The history of the Kyrgyz people and the land now called Kyrgyzstan goes back more than 3,000 years. Although geographically isolated by its mountainous location, it had an important role as part of the historical Silk Road trade route. Turkic nomads, who trace their ancestry to many Turkic states such as the First and Second Turkic Khaganates, have inhabited the country throughout its history. In the 13th century, Kyrgyzstan was conquered by the Mongols; subsequently it regained independence but was invaded by Kalmyks, Manchus, and Uzbeks. In 1876, it became part of the Russian Empire, remaining in the USSR as the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic after the Russian Revolution. Following Mikhael Gorbachev's democratic reforms in the USSR, in 1990 pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected president of the SSR. On 31 August 1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from Moscow, and a democratic government was subsequently established.
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia, lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and largest city of the country. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east and southeast. With a population of 6.7 million, Kyrgyzstan is the 34th-most populous country in Asia, and the 4th-most populous country in Central Asia. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's seven million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians.
The Tulip Revolution or First Kyrgyz Revolution led to President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev's fall from power. The revolution began after parliamentary elections on February 27 and March 13, 2005. The revolutionaries alleged corruption and authoritarianism by Akayev, his family and supporters. Akayev fled to Kazakhstan and then to Russia. On April 4, 2005, at the Kyrgyz embassy in Moscow, Akayev signed his resignation statement in the presence of a Kyrgyz parliamentary delegation. The resignation was ratified by the Kyrgyz interim parliament on April 11, 2005.
Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politician who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 7 April 2010 until 1 December 2011, becoming the first female Central Asian head of state. She was sworn in on July 3, 2010, after acting as interim leader following the 2010 April Revolution, which led to the ousting of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. She previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as head of the parliamentary caucus for the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan.
The White House is the presidential office building in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The White House was the site of riots during both the 2005 Tulip Revolution and the 2010 Kyrgyzstani riots. During the 2010 riots a fire broke out and damaged portions of the building and destroyed the hard copies of many government records.
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the second president of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010. Large opposition protests in April 2010 led to the takeover of government offices, forcing Bakiyev to flee the country.
Zamira Sydykova served as Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010, after a career as an opposition journalist, including imprisonment by the government of then-president Askar Akayev. After the Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010, Ambassador Sydykova served as a trade advisor, scholar at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, associate with Carnegie Endowment, as well as resumed her editorship of Res Publica. Ambassador Sydykova has received awards from the International Women's Media Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
Mayluu-Suu is a mining town in the Jalal-Abad Region of southern Kyrgyzstan. It is a city of regional significance, not part of a district. Its area is 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi), and its resident population was 25,892 in 2021. It has been economically depressed since the fall of the Soviet Union. From 1946 to 1968 the Zapadnyi Mining and Chemical Combine in Mayluu-Suu mined and processed more than 10,000 short tons (9,100 t) of uranium ore for the Soviet nuclear program. Uranium mining and processing is no longer economical, leaving much of the local population of about 20,000 without meaningful work. The town was classified as one of the Soviet government's secret cities, officially known only as "Mailbox 200". Mayluu-Suu consists of the town proper, the urban-type settlement Kök-Tash and the villages Sary-Bee, Kögoy and Kara-Jygach.
Edil Baisalov is a Kyrgyz politician, who currently serves as the Deputy prime minister in government of Kyrgyz Republic. He participated in the Tulip Revolution of 2005 and following the 2010 Kyrgyzstani uprising on April 7, 2010, briefly served as Chief of Staff of the interim government led by Roza Otunbayeva. Known in Kyrgyzstan as the "Great Justifier" and the main advocate of Kyrgyz authorities.
The Foundation for Tolerance International is a Kyrgyz non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1998 to prevent conflict and build peace and justice in Central Asia. It has operated for nine years in a fluid and changing context, but it has remained focused on its original goals of conflict prevention on a range of vertical and horizontal conflicts. FTI’s work is focused on two main directions:
The mass media in Kyrgyzstan experience greater freedom compared to neighbouring countries in the region, and the constitution guarantees freedom of the press and prohibits censorship. However, the media are still restricted by the government. The OSCE issued a report on the ethical standards in print and online media of Kyrgyzstan.
China–Kyrgyzstan relations are the bilateral relationship between China and Kyrgyzstan.
Christianity has a long history in Kyrgyzstan, with the earliest archaeological remains of churches belonging to the Church of the East in modern-day Suyab dating back to the 7th century. By the 9th century an archdiocese of the Church of the East cared for the Christians of Kyrgyzstan and adjacent areas in eastern Turkestan. Although primarily Turkic there was also an Armenian community in what today is Kyrgyzstan by the 14th century. By the 15th century, however, there were no longer ecclesiastical structures of any church caring for what is today Kyrgyzstan and Islam gained the ascendancy amongst the Kyrgyz people.
The 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution, also known as the Second Kyrgyz Revolution, the Melon Revolution, the April Events or officially as the People's April Revolution, began in April 2010 with the ousting of Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in the capital Bishkek. It was followed by increased ethnic tension involving Kyrgyz people and Uzbeks in the south of the country, which escalated in June 2010. The violence ultimately led to the consolidation of a new parliamentary system in Kyrgyzstan.
Dr. Hersh Chadha OPM, ARPS, discovered he was happiest when alone, traveling with his camera and thoughts. To date he has visited 92 countries and 279 cities.
Galima Bukharbaeva is an Uzbek journalist known for her reporting on state authoritarianism and her eyewitness account of the 2005 Andijan massacre.
Cholpon Orozobekova is a prominent Kyrgyz journalist, mediapreneur, human rights activist and an analyst on Central Asian issues currently based in Geneva.
Aida Kasymalieva is a Kyrgyz journalist and politician who has been deputy speaker of the Supreme Council since December 2018. She has been an advocate for women's rights in the context of domestic violence, bride kidnapping and child marriages within her country.
Zholbors Zhorobekov is a Kyrgyz political scientist. For most of his career he was a professor at the Jusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, and from 1995 to 1999 he was an acting member of the Kyrgyz parliament. He was also the head of the State Commission on Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic. He has been a provost of the Bishkek Humanities University, and chair of the Social Science and Humanities Department of the Kyrgyz State Law Academy.
Nur Omarov was a Kyrgyz political scientist. He was a professor at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University.
