title: Norm Macdonald

text: Macdonald became a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" during its 2009 and 2010 run. He made frequent appearances on the Internet talk show "Tom Green's House Tonight", and on May 20, 2010, was guest host.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In September 2010, Macdonald was developing a series for Comedy Central that he described as a sports version of "The Daily Show". "Sports Show with Norm Macdonald" premiered April 12, 2011. Nine ordered episodes were broadcast. Macdonald's first stand-up special, "Me Doing Stand-Up", aired on Comedy Central on March 26, 2011. On February 26, 2011, he became a commentator and co-host (with Kara Scott) of the seventh season of the TV series "High Stakes Poker" on Game Show Network.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: Early in 2012, it was reported that Macdonald was developing a talk show for TBS titled "Norm Macdonald is Trending", which would see Macdonald and a team of correspondents covering headlines from pop culture and social media. Clips for the unaired pilot published by "The Washington Post" resemble a sketch comedy show in the vein of "Back to Norm".


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In June 2012, he became the spokesperson for Safe Auto Insurance Company. Along with television and radio commercials, web banners, and outdoor boards, the effort included a series of made-for-web videos. As part of the campaign, the state minimum auto insurance company introduced a new tagline, "Drive Safe, Spend Less."


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In 2013, Macdonald premiered the podcast "Norm Macdonald Live", with sidekick Adam Eget, streaming live weekly on Video Podcast Network and posted later on YouTube. It received positive notices from "USA Today", "Entertainment Weekly", and the "America's Comedy" website while the Independent Film Channel stated that while Macdonald remained "a comedy force to be reckoned with", and "did not quite disappoint," the show was "a bit rough around the edges." The second season of "Norm Macdonald Live" began in May 2014 and the third began in September 2016.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In 2014, Macdonald unsuccessfully campaigned on Twitter to be named the new host of "The Late Late Show" after then-host Craig Ferguson announced he would be leaving. On May 15, 2015, Macdonald was the final stand-up act on the "Late Show with David Letterman": during his set, which ended with him breaking into tears as he told Letterman that he truly loved him, Macdonald included a joke Letterman had told the first time Macdonald had ever seen him during a 1970s appearance on the Canadian talk show "90 Minutes Live", where a 13-year-old Macdonald had been in the studio audience. Also in 2015, Macdonald was a judge for the ninth season of NBC's "Last Comic Standing", joining the previous season's judges, Roseanne Barr and Keenan Ivory Wayans and replacing fellow Canadian Russell Peters from 2014.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In August 2015, he succeeded Darrell Hammond as Colonel Sanders in TV commercials for the KFC chain of fast food restaurants. Macdonald was replaced by Jim Gaffigan in the role by February 2016.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In September 2016, Macdonald's semi-fictional memoir "Based on a True Story" was published by Random House imprint Spiegel & Grau. It debuted at number 15 on the "New York Times" Best Sellers list for hardcover nonfiction, and made number 6 on the Best Sellers list for humour.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: From May 2017, Macdonald moved his comedy to a more reserved, deadpan style. On stage he claimed to have "no opinions" and the minimalist delivery was described as "reduc[ing] gesture and verbiage down to an absurd minimum."


title: Norm Macdonald

text: He would recur as Yaphit, the gelatinous engineer, on the Fox science fiction series "The Orville", whose third season, "New Horizons" premiered June, 2022, and Macdonald appears posthumously.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In March 2018, Netflix announced it had ordered ten episodes of a new talk show entitled "Norm Macdonald Has a Show", hosted by Macdonald. The series premiered on September 14, 2018.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In September 2018, Macdonald sparked controversy after the publication of an interview in which he appeared to criticize aspects of the #MeToo movement and defend friends and fellow comedians Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr. Macdonald's scheduled appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" was subsequently cancelled.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In February 2020, Macdonald launched Loko, a dating app he co-created which relies heavily on video to make first impressions.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: That summer, he had a standup set prepared for a final Netflix special, and he taped his run through, with the intention of filming it professionally to an audience. While the proper filming never materialized, the run-through was released as "" on May 30, 2022. The special was followed with a discussion with Dave Chappelle, Molly Shannon, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, David Spade, and Adam Sandler.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: Macdonald said his influences included the comedians Bob Newhart, Sam Kinison, Rodney Dangerfield, Dennis Miller, and the writers Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: Speaking about Canada's homegrown comedy industry, Macdonald reflected that he would have liked there to have been more opportunity for him to stay in the country early in his career, stating:


title: Norm Macdonald

text: Reflecting on the state of modern comedy, he bemoaned the influx of dramatic actors into comedy and comedians into dramatic acting.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: While judging on "Last Comic Standing", Macdonald criticised a contestant for a joke about the Harry Potter books and the Bible saying "I think if you're going to take on an entire religion, you should at least know what you're talking about" and after pointing out that JK Rowling was a Christian, he quoted her as saying "If you were familiar with the scriptures, you could easily guess the ending of my book."


title: Norm Macdonald

text: During an interview on CTV News with his sister-in-law Joyce Napier, Macdonald talked about his belief that imitation was the highest form of flattery and his distaste for the "low-hanging fruit" of Donald Trump jokes.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In 1988, Macdonald married Connie Vaillancourt, with whom he had a son Dylan, born 1992. The couple separated in April 1999 and divorced later that same year. Macdonald reportedly dated model Elle Macpherson between 1997 and 1998.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: Macdonald had a gambling addiction that he stated was initiated by a six-figure win at a craps table in Atlantic City. In an appearance on the "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast in 2011, Macdonald revealed that he lost all of his money gambling three times, and the largest amount he lost at once was $400,000. It was reported by "The Times" that he went bankrupt twice. As a poker player, his best live result was cashing for $20,915 in the $1,000 Bellagio Weekly Tournament, in July 2006. In the 2007 World Series of Poker, he came in 20th place out of 827 entrants in the $3,000 No-Limit Texas Hold 'em event, winning $14,608. He also frequently played live cash games as well as online poker. Macdonald said in a 2018 interview that, prior to the ruling in "United States v. Scheinberg", he would play up to 20 online limit hold'em games at once. "Since they went offline, it kind of saved my life. Because I was just grinding out and couldn't even sleep."


title: Norm Macdonald

text: In 2013, Macdonald was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He disclosed his diagnosis to only his family, agent, and producing partner, fearing that revealing his condition to the public would "affect the way he was perceived", according to his brother Neil. The cancer went into remission not long after, but returned in early 2020, metastasizing into myelodysplastic syndrome, a cancer that often develops into acute leukemia. In July 2021, Macdonald entered the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, for a round of chemotherapy, where he developed an infection. He remained hospitalized at the City of Hope until his death from complications from acute leukemia on September 14, 2021.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: Among those who expressed their sorrow over his death via social-media channels were comedians Jim Breuer, Conan O'Brien, Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, David Letterman, Jay Leno, David Spade, Sarah Silverman, Artie Lange, Seth Rogen, Bob Saget, Jim Carrey, Bill Burr, Gilbert Gottfried, David Cross and multiple other fellow comedians, as well as musician Frank Stallone (whose name Macdonald used repeatedly as a non-sequitur punchline on "Weekend Update"), former US Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (whom Macdonald played during his tenure at "SNL") and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Letterman called him "[The best] in every important way, in the world of stand-up... an opinion shared by me and all peers." According to O'Brien, "Norm had the most unique comedic voice I have ever encountered and he was so relentlessly and uncompromisingly funny. I will never laugh that hard again." Both John Oliver and Lorne Michaels dedicated their victories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards to Macdonald's memory. Season 3 of "The Orville" opened with an onscreen dedication to Macdonald.


title: Norm Macdonald

text: On July 12, 2022, Macdonald was posthumously nominated for three Primetime Emmys for his standup special "".


