an 1,051 km, Tajikistan 870
km, Uzbekistan 1,099 km

Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)

Climate:
dry continental to polar in high Tien Shan; subtropical in
southwest (Fergana Valley); temperate in northern foothill zone

Terrain:
peaks of Tien Shan and associated valleys and basins encompass
entire nation

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Kara-Daryya (Karadar'ya) 132 m
highest point: Jengish Chokusu (Pik Pobedy) 7,439 m

Natural resources:
abundant hydropower; significant deposits of gold and rare earth
metals; locally exploitable coal, oil, and natural gas; other
deposits of nepheline, mercury, bismuth, lead, and zinc

Land use:
arable land: 6.55%
permanent crops: 0.28%
other: 93.17%
note: Kyrgyzstan has the world's largest natural growth walnut
forest (2005)

Irrigated land:
10,720 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards:
NA

Environment - current issues:
water pollution; many people get their water directly from
contaminated streams and wells; as a result, water-borne diseases
are prevalent; increasing soil salinity from faulty irrigation
practices

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone
Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
landlocked; entirely mountainous, dominated by the Tien Shan range;
many tall peaks, glaciers, and high-altitude lakes

People Kyrgyzstan

Population:
5,213,898 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 30.9% (male 821,976/female 789,687)
15-64 years: 62.9% (male 1,607,396/female 1,669,612)
65 years and over: 6.2% (male 126,847/female 198,380) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 23.6 years
male: 22.8 years
female: 24.5 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.32% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
22.8 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
7.08 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
-2.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 34.49 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 39.72 deaths/1,000 live bi