Kyrgyzstan History

History
Though long inhabited by a succession of independent tribes and clans, Kyrgyzstan has periodically fallen under foreign domination and attained sovereignty as a nation-state only after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Since independence, the sovereign state has officially been a unitary parliamentary republic, although it continues to endure ethnic conflicts, revolts, economic troubles, transitional governments and political conflict. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's 6 million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. Kyrgyz is closely related to other Turkic languages, although Russian remains widely spoken and is an official language, a legacy of a century of Russification. The majority of the population are non-denominational Muslims.

Timeline
1876 - The eastern part of what is today Kyrgyzstan, was ceded to the Russian Empire through the Treaty of Tarbagatai 1916 - The rebellion against Russian rule in Central Asia caused many Kyrgyz later to migrate to China 1919 - Soviet power was initially established in the region 1936 - The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a constituent Union Republic of the Soviet Union 1989 - In the Soviet census, ethnic Kyrgyz made up only 22% of the residents of the northern city of now Bishkek, while more than 60% were Russians, Ukrainians, and people from other Slavic nations 1990 - The Supreme Soviet voted to change the republic's name to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. 1991 - Following the vote in 1990, the Supreme Soviet vote declared independence from the Soviet Union as the Republic of Kyrgyzstan

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