Population: 5,895,100

Area: 200,000 sq. km. Capital: Bishkek (Frunze under USSR, pop. 937,400)

Languages:Kyrgyz (official), Russian

According to official narratives, kirghiz means

“40 girls” and the Kyrgyz flag’s sunburst has

40 rays in honor of the story that Kyrgyz peo-

ple emerged out of 40 tribes. Kyrgyz language

is mutually intelligible with Kazakh and Uzbek

all of which are Turkic languages. Kyrgyzstan

is less Islamic than the other Central Asian

Republics, having been converted much later

than the less mountainous regions of Central

Asia.

KYRGYZSTAN (Kirghizstan)

Kyrgyzstan is among the most mountainous and the second

smallest in size of the Central Asian Republics. The Tian Shan

mountain region covers 80% of the country and has earned Kyr-

gyzstan the title “Switzerland of Central Asia.” Kyrgyz national

identity emerged in the 20th century under Soviet rule. Prior to

Russian imperial rule, Kyrgyz social groupings were primarily

tribal and confessional. Kyrgyzstan shares complicated border

arrangements in the Ferghana Valley with Uzbekistan and Tajik-

istan. Under Soviet rule, Kyrgyzstan was known as Kirghizia.

.

Like all countries that experienced Soviet rule, Kyrgyzstan has

universal public education made available to all citizens. Literacy

is touted somewhere in the high 19th percentile group and women

are granted equal access to institutions of learning, secondary or

otherwise. Secondary education tends to extend through the 11th

grade, although many students may choose to opt out after ninth

grade in order to pursue a more focused vocational training track.

Public education in Central Asian republics has always aspired to

greater universality than actually demonstrated and many of the

facts on the matter were manipulated during the Soviet period to

appease Party officials and meet quotas.

Kyrgyzstan celebrates many of the same holidays as other former

Soviet Republics, such as May Day (May 1st) and Victory Day

(May 9th) as well as the Persian new year/Spring festival Nooruz

(March 21st). Kyrgyz cuisine includes plov and manti like Kazakh

food, as well as the popular cold-noodle spicy vegetable dish ash-

lam-foo. Marital patterns are dominated by tribal concerns, and as

opposed to endogamy among many of the Central Asian tribal

groups, Kyrgyz practice demands exogamy. Potential spouses

are vetted in advance to determine that shared familial and tribal

blood can’t be traced within seven generations.

Updated: 7/24/17

C L A S S R O O M C O U N T R Y P R O F I L E S

Kyrgyz names are frequently derived

from one of the three languages that

have had the greatest influence: Persian,

Turkic, and Russian. A popular Kyrgyz

name is Jyrgal which means “happiness”

and can be used for a man or a woman,

or Anara, which means “pomegranate”

and is derived from Persian.

Chinghiz Aitmatov is the most famous

literary voice of Kyrgyzstan, having

grown up and written in the Communist

period, his novels The Day Lasts More

Than A Hundred Years and Jamila im-

mortalize Kyrgyz people in Kyrgyz set-

tings. Bübüsara Beyşenalieva was a fa-

mous ballerina born in Soviet Kyrgyzstan

in 1926 she studied at the Vaganova

Ballet Academy in Leningrad and earned

the adoration of her country, which put

her face on the 5 som note after inde-

pendence. A statue of her can be found

in Bishkek near the opera house.

Welcome…………………. Kosh kelingiz! Hello………………………………..Salam! How are you?.................... Kandaysyng?

What is your name?......... Senin atyng kim?

Pleased to meet you…..Taanyshkanyma kubanychtamyn! Good Luck ………………Ak jol kaalaym! Cheers!...............Den soolugubuz üchün! I don’t understand…. Tüshüngön jokmun

USEFUL LINKS

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16186907

http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Kyrgyzstan.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kg.html

The Kyrgyz embassy shares its duties between the United States and

Canada. They are currently (summer 2015) in the process of register-

ing Kyrgyz citizens living in the United States and Canada in order to

determine the number of expatriates in the country, a fact as yet only

approximated.

The flag is comprised of a sunburst with 40 rays representing the

40 tribes of Kyrgyz people. The cross-

hatch of a traditional yurt fills the center.

When the Soviet Union collapsed Askar Akaev led the fledgling republic

for 15 years, until he was forced to flee the country in 2005 during the

“Tulip Revolution.” Ethnic conflict between Uzbek minorities and Kyrgyz

military have led to strong criticism from human rights groups. Concur-

rently, the Kyrgyz government has cracked down on critical journalism,

imposing registration measures and censorship practices that have

alarmed freedom watch groups. The president of Kyrgyzstan since

2011, Almazbek Atambayev had previously served as Prime Minister

and has made promises to curb the corruption and waste widely

acknowledged to be ubiquitous in the government. Similar to many

countries in the region, Kyrgyzstan has seen an increase in the powers

of its executive leaders. In 2016, a controversial referendum expanded

the power of the Prime Minister.

Kyrgyzstan’s most significant physical export is gold. It also exports sig-

nificant amounts of hydroelectric energy. It is currently in midst of a

massive development project in conjunction with Russian investment to

construct 11 new hydroelectric dams across the nation. Progress has

been slow and the deal may have soured.

Moscow metro station

Church of the Transfiguration, Karelia, Russia