other deposits of nepheline, mercury, bismuth, lead,
and zinc

Land use:
arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 44%
forests and woodland: 4%
other: 45% (1993 est.)
note: Kyrgyzstan has the world's largest natural growth walnut forest

Irrigated land: 9,000 sq km (1993 est.)

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: Biodiversity, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography-note: landlocked

@Kyrgyzstan:People

Population: 4,522,281 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 36% (male 817,229; female 800,248)
15-64 years: 58% (male 1,285,520; female 1,337,259)
65 years and over: 6% (male 104,105; female 177,920) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.37% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 22.03 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 8.65 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -9.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.58 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 74.76 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63.77 years
male: 59.45 years
female: 68.3 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.68 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Kyrgyzstani(s)
adjective: Kyrgyzstani

Ethnic groups: Kirghiz 52.4%, Russian 18%, Uzbek 12.9%, Ukrainian
2.5%, German 2.4%, other 11.8%

Religions: Muslim 75%, Russian Orthodox 20%, other 5%

Languages: Kirghiz (Kyrgyz)-official language, Russian-official
language
note: in March 1996, the Kyrgyzstani legislature amended the
constitution to make Russian an official language, along with Kirghiz,
in territories and work places where Russian-speaking citizens
predominate

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: 99%
female: 96% (1989 est.)

@Kyrgyzstan:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Kyrgyz Republic
conventional short form: Kyrgyzstan
local long form: Kyrgyz Respublikasy
local short form: none
former: Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic

Data