maller than South Dakota

Land boundaries:

total: 3,051 km
border countries: China 858 km, Kazakhstan 1,224 km, Tajikistan 870
km, Uzbekistan 1,099 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

dry continental to polar in high Tien Shan; subtropical in southwest
(Fergana Valley); temperate in northern foothill zone

Terrain:

peaks of Tien Shan and associated valleys and basins encompass
entire nation

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Kara-Daryya (Karadar'ya) 132 m
highest point: Jengish Chokusu (Pik Pobedy) 7,439 m

Natural resources:

abundant hydropower; significant deposits of gold and rare earth
metals; locally exploitable coal, oil, and natural gas; other
deposits of nepheline, mercury, bismuth, lead, and zinc

Land use:

arable land: 6.55%
permanent crops: 0.28%
other: 93.17%
note: Kyrgyzstan has the world's largest natural-growth walnut
forest (2005)

Irrigated land:

10,720 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

46.5 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 10.08 cu km/yr (3%/3%/94%)
per capita: 1,916 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

NA

Environment - current issues:

water pollution; many people get their water directly from
contaminated streams and wells; as a result, water-borne diseases
are prevalent; increasing soil salinity from faulty irrigation
practices

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone
Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

landlocked; entirely mountainous, dominated by the Tien Shan range;
many tall peaks, glaciers, and high-altitude lakes

People
Kyrgyzstan

Population:

5,356,869 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 29.9% (male 817,369/female 784,782)
15-64 years: 64% (male 1,681,440/female 1,748,222)
65 years and over: 6.1% (male 127,263/female 197,793) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 24.2 years
male: 23.3 years
female: 25 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.38% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

23.31 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.97 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-2.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at