1995 Edition

Area

total area: 198,500 sq km land area: 191,300 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than South Dakota

Climate

dry continental to polar in high Tien Shan; subtropical in southwest (Fergana Valley); temperate in northern foothill zone

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Environment

current issues: water pollution; many people get their water directly from contaminated streams and wells, as a result, water-borne diseases are prevalent; increasing soil salinity from faulty irrigation practices natural hazards: NA international agreements: NA

International disputes

territorial dispute with Tajikistan on southwestern boundary in Isfara Valley area

Irrigated land

10,320 sq km (1990)

Land boundaries

total 3,878 km, China 858 km, Kazakhstan 1,051 km, Tajikistan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,099 km

Land use

arable land: 7% permanent crops: NEGL% meadows and pastures: 42% forest and woodland: 0% other: 51%

Location

Central Asia, west of China

Map references

Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

abundant hydroelectric potential; significant deposits of gold and rare earth metals; locally exploitable coal, oil and natural gas; other deposits of nepheline, mercury, bismuth, lead, and zinc

Note

landlocked

Terrain

peaks of Tien Shan rise to 7,000 meters, and associated valleys and basins encompass entire nation

Age structure

0-14 years: 37% (female 868,108; male 888,479) 15-64 years: 57% (female 1,377,221; male 1,345,990) 65 years and over: 6% (female 185,807; male 104,272) (July 1995 est.)

Birth rate

25.97 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate

7.32 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Kirghiz 52.4%, Russian 21.5%, Uzbek 12.9%, Ukrainian 2.5%, German 2.4%, other 8.3%

Infant mortality rate

45.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Labor force

1.836 million by occupation: agriculture and forestry 38%, industry and construction 21%, other 41% (1990)

Languages

Kirghiz (Kyrgyz) - official language, Russian widely used

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 68.13 years male: 63.92 years female: 72.56 years (1995 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1989) total population: 97% male: 99% female: 96%

Nationality

noun: Kyrgyz(s) adjective: Kyrgyz

Net migration rate

-3.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Population

4,769,877 (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate

1.5% (1995 est.)

Religions

Muslim 70%, Russian Orthodox NA%

Total fertility rate

3.31 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Administrative divisions

6 oblasttar (singular - oblast) and 1 city* (singular - shaar); Bishkek Shaary*, Chuy Oblasty (Bishkek), Jalal-Abad Oblasty, Naryn Oblasty, Osh Oblasty, Talas Oblasty, Ysyk-Kol Oblasty (Karakol) note: names in parentheses are administrative centers when name differs from oblast name

Assembly of Legislatures

elections last held 5 February 1995 (next to be held no later than NA 1998); 35-member house to which 19 members have been elected so far; next round of runoffs scheduled for 19 April 1995

Assembly of Representatives

elections last held 5 February 1995 (next to be held no later than NA 1998); 70-member house to which 60 members have been elected so far; next round of runoffs scheduled for 19 April 1995 note: the legislature became bicameral for the 5 February 1995 elections

Capital

Bishkek

Constitution

adopted 5 May 1993

Digraph

KG

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Almas CHUKIN chancery: (temporary) Suite 705, 1511 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 347-3732, 3733, 3718

Executive branch

chief of state: President Askar AKAYEV (since 28 October 1990); election last held 12 October 1991 (next to be held NA 1996); results - Askar AKAYEV won in uncontested election with 95% of vote and with 90% of electorate voting; note - president elected by Supreme Soviet 28 October 1990, then by popular vote 12 October 1991; AKAYEV won 96% of the vote in a referendum on his status as president on 30 January 1994 head of government: Prime Minister Apas DJUMAGULOV (since NA December 1993) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers; subordinate to the president

FAX

[1] (202) 347-3718

[7] (3312) 22-35-51

Flag

red field with a yellow sun in the center having 40 rays representing the 40 Kirghiz tribes; on the obverse side the rays run counterclockwise, on the reverse, clockwise; in the center of the sun is a red ring crossed by two sets of three lines, a stylized representation of the roof of the traditional Kirghiz yurt

Independence

31 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

bicameral

Member of

AsDB, CIS, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NACC, OIC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Kyrgyz Republic conventional short form: Kyrgyzstan local long form: Kyrgyz Respublikasy local short form: none former: Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic

National holiday

National Day, 2 December; Independence Day, 31 August (1991)

