Kyrgyzstan Essay, Research Paper
The collapse of the Soviet Union created 15 new states. These
states 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 Central
Asia. This paper will give a statistical representation of the state,
Kyrgyzstan. The statistical data will reflect the basic geography of the
subject country containing population, size and location. This
miniature report will also contain brief descriptions of current
political and economic situations. Included in the current information
section of this report, is an outlook for possible near future events
concerning both political stability and economy.
Kyrgyzstan is located in the southern area of the former Soviet
Union. Its boarders are defined by China to the east (& South),
Kazakhstan to the north (& Northwest), Uzbekistan directly west and
Tajikistan to the south (& Southwest). Kyrgyzstan features 76,641
square miles of land, which consisted of .9% of the former USSR’s
land-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 (see
Figure A). The Kyrgyzstan populace has experienced a 25.3% growth in
population during the last 12 years (Population Growth Data from
1979-1991), and a birthrate at 29.1/1000. Population distribution is
61.9% in rural areas and 38.1% in urban centers.
City & Population
The 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. Kyrgyz
clashed with Uzbeks resulting in a bloody conflict which was eventually
suppressed by Soviet Interior Ministry troops. This clash outlined
political and economic problems present in Kyrgyzstan even when the USSR
was still existent. These ethnic clashes in Oh served to cement
political groups who were organizing outside of the communist party
during Perestroika. It also gave voice to the large economic problems
in central Kyrgyzstan.
The "head of state" and leader of the communist party in
Kyrgyzstan was Absamat Masaliev. Masaliev invoked policies which were
rigid and served to enhance the existing social problems. Because of
the decline present in the government’s abilities to meet the
expectations of the populace, the allowances granted by the Perestroika
police and ethnic tensions, communist authority in Kyrgyzstan was
challenged. The communist party’s rule came to an end in October of
that same year.
A liberal democratic reform movement had sweeped the country
and Askar Akaev was elected by a coalition vote in the Supreme Soviet
(Legislature of Kyrgyzstan), resulting in the removal of Masaliev from
the Presidency. Askar Akaev is a liberal politician (former head of the
Academy for Sciences) and represented reform in the form of
privatization and democracy. The transformation of government from
communism to a liberal democracy occurred smoothly without violent
uprisings or revolution. However, Akaev has opponents on both sides of
the political spectrum. Masaliev, though not the president, is still
the head of the communist party and very powerful. On the right, the
government has to deal with the potential time bomb of ethnicity and
nationalism.
The current political agenda for the reform government contains
these issues: economic stimulation, development of diplomatic relations
with other states, privatization of property, a language purification
issue and environmental concerns. These issues are all presently being
address and codified in the formation of the new constitution (only
economics, privatization of property and industry and language are
addressed below).
The industrial sector of the Kyrgyzstan economy is primarily
owned by residing Russians in the capital, Bishkek. This is a point of
contention in the on-going debates of land and industrial privatization
between the nationalists and liberals in Kyrgyzstan. Though Kyrgyzstan
is primarily an agrarian economy, an alarming amount of tension is
present concerning foreign owned industry.
Language purification standards are being debated in the Kyrgyz
Parliament. In the 1950’s the Duma passed a number of resolutions in
attempts of transforming Soviet Republic languages by using a Cyrillic
based alphabet. The adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet fundamentally
changed the Central Asian Turkic based languages. This served in a dual
purpose of dividing the Central Asian peoples by accenting their
language differences and interrupting communication. The debate argues
that old style Kyrgyz is to be re-instated thus assuring ethnic and
lingual identity.
Thus, statistical data has been reproduced to highlight
population allocations and ethnicity. This miniature report has also
discussed pertinent issues from both a historical analytical perspective
and a current political and economic outlook present in Kyrgyzstan.
The previously stated issues that are currently on the floor of the
Kyrgyz Legislature, describe possible outcomes which will directly
affect the stability of Kyrgyzstan.
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