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan, or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's seven million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. The Kyrgyz language is closely related to other Turkic languages.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan's history spans a variety of cultures and empires. Although geographically isolated by its highly mountainous terrain, Kyrgyzstan has been at the crossroads of several great civilizations as part of the Silk Road along with other commercial routes. Inhabited by a succession of tribes and clans, Kyrgyzstan has periodically fallen under larger domination. Turkic nomads, who trace their ancestry to many Turkic states. It was first established as the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate later in the 13th century, Kyrgyzstan was conquered by the Mongols; it regained independence, but was later invaded by Dzungar Khanate. After the fall of Dzhungars, Kyrgyz and Kipchaks were an integral part of Kokand Khanate. In 1876, Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire, and in 1936, the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was formed to become a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Following Mikhail Gorbachev's democratic reforms in the USSR, in 1990 pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected president. On 31 August 1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from Moscow and a democratic government was established. Kyrgyzstan attained sovereignty as a nation state after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: After independence, Kyrgyzstan was officially a unitary presidential republic; after the Tulip Revolution it became a unitary parliamentary republic, although it gradually developed an executive president and was governed as a semi-presidential republic before reverting to a presidential system in 2021. Throughout its existence, the country has continued to endure ethnic conflicts, revolts, economic troubles, transitional governments and political conflict.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organisation of Turkic States, the Türksoy community and the United Nations. It is a developing country ranked 118th in the Human Development Index, and is the second poorest country in Central Asia. The country's transitional economy is heavily dependent on deposits of gold, coal and uranium.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: "Kyrgyz" is derived from the Turkic word for "We are forty", believed to refer to the forty clans of Manas, a legendary hero who united forty regional clans. "-Stan" is a suffix in Persian meaning "place of".


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan is a reference to those same forty tribes and the graphical element in the sun's center depicts the wooden crown, called tunduk, of a yurt—a portable dwelling traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The country's official name is ""Kyrgyz Republic"," used in international arenas and foreign relations. In the English-speaking world, the spelling "Kyrgyzstan" is commonly used, while its former name "Kirghizia" is rarely used.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The Kyrgyz state reached its greatest expansion after defeating the Uyghur Khaganate in 840 AD. From the tenth century the Kyrgyz migrated as far as the Tian Shan range and maintained their dominance over this territory for about 200 years.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There is a storytelling tradition of the "Epic of Manas", which involves a warrior who unified all of the scattered tribes into a single nation in the 9th century. The trilogy, an element of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, expresses the memory of the nomadic peoples.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In the 12th century, the Kyrgyz dominion had shrunk to the Altay Range and Sayan Mountains as a result of the Mongol expansion. With the rise of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century, the Kyrgyz migrated south. The Kyrgyz peacefully became a part of the Mongol Empire in 1207.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Issyk Kul Lake was a stopover on the Silk Road, a land route for traders, merchants, and other travelers from the Far East to Europe.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyz tribes were overrun in the 17th century by the Mongols, in the mid-18th century by the Manchurian Qing dynasty, and in the early 19th century by the Uzbek Khanate of Kokand. In 1842, the Kyrgyz tribes broke away from Kokand and united into the , led by Ormon Khan. Following Ormon's death in 1854, the khanate disintegrated.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In the late nineteenth century, the eastern part of what is today Kyrgyzstan, mainly the Issyk-Kul Region, was ceded to the Russian Empire by Qing China through the Treaty of Tarbagatai. The territory, then known in Russian as "Kirghizia", was formally incorporated into the Empire in 1876. The Russian takeover was met with numerous revolts, and many of the Kyrgyz opted to relocate to the Pamir Mountains and Afghanistan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In addition, the suppression of the 1916 rebellion against Russian rule in Central Asia caused many Kyrgyz later to migrate to China. Since many ethnic groups in the region were, and still are, split between neighboring states at a time when borders were more porous and less regulated, it was common to move back and forth over the mountains, depending on where life was perceived as better; this might mean better rains for pasture or better government during oppression.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Soviet power was initially established in the region in 1919, and the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was created within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR). The phrase Kara-Kirghiz was used until the mid-1920s by the Russians to distinguish them from the Kazakhs, who were also referred to as Kirghiz. On 5 December 1936, the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a constituent Union Republic of the Soviet Union.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: After the Russian Civil War, the period of the New Economic Policy (NEP), began, which lasted roughly to 1928. The Bolsheviks made an effort to establish a standardized tax system, with higher taxes for nomads to discourage the wandering livelihood and they divided the Central Asia region into five nation-states. Kyrgyzstan developed considerably in cultural, educational, and social life, literacy was greatly improved. Economic and social development also was notable. Under Stalin a great focus was put on Kyrgyz national identity, the Soviet state was fighting tribalism as its social organization based on patrilineal kinship contradicted the concept of the modern nation state. From the indigenous perspective described as a difficult and ambivalent process of nation-building, in a region that did not know national institutions or consciousness before.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: By the end of the 1920s, the Soviet Union developed a series of five-year plans, centered around industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture, including the creation of huge "kolkhoz" collective farming systems, needed to feed the new workers in the industries. Because of the plan's reliance on rapidity, major economic and cultural changes had to occur, which led to conflicts. In Kyrgyzstan, Russian settlers acquired the best pasture land, creating much hardship for most of its original inhabitants, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Turkmen nomads, who were also forced to settle down on soil that hadn't enough agricultural potential.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The early years of glasnost, in the late 1980s, had little effect on the political climate in Kyrgyzstan. However, the Republic's press was permitted to adopt a more liberal stance and to establish a new publication, "Literaturny Kirghizstan", by the Union of Writers. Unofficial political groups were forbidden, but several groups that emerged in 1989 to deal with the acute housing crisis were permitted to function.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: According to the last Soviet census in 1989, ethnic Kyrgyz made up only 22% of the residents of the northern city of Frunze (now Bishkek), while more than 60% were Russians, Ukrainians, and people from other Slavic nations. Nearly 10% of the capital's population were Jewish (a rather unique fact, for almost any place in the Soviet Union, except the Jewish Autonomous Oblast).


