Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia, lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and largest city of the country. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east and southeast. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's 7 million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians.
Tian Shan Mountains in East Kyrgyzstan
Statue of Manas in Bishkek
Petroglyphs of local sheep, Sary Kamysh
Silk road caravansarai utilized during the Islamic Golden Age
Central Asia is a subregion of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the southwest and Eastern Europe in the northwest to Western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan" in both respective native languages and most other languages.
On the south shore of Issyk Kul lake, Issyk Kul Region
The Eurasian Steppe in Kazakhstan has a semi-arid, continental climate
Early Indo-European migrations from the Pontic steppes and across Central Asia. The Andronovo culture existed in Central Asia in the 2nd millennium BC.
The Mongol Empire at its greatest extent. The gray area is the later Timurid Empire.