Background: A country of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions, Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian empire in 1864. In the Czarist and Soviet periods, Russian managers and technicians were sent to Kyrgyzstan and have recently made up more than one-fifth of the population. Many Russians have been returning home since Kyrgyzstan gained its independence in 1991 when the USSR collapsed. Privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of democracy and political freedoms, and inter-ethnic relations are current issues.
Geography
Location: Central Asia, west of China
Geographic coordinates: 41 00 N, 75 00 E
Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States
Area:
total: 198,500 sq km
land: 191,300 sq km
water: 7,200 sq km
Area—comparative: slightly smaller than South Dakota
Land boundaries:
total: 3,878 km
border countries: China 858 km, Kazakhstan 1,051 km, Tajikistan 870
km, Uzbekistan 1,099 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)