghis 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 ruthless Mongol Oyrats of the Zhungarian Empire, who drove vast numbers of Kyrgyz south into present-day Tajikistan. When the Oyrats were defeated by the Manchu (Qing), the Kyrgyz became de facto subjects of the Chinese, who mainly left them to their nomadic ways. In the 18th century the feudal tentacles of the Kokand khanate began to encircle them, though the feisty Kyrgyz constantly made trouble from their Tian Shan redoubts. As the Russians moved closer in the 19th century, various Kyrgyz tribal leaders made their own peace with Russia or Kokand. Russian forces slowly rolled over the towns of Kokand, their advance culminating in the defeat of Tashkent in 1865. The Kyrgyz were gradually eased into the tsar's provinces of Ferghana and Semireche.

In 1916 Kyrgyz lands became part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) within the Russian Federation in 1918, then a separate Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast in 1924 and a full SSR in 1936.

In August 1991, the Kyrgyz Supreme Soviet reluctantly voted to declare Kyrgyzstan's independence. Six weeks later, A. Akaev was re-elected president, running unopposed. By the end of the year, Kyrgyzstan joined the Commonwealth of Independent States. In May 1993 a brand-new constitution dispensed with the last structural vestiges of the Soviet era.

Culture

Nearly everyone in Kyrgyzstan is Muslim, but Islam has sat relatively lightly on the Kyrgyz people. The geographically isolated southern provinces tend to be more conservative and Islamicised than the industrialised, Russified north. Ancient but still important tribal affiliations further reinforce the north-south differences. The Kyrgyz language has not been imposed on non-speakers in Kyrgyzstan (as Uzbek has in Uzbekistan), and the use of Russian persists, especially in the north

Central Asian literature has traditionally been popularised in the form of songs, poems and stories by itinerant minstrels, called akyn. But the Kyrgyz are also associated with something rather more complex - 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. Although the oral tradition is pretty much dead, Manas is still a figure for the Kyrgyz to hang their dreams on. Kyrgyzstan has two well-known living authors - Chinghiz Aitmatov and Kazat Akmatov.

Central Asian food resembles that of the Middle East or the Mediterranean in its use of rice, savoury seasonings, vegetables and legumes, yoghurt and grilled meats. The food eaten in Kyrgyzstan has developed from the subsistence diet of the nomads - mainly meat (including entrails), milk products and bread. Kyrgyz cuisine is not particularly subtle - a bland meal of meat and potatoes may be livened up with a spicy side dish likely to burn a hole in your mouth. Tea is ubiquitous, usually served without milk. Despite their Muslim heritage, most Kyrgyz drink alcohol, at least with guests. If you don't enjoy hard booze (commonly vodka), make your excuses early. You may come across kumys, fermented mare's milk, a mildly alcoholic drink available only in spring and summer when mares are foaling. Bozo, a thick, yeasty concoction made from fermented millet, is available year-round.

Environment

Kyrgyzstan borders Kazakstan in the north, China in the east, Tajikistan in the south and Uzbekistan in the west. Nearly 95% of the country is mountainous: almost half of it at an elevation of over 3000m (9840ft) and three-quarters of it under permanent snow and glaciers. The dominant feature is the Tian Shan range in the south-east. Its crest, the dramatic Kakshaal-Too range, forms a stunning natural border with China, culminating at Pik Pobedy (7439m/24,400ft), Kyrgyzstan's highest point. The southern border with Tajikistan lies along the Pamir Alay Range. Lake Issyk-Kul, almost 700m (2300ft) deep, lies in a vast indentation on the fringes of the Tian Shan in eastern Kyrgyzstan.

Though environmental pressures are as bad in Central Asia as anywhere, there's a reasonably good chance of seeing memorable beasts and plants, especially since Cannabis indica grows thick and wild by the roadsides. The mountains of Kyrgyzstan are the setting for high, grassy meadows - it's not unheard of to look out a train or bus window on the open steppe and see a rushing herd of antelope. Marmots and pikas are preyed upon by eagles and lammergeiers while the elusive snow leopard hunts the ibex amongst the crags and rocky slopes. Forests of Tian Shan spruce, larch and juniper provide cover for lynx, wolf, wild boar and brown bear. In summer, the wildflowers are a riot of colour.

The climate of this mountainous region varies from dry continental to polar in high Tien Shan; subtropical in southwest (Fergana Valley); temperate in northern foothill zone.

Geology

Geological structure. Kyrgyzstan is a mountain land. A large part of the country is located in Tian Shan folded area, geosyncline development of which was completed at the end of the Paleozoic 200 million years ago. The stage of relatively quiescent platform development in the Neogene (30 – 20 million years ago) was interrupted by intense tectonic movements, which continue now and determined the modern mountain relief of the country. We distinguish Caledonian (Ordovician – Silurian) folded system of North Tian Shan formed 400 million years ago and Hercinian system of Middle and South Tian Shan formed 200 million years ago, which are divided by zones of deep faults where major sources of earthquakes are located. Kyrgyzstan territory belongs to a high seismic activity area.

Intermontane areas are filled up with thick Mesozoic and Cenozoic continental sediments. The structure of Northern Tian Shan caledonides also comprises Lower Paleozoic folded complexes overlying an ancient basement formed 500 million years ago. The Hercynian system is for the major part composed of continental sedimentary and volcanogenic complexes. Common are traces of thick Caledonian granitoid magmatism. Gneiss and granitoid make the basement of Paleozoic rocks.

Natural resources. Of the useful minerals of Northern Tian Shan, of commercial significance are complex ore deposits associated with Late Paleozoic magnetism as well as gold and sulfur pyrite deposits. In Middle Tian Shan, a sedimentary iron ore basin was discovered the reserves of which make 10 billion tons; molybdenum and vanadium mineralization and complex ores were discovered. In Southern Tian Shan, mercury, antimony, tin, complex ore deposits are located; promising manifestations of gold and bauxite are noted. In Fergana basin, oil and gas are extracted from Cretaceous and Paleogene deposits. Geological reserves of coal amount to 31 billion tons. In Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary beds deposits were discovered of rock salt, gypsum, kaoline and bentonite clay, glass sand, construction raw materials as well as sweet underground water; there are numerous thermal and mineral sources.

Getting Around

Large towns (with population): Bishkek (762 308), Osh (208 520), Dzhalalabad (70 400), Karakol (64 322), Tokmak (54 409), Naryn (40 049). The last population census was held in 1999.

Flying is the least edifying and arguably the most dangerous mode of transport in Kyrgyzstan, but in winter it can be the only way to beat the snow. Bishkek-to-Osh is a popular flight. Buses are the most frequent and convenient way to get between towns cheaply, and the best way to see what remains of the land of the nomads, though long trips can be tedious and cramped, and vehicles are prone to breakdowns. Kyrgyzstan's trains are slow, crowded, grotty and increasingly crime-ridden. Taxis or private drivers are often willing to take travellers between cities. Most towns have public buses and minibuses operating on fixed routes.

Accommodation

Hotels. Hotels accommodation is limited outside the capital and visitors should not expect Western standards of comfort (although hotels are generally clean). Hotels charge considerably higher prices for individual tourists from non-CIS countries. Foreign tour operators booking for their clients are usually offered a preferential rate. Some hotels in more remote areas may still be wary of accepting foreigners travelling independently.

Turbazas. These ‘tourist bases’ are an alternative to hotel accommodation. For a dollar or two in local currency, visitors have access to basic bungalow accommodation and three meals a day. Homestays are also possible throughout the country as are stays in camps made of yurts – the traditional Kyrgyz nomadic tents.