Kyrgyzstan Essay, Research Paper

Kyrgyzstan The collapse of the Soviet Union created 15 new states. Thesestates over the last 5 years have all struggled with economic, ethnic,political and territorial problems left to them by the Soviet empire. Kyrgyzstan, is a former Soviet Republic (FSR) located in the CentralAsia. This paper will give a statistical representation of the state,Kyrgyzstan. The statistical data will reflect the basic geography of thesubject country containing population, size and location. Thisminiature report will also contain brief descriptions of currentpolitical and economic situations. Included in the current informationsection of this report, is an outlook for possible near future eventsconcerning both political stability and economy. Kyrgyzstan is located in the southern area of the former SovietUnion. Its boarders are defined by China to the east (& South),Kazakhstan to the north (& Northwest), Uzbekistan directly west andTajikistan to the south (& Southwest). Kyrgyzstan features 76,641square miles of land, which consisted of .9% of the former USSR’sland-mass. The land is primarily used for pastoral purposes. Only 7%of the farmable land is cultivated. The population is approximated to be 4,258,000 people (seeFigure A). The Kyrgyzstan populace has experienced a 25.3% growth inpopulation during the last 12 years (Population Growth Data from1979-1991), and a birthrate at 29.1/1000. Population distribution is61.9% in rural areas and 38.1% in urban centers. City & PopulationThe top 4 cities are: Bishkek (formally Frunze) 616,000(Capitol) Osh 213,000 Przhevalsk 64,000 Naryn 26,000 In June of 1990 ethnic violence arose in the city of Oh. Kyrgyzclashed with Uzbeks resulting in a bloody conflict which was eventuallysuppressed by Soviet Interior Ministry troops. This clash outlined political and economic problems present in Kyrgyzstan even when the USSRwas still existent. These ethnic clashes in Oh served to cementpolitical groups who were organizing outside of the communist partyduring Perestroika. It also gave voice to the large economic problemsin central Kyrgyzstan. The “head of state” and leader of the communist party inKyrgyzstan was Absamat Masaliev. Masaliev invoked policies which wererigid and served to enhance the existing social problems. Because ofthe decline present in the government’s abilities to meet the

expectations of the populace, the allowances granted by the Perestroikapolice and ethnic tensions, communist authority in Kyrgyzstan waschallenged. The communist party’s rule came to an end in October ofthat same year. A liberal democratic reform movement had sweeped the countryand Askar Akaev was elected by a coalition vote in the Supreme Soviet(Legislature of Kyrgyzstan), resulting in the removal of Masaliev fromthe Presidency. Askar Akaev is a liberal politician (former head of theAcademy for Sciences) and represented reform in the form ofprivatization and democracy. The transformation of government fromcommunism to a liberal democracy occurred smoothly without violentuprisings or revolution. However, Akaev has opponents on both sides ofthe political spectrum. Masaliev, though not the president, is stillthe head of the communist party and very powerful. On the right, thegovernment has to deal with the potential time bomb of ethnicity andnationalism. The current political agenda for the reform government containsthese issues: economic stimulation, development of diplomatic relationswith other states, privatization of property, a language purificationissue and environmental concerns. These issues are all presently beingaddress and codified in the formation of the new constitution (onlyeconomics, privatization of property and industry and language areaddressed below). The industrial sector of the Kyrgyzstan economy is primarilyowned by residing Russians in the capital, Bishkek. This is a point ofcontention in the on-going debates of land and industrial privatizationbetween the nationalists and liberals in Kyrgyzstan. Though Kyrgyzstanis primarily an agrarian economy, an alarming amount of tension ispresent concerning foreign owned industry. Language purification standards are being debated in the KyrgyzParliament. In the 1950’s the Duma passed a number of resolutions inattempts of transforming Soviet Republic languages by using a Cyrillicbased alphabet. The adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet fundamentallychanged the Central Asian Turkic based languages. This served in a dualpurpose of dividing the Central Asian peoples by accenting theirlanguage differences and interrupting communication. The debate arguesthat old style Kyrgyz is to be re-instated thus assuring ethnic andlingual identity. Thus, statistical data has been reproduced to highlightpopulation allocations and ethnicity. This miniature report has alsodiscussed pertinent issues from both a historical analytical perspectiveand a current political and economic outlook present in Kyrgyzstan. The previously stated issues that are currently on the floor of theKyrgyz Legislature, describe possible outcomes which will directlyaffect the stability of Kyrgyzstan.