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In June 1990, ethnic tensions between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz surfaced in the Osh Region (southern Kyrgyzstan), where Uzbeks form a minority of the population. The tensions between Kyrgyzs and Uzbeks in Osis led to 186 deaths. Attempts to appropriate Uzbek collective farms for housing development triggered the Osh Riots. A state of emergency and curfew were introduced and Askar Akayev, the youngest of five sons born into a family of collective farm workers (in northern Kyrgyzstan), was elected president in October of that same year.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: By then, the Kyrgyzstan Democratic Movement (KDM) had developed into a significant political force with support in Parliament. On 15 December 1990, the Supreme Soviet voted to change the republic's name to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The following January, Akayev introduced new government structures and appointed a new cabinet composed mainly of younger, reform-oriented politicians. In February 1991, the name of the capital, Frunze, was changed back to its pre-revolutionary name of Bishkek.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Despite these political moves toward independence, economic realities seemed to work against secession from the Soviet Union. In a referendum on the preservation of the Soviet Union in March 1991, 88.7% of the voters approved the proposal to retain the Soviet Union as a "renewed federation". Nevertheless, secessionist forces pushed Kyrgyzstan's independence through in August of that same year.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: On 19 August 1991, when the State Emergency Committee assumed power in Moscow, there was an attempt to depose Akayev in Kyrgyzstan. After the coup collapsed the following week, Akayev and Vice President German Kuznetsov announced their resignations from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and the entire bureau and secretariat resigned. This was followed by the Supreme Soviet vote declaring independence from the Soviet Union on 31 August 1991 as the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In October 1991, Akayev ran unopposed and was elected president of the new independent Republic by direct ballot, receiving 95 percent of the votes cast. Together with the representatives of seven other Republics that same month, he signed the Treaty of the Economic Community. The new leaders of three out of four Soviet Union's founding republics, Russia, Belarus and Uzbekistan, on 8 December 1991 signed the Belavezha Accords, denouncing the Union Treaty of 1922, declaring that the Union would cease to exist and proclaimed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: On 21 December 1991, Kyrgyzstan agreed with the other four Central Asian Republics, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan to the Alma-Ata Protocols, formally entering the Commonwealth with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine. Finally, Kyrgyzstan gained full independence on 25 December 1991. The following day, on 26 December 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. In 1992, Kyrgyzstan joined the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On 5 May 1993, the official name changed from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the Kyrgyz Republic.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In 2005, an uprising known as the "Tulip Revolution", took place after the parliamentary elections in March 2005, forced President Askar Akayev's resignation on 4 April 2005. Opposition leaders formed a coalition, and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Prime Minister Felix Kulov. The nation's capital was looted during the protests.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Political stability appeared to be elusive, however, as various groups and factions allegedly linked to organized crime jockeyed for power. Three of the 75 members of Parliament elected in March 2005 were assassinated, and another member was assassinated on 10 May 2006 shortly after winning his murdered brother's seat in a by-election. All four are reputed to have been directly involved in major illegal business ventures.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: On 6 April 2010, civil unrest broke out in the town of Talas after a demonstration against government corruption and increased living expenses. The protests became violent, spreading to Bishkek by the following day. Protesters attacked President Bakiyev's offices, as well as state-run radio and television stations. There were conflicting reports that Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongatiyev had been beaten. On 7 April 2010, President Bakiyev imposed a state of emergency. Police and special services arrested many opposition leaders. In response, protesters took control of the internal security headquarters (former KGB headquarters) and a state television channel in the capital, Bishkek. Reports by Kyrgyzstan government officials indicated that at least 75 people were killed and 458 hospitalized in bloody clashes with police in the capital. Reports say that at least 80 people died as a result of clashes with police.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: A transition government has been established, led by former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva ( Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan), that by 8 April 2010 had taken control of state media and government facilities in the capital, but Bakiyev had not resigned from office.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: President Bakiyev returned to his home in Jalal-Abad and stated his terms of resignation at a press conference on 13 April 2010. On 15 April 2010, Bakiyev left the country and flew to neighboring Kazakhstan, along with his wife and two children. The country's provisional leaders announced that Bakiyev signed a formal letter of resignation prior to his departure.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Prime Minister Daniar Usenov accused Russia of supporting the protests; this accusation was denied by Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. Opposition members also called for the closing of the US-controlled Manas Air Base. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev ordered measures to ensure the safety of Russian nationals and tighten security around Russian sites in Kyrgyzstan to protect them against possible attacks.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The 2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes occurred between the two main ethnic groups—the Uzbeks and Kyrgyz—in Osh, the second-largest city in the country, on 11 June 2010. The clashes incited fears that the country could be heading towards a civil war.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Interim leader Otunbayeva sent a letter to the Russian president, Dimitry Medvedev, asking him to send Russian troops to help the country control the situation. Medvedev's Press Attaché, Natalya Timakova, said in a reply to the letter, "It is an internal conflict and for now Russia does not see the conditions for taking part in its resolution". The clashes caused a shortage of food and other essential commodities with more than 200 killed and 1,685 people hurt, . The Russian government, however, said it would be sending humanitarian aid to the troubled nation.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: According to local sources, there was a clash between two local gangs and it did not take long for the violence to spread to the rest of the city. There were also reports that the armed forces supported ethnic Kyrgyz gangs entering the city, but the government denied the allegations.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The riots spread to neighboring areas, and the government declared a state of emergency in the entire southern Jalal-Abad region. To control the situation, the interim government gave special shoot-to-kill powers to the security forces. The Russian government decided to send a battalion to the country to protect Russian facilities.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Otunbayeva accused the family of Bakiyev of "instigating the riots". AFP reported "a veil of smoke covering the whole city". Authorities in neighboring Uzbekistan said at least 30,000 Uzbeks had crossed the border to escape the riots. Osh became relatively calm on 14 June 2010, but Jalal-Abad witnessed sporadic incidents of arson. The entire region was still under a state of emergency as Uzbeks were reluctant to leave their houses for fear of attacks by the mobs. The United Nations decided to send an envoy to assess the situation.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Temir Sariyev, deputy chief of the interim government, said there were local clashes and that it was not possible [for the government] to fully control the situation. He added that there were not sufficient security forces to contain the violence. Media agencies reported on 14 June 2010 that the Russian government was considering a request by the Kyrgyz government. An emergency meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) was held on the same day (14 June) to discuss the role it could play in helping to end the violence.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Ethnic violence waned, according to the Kyrgyz government, by 15 June 2010 and Kyrgyz president Roza Otunbayeva held a news conference that day and declared that there was no need for Russia to send in troops to quell the violence. There were at least 170 people left dead by 15 June 2010 but Pascale Meige Wagner of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the [official] death toll was an underestimate. The UN High Commissioner told reporters in Geneva that evidence suggested that the violence seemed to have been staged up.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Ethnic Uzbeks threatened to blow up an oil depot in Osh if they failed to get guarantees of protection. The United Nations said it believed that the attacks were "orchestrated, targeted and well-planned". Kyrgyz officials told the media that a person suspected to be behind the violence in Jalal-Abad had been detained.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: On 2 August 2010, a Kyrgyz government commission began investigating the causes of the clashes. Members of the National Commission, led by former parliament speaker Abdygany Erkebaev, met with people from the predominantly ethnic Uzbek villages of Mady, Shark, and Kyzyl-Kyshtak in the Kara-Suu district of Osh Oblast. This National Commission, including representatives of many ethnic groups, was established by a presidential decree.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: President Roza Otunbayeva also said in August 2010 that an international commission would be formed to investigate the clashes. The international commission conducted an extensive investigation and prepared a report—The Independent international commission of inquiry into the events in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010 (KIC). It stated that "The Provisional Government, which had assumed power two months before the events, either failed to recognize or underestimated the deterioration in inter-ethnic relations in southern Kyrgyzstan". The KIC concluded that the "Provisional Government had the responsibility to ensure that the security forces were adequately trained and appropriately equipped to deal with situations of civil unrest" but were unable to take necessary measures.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: As of today, Kyrgyzstan celebrates its Independence Day annually on August 31, the anniversary of its declaration of independence in 1991. Since independence, Kyrgyzstan has made developments such as creating genuinely free news media and fostering an active political opposition.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In late April 2021, a conflict over water escalated into one of the most serious border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan since independence in 1991.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In September 2022 armed clashes, including the use of artillery, erupted along much of the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordering Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It lies between latitudes 39° and 44° N, and longitudes 69° and 81° E. It is farther from the sea than any other individual country, and all its rivers flow into closed drainage systems which do not reach the sea. The mountainous region of the Tian Shan covers over 80% of the country (Kyrgyzstan is occasionally referred to as "the Switzerland of Central Asia", as a result), with the remainder made up of valleys and basins.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Issyk-Kul Lake, or Ysyk-Köl in Kyrgyz, in the north-eastern Tian Shan is the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan and the second largest mountain lake in the world after Titicaca. The lowest point is in Kara-Daryya (Karadar'ya) at 132 meters and the highest peaks are in the Kakshaal-Too range, forming the Chinese border. Peak Jengish Chokusu, at , is the highest point and is considered by geologists to be the northernmost peak over in the world. Heavy snowfall in winter leads to spring floods which often cause serious damage downstream. The runoff from the mountains is also used for hydro-electricity.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan has significant deposits of metals including gold and rare-earth metals. Due to the country's predominantly mountainous terrain, less than 8% of the land is cultivated, and this is concentrated in the northern lowlands and the fringes of the Fergana Valley.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Bishkek in the north is the capital and largest city, with 937,400 inhabitants (). The second city is the ancient town of Osh, located in the Fergana Valley near the border with Uzbekistan. The principal river is the Kara Darya, which flows west through the Fergana Valley into Uzbekistan. Across the border in Uzbekistan it meets another major Kyrgyz river, the Naryn.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The confluence forms the Syr Darya, which originally flowed into the Aral Sea. , it no longer reaches the sea, as its water is withdrawn upstream to irrigate cotton fields in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and southern Kazakhstan. The Chu River also briefly flows through Kyrgyzstan before entering Kazakhstan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan contains seven terrestrial ecosystems: Tian Shan montane conifer forests, Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe, Gissaro-Alai open woodlands, Tian Shan foothill arid steppe, Pamir alpine desert and tundra, Tian Shan montane steppe and meadows, and Central Asian northern desert. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.86/10, ranking it 13th globally out of 172 countries.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The climate varies regionally. The low-lying Fergana Valley in the southwest is subtropical and extremely hot in summer, with temperatures reaching The northern foothills are temperate and the Tian Shan varies from dry continental to polar climate, depending on elevation. In the coldest areas temperatures are sub-zero for around 40 days in winter, and even some desert areas experience constant snowfall in this period. In the lowlands the temperature ranges from around in January to in July.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There is one exclave, the tiny village of Barak (population 627), in the Fergana Valley. The village is surrounded by Uzbek territory. It is located on the road from Osh (Kyrgyzstan) to Khodjaabad (Uzbekistan) about north-west from the Kyrgyz–Uzbek border in the direction of Andijan. Barak is administratively part of Kara-Suu District in Kyrgyzstan's Osh Region.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There are four Uzbek enclaves within Kyrgyzstan. Two of them are the towns of Sokh, with an area of and a population of 42,800 in 1993—although some estimates go as high as 70,000 (99% are Tajiks, the remainder Uzbeks); and Shakhimardan (also known as Shahimardan, Shohimardon, or Shah-i-Mardan, area and a population of 5,100 in 1993; 91% are Uzbeks, the remainder Kyrgyz); the other two are the tiny territories of Chong-Kara (roughly long by wide) and Jangy-ayyl (a dot of land barely across). Chong-Kara is on the Sokh river, between the Uzbek border and the Sokh enclave. Jangy-ayyl is about east of Batken, in a northward projection of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border near Khalmion.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There are also two enclaves belonging to Tajikistan on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border: Vorukh (exclave area between , population estimated between 23,000 and 29,000, 95% Tajiks and 5% Kyrgyz, distributed among 17 villages), located south of Isfara on the right bank of the river Karavshin, and a small settlement Lolazor (Western Qalacha or Kayragach) near the Kyrgyz railway station of Kairagach.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The 1993 constitution defines the form of government as a democratic unicameral republic. The executive branch includes a president and prime minister. The parliament currently is unicameral. The judicial branch comprises a supreme court, local courts and a chief prosecutor.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In March 2002, in the southern district of Aksy, five people protesting the arbitrary arrest of an opposition politician were shot dead by police, sparking nationwide protests. President Askar Akayev initiated a constitutional reform process which initially included the participation of a broad range of government, civil and social representatives in an open dialogue, leading to a February 2003 referendum marred by voting irregularities.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The amendments to the constitution approved by the referendum resulted in stronger control by the president and weakened the parliament and the Constitutional Court. Parliamentary elections for a new, 75-seat unicameral legislature were held on 27 February and 13 March 2005, but were widely viewed as corrupt. The subsequent protests led to a bloodless coup on 24 March 2005, after which Akayev fled the country with his family and was replaced by acting president Kurmanbek Bakiyev.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: On 10 July 2005, acting president Bakiyev won the presidential election in a landslide, with 88.9% of the vote, and was inaugurated on 14 August. However, initial public support for the new administration substantially declined in subsequent months as a result of its apparent inability to solve the corruption problems that had plagued the country since its independence from the Soviet Union, along with the murders of several members of parliament. Large-scale protests against president Bakiyev took place in Bishkek in April and November 2006, with opposition leaders accusing the president of failing to live up to his election promises to reform the country's constitution and transfer many of his presidential powers to parliament.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is also a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a league of 57 participating states committed to peace, transparency, and the protection of human rights in Eurasia. As an OSCE participating state, Kyrgyzstan's international commitments are subject to monitoring under the mandate of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In December 2008, the state-owned broadcast KTRK announced that it would require prior submission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty programmes, which KTRK are required to retransmit according to a 2005 agreement. KTRK had stopped retransmitting RFE/RL programming in October 2008, a week after it failed to broadcast an RFE/RL programme called "Inconvenient Questions" which covered the October elections, claiming to have lost the missing material. President Bakiyev had criticised this programme in September 2008, while KTRK told RFE/RL that its programming was too negative. Reporters Without Borders, which ranks Kyrgyzstan 111th out of 173 countries on its Press Freedom Index, strongly criticised the decision.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: On 3 February 2009, President Bakiyev announced the imminent closure of the Manas Air Base, the only US military base remaining in Central Asia. The closure was approved by Parliament on 19 February 2009 by a vote of 78–1 for the government-backed bill. However, after much behind-the-scenes negotiation between Kyrgyz, Russian and American diplomats, the decision was reversed in June 2009. The Americans were allowed to remain under a new contract, whereby rent would increase from $17.4 million to $60 million annually.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is among the fifty countries in the world with the highest perceived level of corruption: the 2016 Corruption Perception Index for Kyrgyzstan is 28 on a scale of 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt).


