KYRGYZSTAN IN FIGURES

Longitude
Bishkek — 74° East Similar to New Delhi

Latitude
Bishkek — 42° North Similar to Istanbul, Madrid, New York

Elevation
Highest  — 7437 m  — Peak Pobeda

Lowest  — 401 m  — The Laikal district in the Ferghana Valley

Average  — 2750 m

Bishkek  — 750 m

93% of Kyrgyzstan higher than 1500 m above sea level, and 41% above 3000m.

Area
198,500 sq. km (76641 sq. miles)

Similar to England and roughly equal to the combined areas of Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

925 km East —West: 453 km North —South

The total length of Kyrgyzstan"s borders is 4508 km.

Neighbouring Countries
China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan

Population
4.77 million

density  — 24 per sq. km 38%  — urban, 62%  — rural

51%  — female, 49%  — male

Approximately one sixth of the population lives in Bishkek.

The Kyrgyz make up just over 50% of the population  — of the over 70 other nationalities the major ones are:

Russians (17%), Uzbeks (13%), Ukranians, Germans and Tartars.

40% of the population is under 14 years old and 8% of the population is over 60 years old

Shortly after Independence there was large —scale emigration of ethic Russians and Germans in response to the decline of industrial job opportunities and growing Kyrgyz nationalism.

Religion
Muslim (Sunni), and Russian Orthodox

Languages
Official  — Kyrgyz. In common use  — Russian, (especially in the capital and Northern region)

Life Expectancy
In 1995: Male: 63.9  — Female: 72.6

The Kyrgyz people worldwide
In the summer of 1992 the first Kyrgyz Kurultai, or gathering, took place in Bishkek, and representatives of Kyrgyz communities from various parts of the world (including Australia Saudi Arabia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, China, Afghanistan and the US) attended. More than 300,000 Kyrgyz live in other parts of the former Soviet Union, and 150,000 in China, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Smaller communities can be found in Mongolia, India, Turkey and Jordan. In China the Kyrgyz even have their own Kyzyl —Su autonomous district.

There is a tradition amongst some Kyrgyz that says that long ago some of their ancestors crossed the Bering Land Bridge to become the forefathers of today"s Native Americans.

Mountains
About 80% of the land is mountainous, including the Central Tian Shan, the Kyrgyz Mountains, and the Alai Range of the Parmirs.

The name Tian Shan is the Chinese name. The Kyrgyz name for these mountains is Tenir —Too, (or "Celestial Mountains")

Rivers
There are more than 40,000 rivers and streams in Kyrgyzstan, with a combined length of roughly 150,000 km and draining some 47 cubic km of water a year.

The Chui in the North which dissipates into the deserts of Kazakhstan;

The Naryn — Kyrgyzstans most important river, flows into the Ferghana valley where it converges with the other major river of the republic, the Kara —Darya. Together they flow as the Syr Darya (the second longest river in Central Asia, its name in ancient times was the Jaxartes) and drain about half the country and flow to the small Aral Sea (which separated from the large Aral Sea in 1988). Used for hydroelectric power — there are 7 power stations on the river;

Lakes
There are 1923 lakes of different sizes in the republic.

Issyk Kul — Fourth deepest lake in the world (almost 700 m); Second largest mountain lake in the world; at 1600 m above sea level. The movement of Tectonic plates formed other large lakes, such as Son —Kul and Chatyrkul. Sary —Chelek is a very famous beautiful lake. Lake Maerzbacher appears during the summer, and "icebergs" up to 15 metres high float from side to side, then it "disappears".

Cultivated land
Only 7% of the land area is arable

Irrigation
More than half the land —cultivated area is irrigated.

Glaciers
Glaciers, (almost 8000 of them), and permanent snow cover about 30% of the total land area. The most famous is the Inylchek Glacier. The contain some 580 billion cubic metres of water  — enough to cover the whole of Kyrgyzstan to a depth of 3m.

Forests
Forests cover 3.5% of the total land area.

Mineral Resources
Minerals found in Kyrgyzstan include: antimony, coal, gold, iron, lead, mercury, natural gas, petroleum, sulphur, tin, tungsten, uranium and zinc.

Also, there are deposits of: clay, granite, gypsum, limestone, marble and sandy gravel deposits.

Wildlife
With over 80 species of mammals, 330 species of birds, 50 species of fish and about 30 of reptiles and amphibians, Kyrgyzstan has a rich and diverse wildlife.

Examples include: badgers, bears, camels, eagles, foxes, gophers, gulls, hawks, horses, lynxes, marmots, martens, mountain goats, porcupines, raven, sheep, snow leopards, Turkmen rats, wolves, woodpeckers, yak

Hunting and hawking take place in the mountain regions (2000 —3000m asl).