Book Chapter
Kyrgyzstan

Since the start of the transition to the market, the Central Asian Republic (CAR) of Kyrgyzstan has cemented its reputation with the international community as a consistently liberal economic reformer and an upholder of democratic government in the southern part of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Kyrgyzstan is a small country with a population of only 4.6 million spread out over an area of 199,900 sq km. It borders China in the East, Tajikistan in the South, Kazakhstan in the North and Uzbekistan in the West. With a GDP per capita of US$2250 in 1997 - adjusted for purchasing power parity - Kyrgyzstan falls into the range of the least developed countries.