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In 2010 another revolution erupted in the country (see: April uprising). President Bakiyev, together with his relatives, including his son Maksim and brother Janish—were forced to flee to Kazakhstan and then sought asylum in Belarus. Roza Otunbayeva, who was appointed interim president, announced that she did not intend to run for the Presidential elections in 2011. The election was held in November and won by Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev, leader of the Social Democratic Party, and Atambayev was sworn in as president on 1 December 2011. Omurbek Babanov was appointed prime minister on the same day and was confirmed on 23 December 2011.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In 2015 Kyrgyzstan became a full-fledged member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EES) after it formally abolished customs controls along its border with Kazakhstan, other members are the former Soviet republics Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In October 2017, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, a former prime minister backed by incumbent Almazbek Atambayev, was elected as the new President of Kyrgyzstan. In foreign policy he saw the Kremlin as the country's "main strategic partner" and China as an "important strategic and trade partner", but he intended to seek more collaborative bilateral ties with European partners. On 7 August 2019, the Special Forces of Kyrgyzstan launched an operation against the residence of former President Almazbek Atambayev, supposedly based on charges of corruption made against him. In a meeting of the Security Council, President Jeenbekov accused Atambayev of violating the constitution. In October 2020, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned after protests caused by irregularities in parliamentary elections on 4 October 2020.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In January 2021, Sadyr Japarov was elected as the new president after winning the presidential election by a landslide.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In April 2021, the majority of voters approved in the constitutional referendum a new constitution that will give new powers to the president, significantly strengthening the power of the presidency.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is divided into seven regions (). The regions are subdivided into 44 districts (, ;). The districts are further subdivided into rural districts at the lowest level of administration, which include all rural settlements ("aýyl ökmötü") and villages without an associated municipal government.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Each region is headed by an akim (regional governor) appointed by the president. District akims are appointed by regional akims.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The armed forces of Kyrgyzstan were formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union and consist of the Land Forces, Air Forces, internal troops, National Guard, and the border guard. The military works with the US Armed Forces, which leased a facility named the Transit Center at Manas at Manas International Airport near Bishkek until June 2014. In recent years, the armed forces have begun developing better relations with Russia including signing modernization deals worth $1.1bn and participating in more exercises with Russian troops. The Agency of National Security works with the military and serves similar purposes to its Soviet predecessor, the KGB. It oversees an elite counterterrorism special forces unit known as "Alfa", the same name used by other former Soviet countries, including Russia and Uzbekistan. The police are commanded by the Ministry of the Interior Affairs, along with the border guard.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is classified as a "hybrid regime" in the Democracy Index, ranking 107th out of 167 for 2020. Kyrgyzstan was also ranked "not free" in the 2021 Freedom in the World report with a score of 28/100. In 2020, it was ranked "partly free" with a score of 39/100.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: After the installment of a more democratic government, many human rights violations still take place. In a move that alarmed human-rights groups, dozens of prominent Uzbek religious and community leaders were arrested by security forces following the 2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots, including journalist and human-rights activist Azimzhan Askarov. A law banning women under the age of 23 from traveling abroad without a parent or guardian, with the purpose of "increased morality and preservation of the gene pool" passed in the Kyrgyz parliament in June 2013. American diplomats expressed concern in October 2014 when Kyrgyzstan lawmakers passed a law that imposes jail terms on gay-rights activists and others, including journalists, who create “a positive attitude toward non-traditional sexual relations.”


