Kyrgyzstan

Where the name comes from

Kyrgyzstan combines Kyrgyz with Persian -stan, “land”; Kyrgyz is traditionally read as “forty tribes”, though its origin is uncertain.

First people

Kyrgyz history links Siberia’s Yenisei region with later migrations to the Tian Shan mountains.¹

Known for

Kyrgyzstan is known for its Manas epic, some versions of which run to more than half a million lines, and for Issyk-Kul, a huge mountain lake that never freezes.^2,3,4

Outside contact

Russia conquered Kokand in 1876, taking the remaining southern Kyrgyz lands.¹

The modern country

A Soviet republic followed in 1936, and independence in 1991.¹