Kyrgyzstan was originally settled in 201 BC by nomadic people of Turkic descent. In the 12th century, Islam became the primary religion in the area. By the 15th and 16th centuries the Kyrgyz people settled most of what is today the Kyrgyz Republic.
In 1876, Kyrgyzstan was taken over by the Russian Empire. Many Kyrgyz people migrated to China, the Pamir mountains, or Afghanistan. After the fall of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union took over. In 1991 Kyrgyzstan became a fully independent country. The first president was Askar Akaev who ran the country for 15 years. He was ousted in 2005. Since then the nation has been an area of unrest.
The Geography of Kyrgyzstan
Total Size: 198,500 square km
Size Comparison: slightly smaller than South Dakota
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