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstani activist and journalist Azimzhan Askarov was sentenced to life in prison in 2010. On 24 January 2017, a Kyrgyz court has reinstated a sentence of life imprisonment for Askarov.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan was the ninth poorest country in the former Soviet Union, and is today the second poorest country in Central Asia after Tajikistan. 22.4% of the country's population lives below the poverty line.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Despite the backing of major Western lenders, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, Kyrgyzstan has had economic difficulties following independence. Initially, these were a result of the breakup of the Soviet trade bloc and resulting loss of markets, which impeded the republic's transition to a demand economy.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The government has reduced expenditures, ended most price subsidies and introduced a value-added tax. Overall, the government appears committed to the transition to a market economy. Through economic stabilization and reform, the government seeks to establish a pattern of long-term consistent growth. Reforms led to Kyrgyzstan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 20 December 1998.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The Kyrgyz economy was severely affected by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting loss of its vast market. In 1990, some 98% of Kyrgyz exports went to other parts of the Soviet Union. Thus, the nation's economic performance in the early 1990s was worse than any other former Soviet republic except war-torn Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, as factories and state farms collapsed with the disappearance of their traditional markets in the former Soviet Union. While economic performance has improved considerably in the last few years, and particularly since 1998, difficulties remain in securing adequate fiscal revenues and providing an adequate social safety net. Remittances of around 800,000 Kyrgyz migrants working in Russia contribute to the economy however in recent years, remittances have decreased.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Agriculture is an important sector of the economy in Kyrgyzstan (see agriculture in Kyrgyzstan). By the early 1990s, the private agricultural sector provided between one-third and one-half of some harvests. In 2002, agriculture accounted for 35.6% of GDP and about half of employment. Kyrgyzstan's terrain is mountainous, which accommodates livestock raising, the largest agricultural activity, so the resulting wool, meat and dairy products are major commodities. Main crops include wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, cotton, tobacco, vegetables, and fruit. As the prices of imported agrichemicals and petroleum are so high, much farming is being done by hand and by horse, as it was generations ago. Agricultural processing is a key component of the industrial economy as well as one of the most attractive sectors for foreign investment.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is rich in mineral resources but has negligible petroleum and natural gas reserves; it imports petroleum and gas. Among its mineral reserves are substantial deposits of coal, gold, uranium, antimony, and other valuable metals. Metallurgy is an important industry, and the government hopes to attract foreign investment in this field. The government has actively encouraged foreign involvement in extracting and processing gold from the Kumtor Gold Mine and other regions. The country's plentiful water resources and mountainous terrain enable it to produce and export large quantities of hydroelectric energy.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The principal exports are nonferrous metals and minerals, woollen goods and other agricultural products, electric energy and certain engineering goods. Imports include petroleum and natural gas, ferrous metals, chemicals, most machinery, wood and paper products, some foods and some construction materials. Its leading trade partners include Germany, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. After Beijing launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, China has expanded its economic presence and initiated a number of sizable infrastructure projects in Kyrgyzstan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In regards to telecommunication infrastructure, Kyrgyz Republic ranks last in Central Asia in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index (NRI)—an indicator for determining the development level of a country's information and communication technologies. Kyrgyz Republic ranked number 118 overall in the 2014 NRI ranking, unchanged from 2013 (see Networked Readiness Index).


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a significant negative impact on the Kyrgyz economy that is reliant on services, remittances and natural resources. As a result, in order to mitigate the economic shock and preserve much of the development progress achieved in recent years the World Bank will provide support by financing several projects in the country.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: One of the most popular tourist destination points in Kyrgyzstan is the lake Issyk-Kul. Numerous hotels, resorts and boarding houses are located along its northern shore. The most popular beach zones are in the city of Cholpon-Ata and the settlements nearby, such as Kara-Oi (Dolinka), Bosteri and Korumdy. The number of tourists visiting the lake was more than a million a year in 2006 and 2007. However, due to the economic and political instability in the region, the number has declined in recent years.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The headquarters of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences is located in Bishkek, where several research institutes are located. Kyrgyz researchers are developing useful technologies based on natural products, such as heavy metal remediation for purifying waste water. Kyrgyzstan was ranked 98th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 90th in 2019.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan's population is estimated at 6,586,600 in August 2020. Of those, 34.4% are under the age of 15 and 6.2% are over 65. The country is rural: only about one-third of the population live in urban areas. The average population density is 25 people per km.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The nation's largest ethnic group are the Kyrgyz, a Turkic people, who comprise 74.1% of the population. Other ethnic groups include Russians (5.0%) concentrated in the north and Uzbeks (14.8%) living in the south. Small but noticeable minorities include Dungans (1.1%), Uyghurs (0.9%), Tajiks (0.9%), Kazakhs (0.6%), and Ukrainians (0.1%) and other smaller ethnic minorities. The country has over 80 ethnic groups.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The Kyrgyz have historically been semi-nomadic herders, living in round tents called yurts and tending sheep, horses and yaks. This nomadic tradition continues to function seasonally (see transhumance) as herding families return to the high mountain pasture (or "jailoo") in the summer. The sedentary Uzbeks and Tajiks traditionally have farmed lower-lying irrigated land in the Fergana valley.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan has undergone a pronounced change in its ethnic composition since independence. The percentage of ethnic Kyrgyz has increased from around 50% in 1979 to over 70% in 2013, while the percentage of ethnic groups, such as Russians, Ukrainians, Germans and Tatars dropped from 35% to about 7%. Since 1991, a large number of Germans, who in 1989 numbered 101,000 persons, have emigrated to Germany.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is one of five former Soviet republics to have Russian as a "de jure" official language, along with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. After the division of the Soviet Union into countries, Kyrgyz was adopted as the "state language" of Kyrgyzstan in 1991. Kyrgyzstan adopted Russian as an "official language" in 1997. The languages have different legal statuses.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyz is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch, closely related to Kazakh, Karakalpak, and Nogay Tatar. It was written in the Arabic alphabet until the twentieth century. The Latin script was introduced and adopted on Stalin's orders in 1928, and was subsequently replaced by Cyrillic script in 1941. A reformed Perso-Arabic alphabet, created by the Kyrgyz intellectual and scientist Kasym Tynystanov is the official script of the Kyrgyz language in the People's Republic of China. As a result of the pending language reform in neighboring Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan will be the only independent Turkic-speaking country in a few years that exclusively uses the Cyrillic alphabet.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In 2009, 4.1 million people spoke Kyrgyz as native or second language and 2.5 million spoke Russian as native or second language. Uzbek is the second most common native language with 700,000 native speakers.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Russian TV media enjoy enormous popularity in Kyrgyzstan, especially in the deeply russified city of Bishkek and the Chüy Region, despite that the percentage of Russians today is a fraction of that in 1989. Russian media outlets have an enormous influence on public opinion in Kyrgyzstan, especially in areas such as human rights and international political developments.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Many business and political affairs are carried out in Russian. Until recently, Kyrgyz remained a language spoken at home and was rarely used during meetings or other events. However, most parliamentary meetings today are conducted in Kyrgyz, with simultaneous interpretation available for those not speaking Kyrgyz. According to an RFE/RL article from 2014, despite the attempts to raise the status of Kyrgyz, thousands of Kyrgyz are russifying their names every year (around 40,000), mostly for career prospects, and to remove themselves from the Russian blacklists (people that are to be deported upon entrance) by registering different names. There are also many Russian-language medium schools that are supported from the Russian foundations via the embassy of Russia in Bishkek which are better funded than the Kyrgyz language medium schools. Due to this, many ethnic Kyrgyz go to Russian language medium schools. Many high school students change their surnames annually; for example 800 such changes were recorded in high school students in the region of Naryn.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Islam is the dominant religion of Kyrgyzstan. The CIA World Factbook estimates that as of 2017, 90% of the population is Muslim, with the majority being Sunni; 7% are Christian, including 3% Russian Orthodoxy, and the remainder are other religions. A 2009 Pew Research Center report indicated 86.3% of Kyrgyzstan's population adhering to Islam. The great majority of Muslims are Sunni, adhering to the Hanafi school of thought, although a 2012 Pew survey report showed that only 23% of respondents to a questionnaire chose to identify themselves as Sunni, with 64% volunteering that they were "just a Muslim". There are a few Ahmadiyya Muslims, though unrecognised by the country.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: During Soviet times, state atheism was encouraged. Today, however, Kyrgyzstan is a secular state, although Islam has exerted a growing influence in politics. For instance, there has been an attempt to arrange for officials to travel on "hajj" (the pilgrimage to Mecca) under a tax-free arrangement.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: While Islam in Kyrgyzstan is more of a cultural background than a devout daily practice for many, public figures have expressed support for restoring religious values. For example, human rights ombudsman Tursunbay Bakir-Ulu noted, "In this era of independence, it is not surprising that there has been a return to spiritual roots not only in Kyrgyzstan, but also in other post-communist republics. It would be immoral to develop a market-based society without an ethical dimension."


