Kyrgyzstan is a small and very mountainous state in central Asia. It is the least urbanized of the former Soviet republics (the rural population is growing faster than the towns) and was among the last to develop its own cultural nationalism. Its increasingly autocratic government tries to steer between Kyrgyz nationalist pressures and ensuring that the minority Russians are not alienated, since they tend to possess the skills necessary to run a market-based economy.

Like other former Soviet republics, Kyrgyzstan has witnessed the rise of militant nationalism. Relations are most strained with the large Uzbek minority. The preference given to Kyrgyz in the political system and in particular in the land laws, which exclude all others from full title, has aggravated ethnic tensions. The trend in politics is toward greater Islamization, which is linking religion and race issues more closely and adding pressure on "foreigners," particularly Russians, to leave.

Since 1989 a high birthrate has enabled the Kyrgyz to resume their position as the main ethnic group, replacing the Russian community which until recently controlled the economy. However, the government moved to stem the tide of Russian emigration by declaring Russian an official language with full equal status with effect from 2000.

Strengths

Agricultural self-sufficiency. Private land ownership since 2000. Gold and mercury exports. Hydropower potential.

Weaknesses

Dominant state and collective farming mentality. Sharp decline since breakup of USSR, on which it depended for trade and supplies. Chronic inflation.

In 1991 Kyrgyzstan was the first former Soviet republic to ban the Communist Party. It was revived in 1992 as the Party of Communists of Kyrgyzstan. Relations with the large Uzbek minority have remained calm since serious clashes in 1990.

President Akayev has been accused of fostering a personality cult. Already in power under the Soviet regime before independence he was reelected in 1995 and in 2000, after objections to a third term were overruled by the Constitutional Court.

Accusations of fraud during the 2000 parliamentary and presidential elections destroyed the regime's already tarnished democratic credentials. The main opposition leader Felix Kulov was imprisoned just weeks before the presidential poll. Akayev's free-market economic policies have shown few tangible results.

Kyrgyzstan is working to reduce its dependence on Russia. Turkey is developing close links based on ethnic similarities and aimed at restraining Iranian influence. Relations with Uzbekistan, which allegedly supports some of the antigovernment forces in Kyrgyzstan, are tense, although in 2000 both countries joined with Tajikistan to combat Islamist militants in the region.

In 1992, a national army was set up and a defense treaty was signed with five other CIS states. The army is weak and not influential in politics.

Kyrgyzstan has small quantities of commercially exploitable coal, oil, and gas, and great hydroelectric power potential. Energy policy, which relies on Western aid and technology, is primarily aimed at developing these further in order to reduce dependence on supplies from Russia, and eventually to achieve self-sufficiency in energy.

The major problem is the salination of the soil caused by excessive irrigation of cotton crops. Kyrgyzstan has a poor record in limiting industrial pollution.

Kyrgyzstan does not have the funds to improve its poor mountain road network.

Kyrgyzstan has one of the least developed public health systems in central Asia.

Replacing Russian as the main teaching language is proving an enormous task. Russian is likely to survive at tertiary level, as the Kyrgyz language lacks key technical and scientific terms.

Ethnic tension fuels violence. The narcotics trade flourishes. A 1998 moratorium on the death penalty was extended in 2002 for a further year.

In 2000, almost 90% of the population were estimated as living in poverty. The old Communist Party nomenklatura are the main beneficiaries of privatization.

Tourism is undeveloped; most visitors are on business or working on multilateral aid projects. Tourism promotion centers on the country's position on the Silk Road.

The Kyrgyz first developed a recognizable ethnic consciousness in the late 18th century.

• 1860s Expansion of Russian Empire into Kyrgyz lands.
• 1924–1991 Incorporated in USSR.
• 1995 New constitution adopted.
• 2000 Akayev reelected.
• 2002 Government resigns after police shoot demonstrators.