KYRGYZSTAN

officially Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Respublikasy, formerly (193691) Kirgiziya, or Kirghizia, or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic country of Central Asia. It is bounded by Kazakstan on the northwest and north, by China on the east and south, and by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the south and west. Most of Kyrgyzstan's borders run along mountain crests. The country's area totals approximately 76,600 square miles (198,500 square kilometres). The capital is Bishkek (known from 1862 to 1926 as Pishpek and from 1926 to 1991 as Frunze). The Kyrgyz, a Muslim Turkic people, constitute more than half the population. The history of the Kyrgyz in what is now Kyrgyzstan dates at least to the 17th century. Kyrgyzstan, known under Russian and Soviet rule as Kirgiziya, was conquered by tsarist Russian forces in the 19th century. Formerly a constituent (union) republic of the U.S.S.R., Kyrgyzstan declared its independence on Aug. 31, 1991. officially Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Respublikasy, formerly (193691) Kirgiziya, or Kirghizia, or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic historical region and country of Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bounded by Kazakstan on the north and northwest, Uzbekistan on the southwest, and Tajikistan on the south. On the southeast, the Kok Shaal-Tau Range, part of the Tien Shan (mountains), forms the border with China. The capital is Bishkek (formerly Frunze). Area 76,600 square miles (198,500 square km). Pop. (1996 est.) 4,521,000. Additional reading Geography Recent accounts from travelers to Central Asian countries include Philip Glazebrook, Journey to Khiva (1992); Georgie Anne Geyer, Waiting for Winter to End: An Extraordinary Journey Through Soviet Central Asia (1994); Colin Thubron, The Lost Heart of Asia (1994); and Charles Undeland and Nicholas Platt, The Central Asian Republics: Fragments of Empire, Magnets of Wealth (1994). International Monetary Fund, Kyrghyzstan (1992), studies the economy. History Ren Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia (1970; originally published in French, 1939), although dated, is still the most comprehensive and basically sound survey of the region in English. Denis Sinor, Inner Asia: HistoryCivilizationLanguages, 2nd rev. ed. (1971), serves as a broad overview. Additional works on the region's history include Gavin Hambly (ed.), Central Asia (1969; originally published in German, 1966); Geoffrey Wheeler, The Modern History of Soviet Central Asia (1964, reprinted 1975); and A.H. Dani et al. (eds.), History of Civilizations of Central Asia (1992 ). Various topics on Central Asia are treated in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed. (1954 ). The best short sketch on the region's history is found in Eshan Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 5, fascicles 23 (199091). A useful study on Kyrgyzstan itself is H.B. Paksoy, Alpamysh: Central Asian Identity Under Russian Rule (1989). Edward Allworth David Roger Smith Gavin R.G. Hambly Denis Sinor Administration and social conditions Government Kyrgyzstan's 1993 constitution, which replaced the Soviet-era constitution that had been in effect since 1978, recognizes numerous rights and freedoms for citizens. It establishes legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government but gives the president, who is the head of state, the ability to implement important policies or constitutional amendments through a national referendum. The new constitution originally created a unicameral parliament, but in 1994 voters approved a bicameral legislature, with a lower chamber (the Legislative Assembly) consisting of 35 nationally elected deputies and an upper chamber (the Assembly of People's Representatives) consisting of 70 regionally elected, part-time members. The president, elected directly for a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms, appoints the prime minister, the cabinet, and members of the high courts, subject to approval by the parliament. The president also appoints the administrators of Kyrgyzstan's six oblasti (provinces). The judicial branch includes local courts and three high courts: the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Economic Court, for commercial cases. During the Soviet period, the Communist Party of Kirgiziya (CPK), a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), determined the makeup of the government and dominated the political process. The CPK transformed itself into the People's Democratic Party during the Soviet Union's collapse and declined in influence after Kyrgyzstan, in contested elections in 1989, had gained its first democratically elected president, Askar Akayev, a former university professor and computer scientist. Informal political groups such as Ashar (Solidarity) have since helped to open up the political process further. Education Kyrgyzstan's schools and colleges have undergone a drastic reorganization since emerging from the ideological control of the Communist Party. The republic made Kyrgyz the official state language in 1989, and since that time Kyrgyz has begun to play a primary role in education; whole generations of students previously received much of their training entirely in Russian, which was obligatory. As a consequence, the Kyrgyz language lacked a thoroughly modern technical vocabulary. Another obstacle to research and scholarship is the general lack of competence in European languages among educated Kyrgyz. After independence Kyrgyzstan's contacts with the outside world increased dramatically, with Kyrgyz students, scholars, and officials traveling to Middle Eastern and Western countries for specialized and technical training. The Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences and Kyrgyz State University, both in Bishkek, are the major institutions of higher education. Cultural life Starting in the 1920s and '30s, several Kyrgyz-language newspapers appeared regularly in the republic, but they were subject to Soviet censorship. With the collapse of Moscow's control over the press, the editorial policies of the republic's publications have changed noticeably, and new press outlets have appeared, though press freedom has occasionally been curtailed. Kyrgyzstan has a television network, extensive radio broadcasting, cinemas, and theatres. Kyrgyz cultural life has been greatly influenced by the rich oral literary tradition (including epic cycles and lyric poetry) of the region, by the development of a modern literary language, and by the change from the Arabic alphabet to Roman and finally to Cyrillic (with diacritical markings added) beginning in 1940. The Kyrgyz planned a return to the Roman alphabet in the 1990s, in concert with the other Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia. Kyrgyz folk singers still recite the lengthy verse epic Manas and other heroic and lyric poetry, often to the accompaniment of the three-stringed komuz, which is plucked like a lute. During the Soviet period Kyrgyz poets strove to adjust their writings to communist ideology and the tenets of Socialist Realism. But the character of Kyrgyz cultural life has undergone considerable change in the wake of the dissolution of the Communist Party and the cessation of its tight ideological controls. The Kyrgyz take pride in the renown of Chingiz Aytmatov, a novelist and storywriter who wrote mainly in Russian but also in Kyrgyz. His Povesti gor i stepey (1963; Tales of Mountains and Steppes) and the more recent I dol'she veka dlit'sia den' (1980; The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years) and Plakha (1986; The Place of the Skull) have received wide circulation in Russian and in English translations. Aytmatov's play Voskhozhdenie na Fudziiamu (1973; The Ascent of Mt. Fuji), written with Kazak playwright Kaltay Muhamedjanov, discusses rather openly the moral compromises made under the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. This play created a sensation when it was first staged in Moscow in 1973 and later in English-language productions abroad. State-sponsored folk dance troupes, a theatre of opera and ballet, and the Kyrgyzstan Philharmonic Orchestra perform in concert halls and theatre buildings erected during the Soviet period. The Museum of History and the Arts is located in Bishkek. Edward Allworth