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Additionally, Bermet Akayeva, the daughter of Askar Akayev, the former President of Kyrgyzstan, stated during a July 2007 interview that Islam is increasingly taking root across the nation. She emphasized that many mosques have recently been built and that the Kyrgyz are increasingly devoting themselves to Islam, which she noted was "not a bad thing in itself. It keeps our society more moral, cleaner." There is a contemporary Sufi order present which adheres to a somewhat different form of Islam than the orthodox Islam.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The other faiths practiced in Kyrgyzstan include Russian Orthodox and Ukrainian Orthodox versions of Christianity, practiced primarily by Russians and Ukrainians respectively. A community of 5000 to 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses gather in both Kyrgyz and Russian-speaking congregations, as well as some Chinese- and Turkish-speaking groups. A small minority of ethnic Germans are also Christian, mostly Lutheran and Anabaptist as well as a Roman Catholic community of approximately 600.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: A few Animistic traditions survive, as do influences from Buddhism such as the tying of prayer flags onto sacred trees, though some view this practice rooted within Sufi Islam. There is also a small number of Bukharian Jews living in Kyrgyzstan, but during the collapse of the Soviet Union most fled to other countries, mainly the United States and Israel. In addition, there is a small community of Ashkenazi Jews, who fled to the country from eastern Europe during the Second World War.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: On 6 November 2008, the Kyrgyzstan parliament unanimously passed a law increasing the minimum number of adherents for recognizing a religion from 10 to 200. It also outlawed "aggressive action aimed at proselytism", and banned religious activity in schools and all activity by unregistered organizations. It was signed by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on 12 January 2009.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There have been several reported police raids against peaceful minority religious meetings, as well as reports of officials planting false evidence, but also some court decisions in favour of religious minorities.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Illegal, but still practiced, is the tradition of bride kidnapping. It is debatable whether bride kidnapping is actually traditional. Some of the confusion may stem from the fact that arranged marriages were traditional, and one of the ways to escape an arranged marriage was to arrange a consensual "kidnapping".


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The 40-rayed yellow sun in the center of the national flag represent the 40 tribes that once made up the entirety of Kyrgyz culture before the intervention of Russia during the rise of the Soviet Union. The lines inside the sun represent the crown or tündük (Kyrgyz түндүк) of a yurt, a symbol replicated in many facets of Kyrgyz architecture. The red portion of the flag represents peace and openness of Kyrgyzstan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Under Soviet rule and before 1992, it had the flag of the Soviet Union with two big blue stripes and a white thin stripe in the middle.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In addition to celebrating the New Year each 1 January, the Kyrgyz observe the traditional New Year festival Nowruz on the vernal equinox. This spring holiday is celebrated with feasts and festivities such as the horse game Ulak Tartish.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Two additional Muslim holidays "Orozo Ayt" and "Qurman (or Qurban) Ayt" are defined by the lunar calendar.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Football is the most popular sport in Kyrgyzstan. The official governing body is the Football Federation of Kyrgyz Republic, which was founded in 1992, after the split of the Soviet Union. It administers the Kyrgyzstan national football team.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Wrestling is also very popular. In the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, two athletes from Kyrgyzstan won medals in Greco-Roman wrestling: Kanatbek Begaliev (silver) and Ruslan Tyumenbayev (bronze).


