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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Kyrgyzstan
Index
In 1993 the population of Kyrgyzstan was estimated at 4.46 million, of
whom 56.5 percent were ethnic Kyrgyz, 18.8 percent were Russians, 12.9
percent were Uzbeks, 2.1 percent were Ukrainians, and 1.0 percent were
Germans (see table 4, Appendix). The rest of the population was composed
of about eighty other nationalities. Of some potential political
significance are the Uygurs. That group numbers only about 36,000 in
Kyrgyzstan, but about 185,000 live in neighboring Kazakstan. The Uygurs
are also the majority population in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
of China, whose population is about 15 million, located to the northeast
of Kyrgyzstan. In November 1992, the Uygurs in Kyrgyzstan attempted to
form a party calling for establishment of an independent Uygurstan that
also would include the Chinese-controlled Uygur territory. The Ministry of
Justice denied the group legal registration.
Between 1989 and 1993, a significant number of non-Kyrgyz citizens left
the republic, although no census was taken in the early 1990s to quantify
the resulting balances among ethnic groups. A considerable portion of this
exodus consisted of Germans repatriating to Germany, more than 8,000 of
whom left in 1992 alone. According to reports, more than 30,000 Russians
left the Bishkek area in the early 1990s, presumably for destinations
outside Kyrgyzstan. In 1992 and 1993, refugees from the civil war in
Tajikistan moved into southern Kyrgyzstan. In 1989 about 64,000 Kyrgyz
were living in Tajikistan, and about 175,000 were living in Uzbekistan.
Reliable estimates of how many of these people subsequently returned to
Kyrgyzstan have not been available.
The Fergana Valley, which eastern Kyrgyzstan shares with Central Asian
neighbors Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, is one of the most densely populated
and agriculturally most heavily exploited regions in Central Asia. As
such, it has been the point of bitter contention among the three adjoining
states, both before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Members of
the various ethnic groups who have inhabited the valley for centuries have
managed to get along largely because they occupy slightly different
economic niches. The sedentary Uzbeks and Tajiks traditionally have farmed
lower-lying irrigated land while the nomadic Kyrgyz have herded in the
mountains. However, the potential for ethnic conflict is ever present.
Because the borders of the three countries zigzag without evident regard
for the nationality of the people living in the valley, many residents
harbor strong irredentist feelings, believing that they should more
properly be citizens of a different country. Few Europeans live in the
Fergana Valley, but about 552,000 Uzbeks, almost the entire population of
that people in Kyrgyzstan, reside there in crowded proximity with about
1.2 million Kyrgyz.
Data as of March 1996
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