Kyrgyzstan Environment - 2024

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

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.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.21% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 37.58 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 9.79 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 4.47 megatons (2020 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: 220 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 340 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 7.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

23.62 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)