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Ice hockey was not as popular in Kyrgyzstan until the first Ice Hockey Championship was organized in 2009. In 2011, the Kyrgyzstan men's national ice hockey team won 2011 Asian Winter Games Premier Division dominating in all six games with six wins. It was the first major international event that Kyrgyzstan's ice hockey team took part in. The Kyrgyzstan men's ice hockey team joined the IIHF in July 2011.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Bandy is becoming increasingly popular in the country. The Kyrgyz national team took Kyrgyzstan's first medal at the Asian Winter Games, when they captured the bronze. They played in the Bandy World Championship 2012, their first appearance in that tournament.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Martial Arts: Valentina Shevchenko is a Kyrgyzstani–Peruvian professional mixed martial artist who competes in the women's flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current Women's Flyweight champion.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Boxing: Dmitry Bivol is a Kyrgyzstani Professional Boxer from Tokmok, who competes in the Light Heavyweight Division. Since 2017, he has held the World Boxing Association Light Heavyweight Title. As of August 2019, Bivol is ranked as the world's best active light-heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec, and third by The Ring Magazine.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan's national basketball team had its best performance at the official 1995 Asian Basketball Championship where the team surprisingly finished ahead of favorites such as Iran, Philippines and Jordan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: XXI International Issyk-Kul Sports Games (SCO + CIS) was held in 9–17 September 2022 in Baktuu-Dolonotu village (Issyk-Kul). The first three World Nomad Games were held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. The 6th International Sports Festival Pearl of Kyrgyzstan were held in Issyk-Kul region from June 15 to July 3 of 2022.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Very popular, as in all of Central Asia, is "Ulak Tartysh", a team game resembling a cross between polo and rugby in which two teams of riders wrestle for possession of the headless carcass of a goat, which they attempt to deliver across the opposition's goal line, or into the opposition's goal: a big tub or a circle marked on the ground.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The school system in Kyrgyzstan includes primary (grades 1 to 4, some schools have optional 0 grade), secondary (grades 5 to 9) and high (grades 10 to 11) divisions within one school. Children are usually accepted to primary schools at the age of 6 or 7. It is required that every child finishes 9 grades of school and receives a certificate of completion. Grades 10–11 are optional, but it is necessary to complete them to graduate and receive a state-accredited school diploma. To graduate, a student must complete the 11-year school course and pass 4 mandatory state exams in writing, maths, history and a foreign language.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There are 77 public schools in Bishkek (capital city) and more than 200 in the rest of the country. There are 55 higher educational institutions and universities in Kyrgyzstan, out of which 37 are state institutions.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There are also various Russian-language medium schools in Bishkek, Osh and other areas. Because of the better funding that they receive in comparation with Kyrgyz state schools, many Kyrgyz go there. In March 2021 Russia announced its plans to create approximately 30 new Russian-language schools in Kyrgyzstan. Teachers from Russia are also working here. However, the existence of these schools has been criticised, for reasons such as the fact that Russian language education has flaws compared to the Turkish and American schools in the country, but also because many ethnic Kyrgyz born after Kyrgyz independence in 1991 can't speak Kyrgyz, but only Russian, according to a Bishkek resident.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan is home to 1,066 libraries. The National Library of the Kyrgyz Republic is the oldest library in the country, which was established in 1934. Kyrgyz Libraries are working towards expanding access to communities, evident in projects such as the signing of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty and the Open access Portal.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Transport in Kyrgyzstan is severely constrained by the country's alpine topography. Roads have to snake up steep valleys, cross passes of altitude and more, and are subject to frequent mudslides and snow avalanches. Winter travel is close to impossible in many of the more remote and high-altitude regions.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Additional problems come from the fact that many roads and railway lines built during the Soviet period are today intersected by international boundaries, requiring time-consuming border formalities to cross where they are not completely closed. Horses are still a much-used transport option, especially in more rural areas; Kyrgyzstan's road infrastructure is not extensive, so horses are able to reach locations that motor vehicles cannot, and they do not require expensive, imported fuel.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: At the end of the Soviet period there were about 50 airports and airstrips in Kyrgyzstan, many of them built primarily to serve military purposes in this border region so close to China. Only a few of them remain in service today. The Kyrgyzstan Air Company provides air transport to China, Russia, and other local countries.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: Kyrgyzstan appears on the European Union's list of prohibited countries for the certification of airlines. This means that no airline that is registered in Kyrgyzstan may operate services of any kind within the European Union, due to safety standards that fail to meet European regulations.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: The Chüy Valley in the north and the Fergana valley in the south were endpoints of the Soviet Union's rail system in Central Asia. Following the emergence of independent post-Soviet states, the rail lines which were built without regard for administrative boundaries have been cut by borders, and traffic is therefore severely curtailed. The small bits of rail lines within Kyrgyzstan, about ( broad gauge) in total, have little economic value in the absence of the former bulk traffic over long distances to and from such centres as Tashkent, Almaty, and the cities of Russia.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In 2022, construction began on a new 186 km extension of the existing railway from Balykchy to Karakeche. Its primary purpose will be to carry coal from mines at Karakeche to Bishkek.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: There are vague plans about extending rail lines from Balykchy in the north and/or from Osh in the south into China, but the cost of construction would be enormous.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: In 2022 the president of Kyrgyzstan, Zhaparov, has told local media that he expects construction of the 523 km China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan (CKU) Railway to begin next year. The CKU Railway would comprise in China, in Kyrgyzstan and in Uzbekistan.


title: Kyrgyzstan

text: With support from the Asian Development Bank, a major road linking the north and southwest from Bishkek to Osh has recently been completed. This considerably eases communication between the two major population centres of the country—the Chüy Valley in the north and the Fergana Valley in the South. An offshoot of this road branches off across a 3,500 meter pass into the Talas Valley in the northwest. Plans are now being formulated to build a major road from Osh into China.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most populous urban agglomeration in India, as well as the largest city in South India, and the 27th largest city in the world. Located on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over above sea level, Bangalore has a pleasant climate throughout the year, with its parks and green spaces earning it the reputation as the "Garden City" of India. Its elevation is the highest among the major cities of India. An aerospace, heavy engineering and electronics hub since the 1960s, Bangalore is widely regarded as the "Silicon Valley of India" because of its role as the nation's leading information technology (IT) exporter. In the Ease of Living Index 2020 (published by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs), it was ranked the most livable Indian city with a population of over a million. It also ranks among the highest Indian cities in terms of global livability rankings as well.


title: Bangalore

text: The city's history dates back to around 890 CE, as found in a stone inscription found at the Nageshwara Temple in Begur, Bangalore. In 1537 CE, Kempé Gowdā – a feudal ruler under the Vijayanagara Empire – established a mud fort, considered the foundation of modern Bangalore and its oldest areas, or "petes", which still exist. After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire, Kempe Gowda declared independence; in 1638, a large Adil Shahi Bijapur army defeated Kempe Gowda III, and Bangalore was given to them as a jagir (feudal estate).The Mughals later captured Bangalore and sold it to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704), the then ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. When Haider Ali seized control of the Kingdom of Mysore, the administration of Bangalore passed into his hands.


title: Bangalore

text: The city was captured by the British East India Company after victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), who returned administrative control of the city to the Maharaja of Mysore. The old city developed under the dominions of the Maharaja of Mysore and was made capital of the Princely State of Mysore, which existed as a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj. In 1809, the British shifted their cantonment to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a town grew up around it, governed as part of British India. Following India's independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, and remained the capital when the new Indian state of Karnataka was formed in 1956. The two urban settlements of Bangalore – city and cantonment – which had developed as independent entities merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The existing Kannada name, "Bengalūru", was declared the city's official name in 2006.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore is the second fastest-growing major metropolis in India. Recent estimates of the metro economy of its urban area have ranked Bangalore either the fourth or fifth most productive metro area of India. It is home to many educational and research institutions. Numerous state-owned aerospace and defence organisations are located in the city. The city also houses the Kannada film industry and is a hub of sporting events.


title: Bangalore

text: "Bangalore" is an anglicised version of the city's Kannada name "Bengalūru" (, ). It was the name of a village near Kodigehalli in Bangalore city today and was used by Kempegowda to christen the city as Bangalore at the time of its foundation. The earliest reference to the name "Bengalūru" was found in a ninth-century Western Ganga dynasty stone inscription on a "vīra gallu" (; , a rock edict extolling the virtues of a warrior). According to an inscription found in Begur, "Bengalūrū" was the place of a battle in 890 CE.


title: Bangalore

text: An apocryphal story states that the twelfth-century Hoysala king Veera Ballala II, while on a hunting expedition, lost his way in the forest. Tired and hungry, he came across a poor old woman who served him boiled beans. The grateful king named the place "Benda-Kaal-uru" (literally, "town of boiled beans"), which eventually evolved into "Bengalūru". Suryanath Kamath has put forward an explanation of a possible floral origin of the name as derived from "benga", the Kannada term for "Pterocarpus marsupium" (also known as the Indian Kino Tree), a species of dry and moist deciduous trees that grows abundantly in the region.


title: Bangalore

text: On 11 December 2005, the Government of Karnataka accepted a proposal by Jnanpith Award winner U. R. Ananthamurthy to rename Bangalore to "Bengalūru". On 27 September 2006, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) passed a resolution to implement the name change. The government of Karnataka accepted the proposal and it was decided to officially implement the name change from 1 November 2006. The Union government approved this request, along with name changes for 11 other Karnataka cities, in October 2014. Hence, Bangalore was renamed to "Bengaluru" on 1 November 2014.


