The Kyrgyz Republic
The Kyrgyz Republic, also known as Kyrgyzstan, is a landlocked mountainous country in Central Asia covering some 191,300 kilometres and was formerly part of the USSR. The bordering countries are Kazakhstan to the north, China to the east, Uzbekistan to the west and Tajikistan to the south.
The Republic became independent in August 1991 and adopted a constitution in 1993. On 21 December 1991, Kyrgyzstan joined the Commonwealth of Independent States. The country joined the UN and the IMF in 1992.
Bishkek is the capital city and is situated in the northern part of the country with Osh, the second largest city, located in the south. The estimated (2008) population of the Kyrgyz Republic is 5,356,869 with a growth rate of 1.3% and is predominantly Muslim. It is a multi-ethnic state comprising Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Russians, Ukrainians and Germans, and a small number of Uighurs, Dungans (Chinese Muslims) and Koreans. The state language is Kyrgyz, while Russian has had the status of an official language since 1996.
Following what was considered flawed parliamentary elections held in February and March opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiev served as interim President and Prime Minister for a period of three months. The July 10th elections resulted with Bakiev elected as President. In an October 2007 referendum, voters approved a new constitution and election laws proposed by President Bakiev allegedly handing more power to the Parliament and created a balance of power. In the Parliamentary elections in December 2007, Bakiev`s party, Ak Zhol, gained a clear victory. On 23 July 2009 elections for the President were held in the Kyrgyz Republic. Bakiev was elected for a second term in office with 76.43 percent of the votes. The next closest candidate Almazbek Atambaev was only able to gain 8,39 percent of the votes.
Mining in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan`s natural resources include significant deposits of gold, rare earth metals, and other minerals. Also present are deposits of coal, uranium, mercury, antimony, nepheline, bismuth, lead, and zinc. Exploitable but small reserves of oil and natural gas also exist.
The Kyrgyz Republic has a long tradition of mining preceding the Soviet era and, at present, mining is one of the mainstays of the local economy. It is the third largest gold producer in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The rocks of the Tien Shan gold belt that stretches through Central Asia and primarily Kyrgyzstan contain numerous large gold deposits including Kumtor, the Kyrgyz Republic’s largest gold mine and Muruntau in Uzbekistan, one of the largest gold deposits in the world.
The mining infrastructure in the Kyrgyz Republic is well established, with a readily available skilled mining labour force. Although gold mining is acknowledged to be crucial to the country’s development, the gold mining industry is relatively under-developed.
On 15 August 2007 the Kyrgyz government approved a new Regulation on subsoil use licensing. The Regulation entered into force on 9 September 2007.
On 12 June 2009 a Decree was signed by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic entitled “On interim measures to be taken on reforming control of the mining sector of the Kyrgyz Republic”. The introductory clause says; “The studies carried out on the Kyrgyz mining sector demonstrated a fairly low level of mineral deposit development. There are a great number of ready-to-develop mineral deposits in the resource base of the country. Development of those deposits will lead to significant economic returns in the mid-term. To provide qualitative development of the sector it is necessary to carry out a deep advanced reform in the mining sector”.
Reform is to include changes in the following areas:
- Legislation, via improvement of the existing legislation and enactment of new laws to form a complete mining legislation.
- Simplification of licensing, approval and permission systems for subsoil users.
- Creation of the State reserve of mineral lands, reforming of geological infrastructure, creation of mining experts training system;
- Development of the mining management system based on the achieved economic outcome.
In order to establish the conditions for implementation of the reform it was resolved to reorganize the State Agency on Geology and Mineral Resources into the State Agency on Geology and Mining under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and to hand over the following functions:
- Implementation of the state policy in mineral resources field;
- Performance of the state mines inspectorate and supervision of industrial safety (formerly conducted by the GosGorTechNadzor (State Mining Safety Inspection);
- Performance of the state control of compliance with environmental protection legislation (formerly conducted by the State Agency on environment Protection and Forestry).
Under the new draft “Law on Subsoil” there would be three types of licence:
- Prospecting – 5 years, extendable;
- Exploration – 10 years, extendable;
- Exploitation – 20 years, extendable until depletion.
Under the draft “Law on Amendments to the Tax Code of the Kyrgyz Republic” there is a provision for exempting mining companies from paying sales tax.
Industry in Kyrgyzstan
Over half of Kyrgyzstan`s population is engaged in agriculture and herding. There is rich pasturage for sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. Only seven percent of the total land area is cultivated. Most of the cultivated area is irrigated. Cotton, tobacco, potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables, grapes, fruits, and berries are grown; sericulture is carried on, and grain crops are cultivated in the nonirrigated areas.
The nation`s leading exports are cotton, wool, meat, tobacco, metals (particularly gold, mercury, and uranium), natural gas, hydropower, and machinery; the chief imports are oil and gas, machinery and equipment, chemicals, and foodstuffs. The main trading partners are China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kazakhstan.
Industries include small machinery, textiles, food processing, cement, shoes, sawn logs, furniture, electric motors, gold, rare earth metals.
Among natural resources there are abundant hydropower sources; significant deposits of gold and rare earth metals; locally exploitable coal, oil, and natural gas; other deposits of nepheline, mercury, bismuth, lead, and zinc.
Transportation:
Railways: 420 km.
Highways: total: 18,500 km; paved: 16,854 km (including 140 km of expressways); unpaved: 1,646 km.
Terrain & climate
In Kyrgyzstan 93% of the land areas is mountainous. The vast peaks of the Tien-Shan Mountain Range stretch away across the border into the heart of China. The scenery varies between lush, fertile, cultivated valley bottoms to some of the world`s highest peaks - of the 7 peaks in the world over 7.000 m, 3 are in Kyrgyzstan. Peak Jengish Chokusu, at 7,439 m (24,400 feet), is the highest point and is considered by geologists (though not mountaineers) to be the northernmost peak over 7,000 m (23,000 feet) in the world. Glaciers and permanent snowfields cover more than 3 percent of Kyrgyzstan`s total land area. There are fast-flowing mountain rivers full of snow-melt from the high glaciers cutting their way through steep-sided valleys, often tumbling over waterfalls and through beautiful Alpine meadows awash with multi-colored carpets of blooms in spring time. In the South it is still possible to see forests of indigenous walnuts. Over 90 per cent of the country is at an elevation of 1,500 metres or higher giving an average elevation of 2,750 metres above sea level. Lake Issyk-Kul in the north-western Tien Shan is the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan and the second largest mountain lake in the world after Titicaca. The runoff from the mountains is also used for hydro-electricity.
The country`s climate varies by region. The climate is subtropical in the Fergana Valley and temperate in the northern foothill zone with large contrasts of seasonal and round-the-clock temperatures and very mixed precipitations. The lower mountain slopes have a dry continental climate, as they receive hot desert winds from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, whereas the highest mountain elevations have a polar climate. In the valleys, the average daily temperature in July is 28° C (82° F). In January daily averages are as low as -14° C (7° F). Conditions are much colder at high elevations, where in July the average daily temperature is 5° C (41° F) and in January, -28° C (-18° F). Precipitation is between 100 and 500 mm (4 and 20 in) in the valleys and from 180 to 1,000 mm (7 to 40 in) in the mountains.