Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic) is a landlocked country located in Central Asia. Bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, China to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the west, and Tajikistan to the south, it is 198,500 square kilometers (76,620 square miles) in area.

As of July 2003, Kyrgyzstan's population was estimated at 4.9 million. The prominent ethnicities are Kyrgyz (52%) and Russian (18%). The prominent religions are Muslim (75%), followed by Russian Orthodox (20%).

Kyrgyzstan has a history of being inhabited by nomadic clans and ruled by tribal leaders. It was annexed by Russia in the late nineteenth century. In 1926, Kyrgyzstan became the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. It declared full independence from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in August 1991.

Kyrgyzstan moved from a communist Soviet republic into an increasingly authoritarian regime under President Askar Akayev (b. 1944), who was initially elected to office October 28, 1990. Akayev, perceived as corrupt and authoritarian, was deposed in...