Languages of Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz Republic. National or official language: Kirghiz. 4,643,000 (1998 UN). Formerly part of USSR. Capital: Bishkek (Biskeck). 76,642 square miles. Literacy rate 99%. Also includes Armenian 3,285, North Azerbaijani 17,207, Bashkir 3,250, Belarusan 7,676, Chechen, Chuvash 2,092, Crimean Turkish 38,000, Dargwa 1,419, Erzya 5,390, Georgian 1,002, Standard German 101,057, Kalmyk-Oirat, Karachay-Balkar 1,973, Karakalpak, Kazakh 37,000, Korean 18,000, Kurmanji 14,000, Lak 257, Lezgi 1,599, Lithuanian 430, Halh Mongolian, Romanian 1,375, Russian 1,408,800, Tajiki 34,000, Tatar 70,000, Turkish, Turkmen 352, Ukrainian 109,000, Uyghur 37,000, Northern Uzbek 657,440. Information mainly from T. Sebeok 1963. Muslim, Jewish (7,680), Christian. Data accuracy estimate: B. The number of languages listed for Kyrgyzstan is 2. Of those, both are living languages. Diversity index 0.67.