Bordering Kazakstan to the north, China to the east, Uzbekistan to the west, and Tajikistan to the south, Kyrgyzstan is a presidential republic that declared independence in 1991, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its first elected...

This article is part of the series: Politics and government...

THE TOPPLING of President Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan is being compared, too quickly, to the popular movements in Georgia and Ukraine that replaced corrupt authoritarian regimes with democratically elected governments. The desperately poor people of Kyrgyzstan deserve a better government than they have had,...

Last December this little country tucked up against China's western border suddenly became an important American ally by providing a base for 2,000 U.S. and allied troops waging the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. It was an abrupt change in status for a new...