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KYRGYZSTAN

@Kyrgyzstan:Geography

Location: Central Asia, west of China

Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian
States

Area:
total area: 198,500 sq km
land area: 191,300 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than South Dakota

Land boundaries: total 3,878 km, China 858 km, Kazakhstan 1,051 km,
Tajikistan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,099 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none; landlocked

International disputes: territorial dispute with Tajikistan on
southwestern boundary in Isfara Valley area

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

Terrain: peaks of Tien Shan rise to 7,000 meters, and associated
valleys and basins encompass entire nation

Natural resources: abundant hydroelectric potential; 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: 7%
permanent crops: NEGL%
meadows and pastures: 42%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 51%

Irrigated land: 10,320 sq km (1990)

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
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: NA

Note: landlocked

@Kyrgyzstan:People

Population: 4,769,877 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 37% (female 868,108; male 888,479)
15-64 years: 57% (female 1,377,221; male 1,345,990)
65 years and over: 6% (female 185,807; male 104,272) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.5% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 25.97 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 7.32 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 45.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.13 years
male: 63.92 years
female: 72.56 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.31 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Kyrgyz(s)
adjective: Kyrgyz

Ethnic divisions: Kirghiz 52.4%, Russian 21.5%, Uzbek 12.9%, Ukrainian
2.5%, German 2.4%, other 8.3%

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