Kyrgyzstan Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

water pollution; many people get their water directly from contaminated streams and wells; as a result, water-borne diseases are prevalent; increasing soil salinity from faulty irrigation practices; air pollution due to rapid increase of traffic

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 18.12 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 9.79 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 4.47 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

dry continental to polar in high Tien Shan Mountains; subtropical in southwest (Fergana Valley); temperate in northern foothill zone

Land use

agricultural land: 55.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 6.7% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 48.3% (2018 est.)

forest: 5.1% (2018 est.)

other: 39.5% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 37.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.05% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0.21% of GDP (2018 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,113,300 tons (2015 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

salt water lake(s): Ozero Issyk-Kul 6,240 sq km
note - second largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea; second highest mountain lake after Lake Titicaca; it is an endorheic mountain basin; although surrounded by snow capped mountains it never freezes

Major rivers (by length in km)

Syr Darya river source (shared with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan [m] ) - 3,078 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Tarim Basin (1,152,448 sq km), (Aral Sea basin) Amu Darya (534,739 sq km), Syr Darya (782,617 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 224 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 336 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 7.1 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

23.618 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Kyrgyzstan on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kyrgyzstan 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kyrgyzstan 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.