Kyrgyzstan

History

Kyrgyz people settled there in 1685 and were ruled by the Oirats.

Afterwards, The Chinese came in and ruled over the Oirats in 1758.

Afterwards, the Russians took over Kyrgyzstan into their empire in 1876.

Kyrgyzstan gained independence from Russia in 1991 with Askar Akayev as the president.

Food/ culture

The culture of the Kyrgyz borrows a lot of influence from Russians, Persia and Turkey.

The main crops include winter wheat, barley, rice, corn and animal fodders. Others include tobacco, cotton, grapes, berries, potatoes and vegetables.

Kyrgyz popular dishes include Beshbarmak, Ashiam-fu, blini and chuchvara.

Wildlife

The most common wildlife includes wild boars, Siberian ibex, wolves, foxes, porcupines, Turkestan Lynx, Tien Shan Elk, Golden eagle and brown bears.

Annual events/ celebrations/ festivals

The major celebrated festivals include Navroz Spring Festival, National Horse Festival, Independence Day, New Year and Kyrgyz Kochu Festival which celebrates the rituals performed by the nomadic Kyrgyz communities during the autumn migration.

Things to see

Bishkek City has many parks like Ala Archa National Park with wildlife and botanical gardens.

The National Museum of Fine Arts preserves the country’s history and culture.

The snowcapped Tien Shan Mountains encircles Lake Issyk Kul which offers many water sports, resorts and preserves the earliest settlements.

Song-Kul is an alpine lake at Naryn Province at the northern of the country.

Interesting facts

Lake Issyk Kul is the world’s seventh deepest lake, tenth-largest by volume and the second-largest salty lake after the Caspian Sea. It is known as “the Pearl of Central Asia.”

The official languages are Kyrgyz and Russian.

Majority of the inhabitants’ population are Sunni Muslims.

Borders

Kyrgyzstan is bordered on the north by Kazakhstan, on the west and southwest by Uzbekistan, on the southwest by Tajikistan and the east by China.