Kyrgyzstan

Airports

total: 52 usable: 27 with permanent-surface runways: 12 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 4 with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 13 note: a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Highways

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

Pipelines

natural gas 200 km

Ports

none; landlocked

Railroads

370 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

poorly developed; 342,000 telephones in 1991 (also about 100,000 unsatisfied applications for household telephones); 76 telephones per 1,000 persons (31 December 1991); microwave radio relay is principal means of intercity telephone links; connections with other CIS countries by landline or microwave and with other countries by leased connections with Moscow international gateway switch and by satellite; 2 satellite earth stations - 1 GORIZONT and 1 INTELSAT (links through Ankara to 200 other countries and receives Turkish broadcasts); broadcast receivers - radios 825,000, TVs 875,000, radio receiver systems with multiple speakers for program diffusion 748,000

Branches

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

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 1,123,959; fit for military service 912,516; reach military age (18) annually 44,528 (1994 est.)

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: $80 million in 1993 and an anticipated $400 million in 1994

Electricity

capacity: 4,100,000 kW production: 11.8 billion kWh consumption per capita: 2,551 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$100.4 million to countries outside the FSU (1993 est.) 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 Central and Southwest Asia

Imports

$105.8 million from countries outside the FSU (1993 est.) commodities: grain, lumber, industrial products, ferrous metals, fuel, machinery, textiles, footwear partners: other CIS republics

Industrial production

growth rate -27% (1993 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)

23% per month (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $11.3 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Kirghiz statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)

National product per capita

$2,440 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-13.4% (1993 est.)

Overview

Kyrgyzstan is one of the smallest and poorest states of the former Soviet Union. Its economy is heavily agricultural, producing cotton and tobacco on irrigated land in the south, grain in the foothills of the north, and sheep and goats on mountain pastures. Its small and obsolescent industrial sector, concentrated around Bishkek, is heavily dependent on Russia and other CIS countries for customers and for inputs, including most of its fuel. Since 1990, the economy has contracted by almost 40%. Kyrgyzstan's inflation was high in 1993, about 23% per month, but rates were declining at the end of the year. Kyrgyzstan introduced its national currency, the som, in May 1993, it has privatized 28% of its former state assets, and plans call for a massive voucher privatization in 1994. Although Kyrgyzstan will receive relatively large flows of foreign aid, ongoing economic restructuring will continue to be painful with an anticipated increase in unemployment as uneconomic enterprises close. President AKAYEV will be under strong political pressure to backtrack on some reform measures.

Unemployment rate

0.2% includes officially registered unemployed; also large numbers of unregistered unemployed and underemployed workers

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 and 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, between China and Kazakhstan

Map references

Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

small amounts of coal 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, natural gas, oil, nepheline, rare earth metals, mercury, bismuth, gold, lead, zinc, hydroelectric power

Note

landlocked

Terrain

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

Administrative divisions

6 oblasttar (singular - oblast); Chuy Oblasty, Jalal-Abad Oblasty, Naryn Oblasty, Osh Oblasty, Talas Oblasty, Ysyk-Kol Oblasty note: the administrative center for Chuy Oblasty is Bishkek; the administrative center for Ysyk-Kol Oblasty may be Ksyk-Kol or Karakol; all other oblasttar have administrative centers of the same name as the oblast

Capital

Bishkek

Constitution

adopted 5 May 1993

Digraph

KG

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: (vacant) chancery: (temporary) Suite 705, 1511 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: (202) 347-3732/3

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; note - AKAYEV won 96% of the vote in a referendum on his status as president on 30 January 1993 head of government: Prime Minister Apas DZHUMAGULOV (since NA December 1993); First Deputy Prime Minister Almambet MATURBRAIMOV (since NA) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers; subordinate to the president

FAX

(202) 347-3718

FAX

7-3312 22-35-51

Flag

red field with a yellow sun in the center having 40 rays representing the 40 Krygyz 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 Kyrgyz yurt

Independence

31 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IOC, NACC, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO

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 Democrats, Ishenbai KADYRBEKOV, chairman; Kyrgyzstan Democratic Movement (KDM), Kazat AKHMATOV, chairman; National Unity, German KUZNETSOV; Communist Party, Dzhumalbek AMANBAYEV, chairman; Erkin (Free) Kyrgyzstan Party, Topchubek TURGUNALIYEV, chairman

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Edward HURWITZ embassy: Erkindik Prospekt #66, Bishkek 720002 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: 7-3312 22-29-20, 22-26-93, 22-29-89

Zhogorku Keneshom

elections last held 25 February 1990 for the Supreme Soviet (next to be held no later than NA November 1994 for the Zhogorku Keneshom); results - Communists 90%; seats - (350 total) Communists 310

Birth rate

26.33 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

7.36 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

46.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 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: 67.92 years male: 63.69 years female: 72.35 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality

noun: Kyrgyz(s) adjective: Kyrgyz

Net migration rate

-3.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

4,698,108 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.53% (1994 est.)

Religions

Muslim 70%, Russian Orthodox NA%

Total fertility rate

3.35 children born/woman (1994 est.)