Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan (officially Kyrgyz Republic) is a country in Central Asia, with its capital at Bishkek, and is home to roughly 7.2M people.
Its official languages are Kyrgyz, Russian; the currency in circulation is Kyrgyzstani som (с); people from here are called Kirghiz.
- »Over 90% of the country is mountainous.
- »The Epic of Manas is one of the longest poems ever recorded.
Kyrgyzstan touches four neighbours: China to the east, Kazakhstan to the northwest, Tajikistan to the southwest and Uzbekistan to the west. Directions run from one centre to the other.
Bishkek sits at the foot of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too range at about 800 m, laid out by Russian planners on a strict grid with irrigation channels along the streets.
198,990 km² (76,830 sq mi), 85th largest of 198 countries and territories on file, almost exactly the size of Senegal.
Population 7,221,868, 106th of 198 on file. That averages 36 per km² (94 per sq mi).
The sun's forty rays stand for the forty tribes united by the epic hero Manas; the crossed lines at its centre depict the roof opening of a yurt, seen from inside.
Easily confused with Vietnam and Montenegro.
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