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Kyrgyzstan
Ethnic Groups
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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