Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, one of former Soviet Union Republics, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China.

In the early 19th century, the southern part of what is today Kyrgyzstan came under the control of the Khanate of Kokand. The territory, then known in Russian as "Kirgizia", was formally incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1876.

Soviet power was initially established in the region in 1919 and the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was created within the Russian SFSR. On December 5, 1936, the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a full republic of the Soviet Union.

In December 1990, the Kyrgyz Supreme Soviet voted to change the republic's name to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (In 1993, it became the Kyrgyz Republic.) and voted declaring independence from the Soviet Union on August 31, 1991.