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Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially Kyrgyz Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 5,146,000), c.76,600 sq mi (198,400 sq km), central Asia. It borders on China in the southeast, on Kazakhstan in the north, on Uzbekistan in the west, and on Tajikistan in the southwest. Bishkek , the capital, and Osh are the chief c...
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Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Frunze , city (1993 est. pop. 640,700), capital of Kyrgyzstan, on the Chu River and on a branch of the Turkistan-Siberia RR. It is a rail and highway hub and the industrial and cultural center of Kyrgyzstan. Its meatpacking and agricultural machine plants were among the largest...
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Alay
Alay or Alai , mountain range, SW Kyrgyzstan. A western branch of the Tian Shan system, it extends c.200 mi (320 km) W from the Chinese border and rises to c.19,280 ft (5,880 m) in its western portion. The Alay valley, south of the range, is a fertile elevated (c.9,800 ft/2,990 m) grassland used...
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Turkistan
Turkistan or Turkestan , historic region of central Asia. Western, or Russian, Turkistan extended from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Chinese frontier in the east and from the Aral-Irtysh watershed in the north to the borders of Iran and Afghanistan in the south. Eastern, or Chinese, Turkist...
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Tian Shan
Tian Shan or Tien Shan [Chin.,=celestial mountains], mountain system of central Asia, extending c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) from the Pamir Mts., Tajikistan, NE through the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, NW China, to the China-Mongolia border; Pobeda Peak (24,406 ft/7,439 m), on the Kyrgyzstan-Ch...
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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan or Kazakstan , officially Republic of Kazakhstan, republic (2005 est. pop. 15,186,000), c.1,050,000 sq mi (2,719,500 sq km), central Asia. It borders on Siberian Russia in the north, China in the east, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan in the south, and the Caspian Sea and Euro...
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Taraz
Taraz , formerly Zhambyl , city (1993 est. pop. 317,000), in S Kazakhstan on the border with Kyrgyzstan, on the Taraz (Talas) River and the Turkistan-Siberia RR. Industries include food processing and the manufacture of chemicals, footwear, and leather goods. Founded in the 7th cent., it was call...
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Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), community of independent nations established by a treaty signed at Minsk, Belarus, on Dec. 8, 1991, by the heads of state of Russia , Belarus , and Ukraine . Between Dec. 8 and Dec. 21, the three original signatories were joined by Armenia , Azerbaijan...
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Xinjiang
Xinjiang or Sinkiang [Chinese,=new frontier], officially Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Mandarin Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu ), autonomous region (1994 est. pop. 16,050,000), c.637,000 sq mi (1,650,257 sq km), NW China. It is also called Chinese Turkistan or Eastern Turkistan. Xinjiang is border...
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Islam
Islam , [Arab.,=submission to God], world religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad. Founded in the 7th cent., Islam is the youngest of the three monotheistic world religions (with Judaism and Christianity). An adherent to Islam is a Muslim [Arab.,=one who submits].
Believers Worldwide
Ther...
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