Other political or pressure groups

National Unity Democratic Movement; Peasant Party; Council of Free Trade Unions; Union of Entrepreneurs; Agrarian Party

Political parties and leaders

Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ishenbai KADYRBEKOV, chairman; Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan (DMK), Kazat AKHMATOV, chairman; National Unity, German KUZNETSOV; Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan (PCK), Sherali SYDYKOV, chairman; Democratic Movement of Free Kyrgyzstan (ErK), Topchubek TURGUNALIYEV, chairman; Republican Popular Party of Kyrgyzstan; Agrarian Party of Kyrgyzstan, A. ALIYEV

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Eileen A. MALLOY embassy: Erkindik Prospekt #66, Bishkek 720002 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [7] (3312) 22-29-20, 22-27-77, 22-26-31, 22-24-73

Agriculture

wool, tobacco, cotton, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle), vegetables, meat, grapes, fruits and berries, eggs, milk, potatoes

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

introduced national currency, the som (10 May 1993)

Economic aid

recipient: IMF aid commitments were $80 million in 1993 and $400 million in 1994

Electricity

capacity: 3,660,000 kW production: 12.7 billion kWh consumption per capita: 2,700 kWh (1994)

Exchange rates

soms per US$1 - 10.6 (yearend 1994)

Exports

$116 million to countries outside the FSU (1994) commodities: wool, chemicals, cotton, ferrous and nonferrous metals, shoes, machinery, tobacco partners: Russia 70%, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and others

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe and North America from Southwest Asia

Imports

$92.4 million from countries outside the FSU (1994) commodities: grain, lumber, industrial products, ferrous metals, fuel, machinery, textiles, footwear partners: other CIS republics

Industrial production

growth rate -24% (1994 est.)

Industries

small machinery, textiles, food-processing industries, cement, shoes, sawn logs, refrigerators, furniture, electric motors, gold, and rare earth metals

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

5.4% per month (1994 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $8.4 billion (1994 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1992)

National product per capita

$1,790 (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate

-24% (1994 est.)

Overview

Kyrgyzstan is one of the smallest and poorest states of the former Soviet Union. Its economy is heavily agricultural, growing cotton and tobacco on irrigated land in the south and grain in the foothills of the north and raising sheep and goats on mountain pastures. Its small and obsolescent industrial sector, concentrated around Bishkek, has traditionally relied on Russia and other CIS countries for customers and industrial inputs, including most of its fuel. Since 1990, the economy has contracted by almost 50% as subsidies from Moscow vanished and trade links with other former Soviet republics eroded. At the same time, the Kyrgyz government stuck to tight monetary and fiscal policies in 1994 that succeeded in reducing inflation from 23% per month in 1993 to 5.4% per month in 1994. Moreover, Kyrgyzstan has been the most successful of the Central Asian states in reducing state controls over the economy and privatizing state industries. Nevertheless, restructuring proved to be a slow and painful process in 1994 despite relatively large flows of foreign aid and continued progress on economic reform. The decline in output in 1995 may be much smaller, perhaps 5%, compared with an estimated 24% in 1994.

Unemployment rate

0.7% includes officially registered unemployed; also large numbers of unregistered unemployed and underemployed workers (1994)

Radio

broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA radios: 825,000 (radio receiver systems with multiple speakers for program diffusion 748,000)

Telephone system

342,000 telephones (1991); 76 telephones/1,000 persons (December 1991); poorly developed; about 100,000 unsatisfied applications for household telephones local: NA intercity: principally by microwave radio relay international: connections with other CIS countries by landline or microwave and with other countries by leased connections with Moscow international gateway switch and by satellite; 1 GORIZONT and 1 INTELSAT satellite link through Ankara to 200 other countries

Television

broadcast stations: NA; note - receives Turkish broadcasts televisions: 875,000

Airports

total: 54 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1 with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 with paved runways under 914 m: 1 with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 4 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 4 with unpaved runways under 914 m: 32

Highways

total: 30,300 km paved and graveled: 22,600 km unpaved: earth 7,700 km (1990)

Pipelines

natural gas 200 km

Ports

Ysyk-Kol (Rybach'ye)

Railroads

total: 370 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines broad gauge: 370 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)

Branches

National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border troops), Civil Defense

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP ________________________________________________________________________ LAOS

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 1,154,683; males fit for military service 934,167; males reach military age (18) annually 44,526 (1995 est.)