title: Bangalore

text: A discovery of Stone Age artefacts during the 2001 Census of India at Jalahalli, Sidhapura and Jadigenahalli, all of which are located on Bangalore's outskirts today, suggest human settlement around 4000 BCE. Around 1,000 BCE (during the Iron Age), burial grounds were established at Koramangala and Chikkajala on the outskirts of Bangalore. Coins of the Roman emperors Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius found at Yeswanthpur and HAL Airport indicate that the region was involved in trans-oceanic trade with the Romans and other civilisations in 27 BCE.


title: Bangalore

text: The region of modern-day Bangalore was part of several successive South Indian kingdoms. Between the fourth and tenth centuries, the region was ruled by the Western Ganga dynasty of Karnataka, the first dynasty to set up effective control over the region. According to Edgar Thurston, there were twenty-eight kings who ruled Gangavadi from the start of the Christian era until its conquest by the Cholas. The Western Gangas ruled the region initially as a sovereign power (350–550 CE), and later as feudatories of the Chalukyas of Badami, followed by the Rashtrakutas until the tenth century. The Begur Nageshwara Temple was commissioned around 860, during the reign of the Western Ganga King Ereganga Nitimarga I, and extended by his successor Nitimarga II. Around 1004, during the reign of Raja Raja Chola I, the Cholas defeated the Western Gangas under the command of the crown prince Rajendra Chola I, and captured Bangalore. During this period, the Bangalore region witnessed the migration of many groups—warriors, administrators, traders, artisans, pastorals, cultivators, and religious personnel from Tamil Nadu and other Kannada-speaking regions. The Chokkanathaswamy temple at Domlur, the Aigandapura complex near Hesaraghatta, Mukthi Natheshwara Temple at Binnamangala, Choleshwara Temple at Begur, Someshwara Temple at Ulsoor, date from the Chola era.


title: Bangalore

text: In 1117, the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana defeated the Cholas in the Battle of Talakad in south Karnataka, and extended its rule over the region. Vishnuvardhana expelled the Cholas from all parts of the Mysore state. By the end of the 13th century, Bangalore became a source of contention between two warring cousins, the Hoysala ruler Veera Ballala III of Halebidu and Ramanatha, who administered from the Hoysala held territory in Tamil Nadu. Veera Ballala III had appointed a civic head at Hudi (now within Bangalore Municipal Corporation limits), thus promoting the village to the status of a town. After Veera Ballala III's death in 1343, the next empire to rule the region was the Vijayanagara Empire, which itself saw the rise of four dynasties, the Sangamas (1336–1485), the Saluvas (1485–1491), the Tuluvas (1491–1565), and the Aravidu (1565–1646). During the reign of the Vijayanagara Empire, Achyuta Deva Raya of the Tuluva dynasty raised the Shivasamudra Dam across the Arkavati river at Hesaraghatta, whose reservoir is the present city's supply of regular piped water.


title: Bangalore

text: Modern Bangalore was begun in 1537 by a chief of the Vijayanagara Empire, Kempe Gowda I, who aligned with the Vijayanagara empire to campaign against Gangaraja (whom he defeated and expelled to Kanchi), and who built a mud-brick fort for the people at the site that would become the central part of modern Bangalore. Kempe Gowda was restricted by rules made by Achuta Deva Raya, who feared the potential power of Kempe Gowda and did not allow a formidable stone fort. Kempe Gowda referred to the new town as his "gandubhūmi" or "Land of Heroes". Within the fort, the town was divided into smaller divisions, each called a "pete" (). The town had two main streets—Chikkapeté Street and Doddapeté Street. Their intersection formed the Doddapeté Square—the heart of Bangalore. Kempe Gowda I's successor, Kempe Gowda II, built four towers that marked Bangalore's boundary. During the Vijayanagara rule, many saints and poets referred to Bangalore as "Devarāyanagara" and "Kalyānapura" or "Kalyānapuri" ("Auspicious City").


title: Bangalore

text: After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565 in the Battle of Talikota, Bangalore's rule changed hands several times. Kempe Gowda declared independence, then in 1638, a large Adil Shahi Bijapur army led by Ranadulla Khan and accompanied by his second in command Shāhji Bhōnslē defeated Kempe Gowda III, and Bangalore was given to Shāhji as a "jagir" (feudal estate). around 1639 Shahaji Bhonsle given order to reconstruction of destroyed City and building new lakes to solve water shortage of region. In 1687, the Mughal general Kasim Khan, under orders from Aurangzeb, defeated Ekoji I, son of Shāhji, and sold Bangalore to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704), the then ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore for three lakh rupees. After the death of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II in 1759, Hyder Ali, Commander-in-Chief of the Mysore Army, proclaimed himself the "de facto" ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. Hyder Ali is credited with building the Delhi and Mysore gates at the northern and southern ends of the city in 1760. The kingdom later passed to Hyder Ali's son Tipu Sultan. Hyder and Tipu directed the building of the Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens in 1760. Under them, Bangalore developed into a commercial and military centre of strategic importance.


title: Bangalore

text: The Bangalore fort was captured by British forces under Lord Cornwallis on 21 March 1791 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War and formed a centre for British resistance against Tipu Sultan. Following Tipu's death in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), the British returned administrative control of the Bangalore pētē to the Maharaja of Mysore and was incorporated into the Princely State of Mysore, which existed as a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj. The old pētē developed in the dominions of the Maharaja of Mysore. The Residency of Mysore State was first established in Mysore City in 1799 and later shifted to Bangalore in 1804. It was abolished in 1843, only to be revived in 1881 at Bangalore and closed down permanently in 1947, with Indian independence. The British found Bangalore to be a pleasant and appropriate place to station their garrison and therefore moved their cantonment to Bangalore from Seringapatam in 1809 near Ulsoor, about northeast of the city. A town grew up around the cantonment, by absorbing several villages in the area. The new centre had its own municipal and administrative apparatus, though technically it was a British enclave within the territory of the Wodeyar Kings of the Princely State of Mysore. Two important developments which contributed to the rapid growth of the city, include the introduction of telegraph connections to all major Indian cities in 1853 and a rail connection to Madras (now Chennai), in 1864.


title: Bangalore

text: In the 19th century, Bangalore essentially became a twin city, with the "pētē", whose residents were predominantly Kannadigas and the cantonment created by the British. Throughout the 19th century, the Cantonment gradually expanded and acquired a distinct cultural and political salience as it was governed directly by the British and was known as the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore. While it remained in the princely territory of Mysore, Cantonment had a large military presence and a cosmopolitan civilian population that came from outside the princely state of Mysore, including British and Anglo-Indians army officers.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore was hit by a plague epidemic in 1898 that claimed nearly 3,500 lives. The crisis caused by the outbreak catalysed the city's sanitation process. Telephone lines were laid to help co-ordinate anti-plague operations. Regulations for building new houses with proper sanitation facilities came into effect. A health officer was appointed and the city divided into four wards for better co-ordination. Victoria Hospital was inaugurated in 1900 by Lord Curzon, the then Governor-General of British India. New extensions in Malleswaram and Basavanagudi were developed in the north and south of the pētē. In 1903, motor vehicles came to be introduced in Bangalore. In 1906, Bangalore became one of the first cities in India to have electricity from hydro power, powered by the hydroelectric plant situated in Shivanasamudra. The Indian Institute of Science was established in 1909, which subsequently played a major role in developing the city as a science research hub. In 1912, the Bangalore torpedo, an offensive explosive weapon widely used in World War I and World War II, was devised in Bangalore by British army officer Captain McClintock of the Madras Sappers and Miners.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore's reputation as the "Garden City of India" began in 1927 with the silver jubilee celebrations of the rule of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. Several projects such as the construction of parks, public buildings and hospitals were instituted to improve the city. Bangalore played an important role during the Indian independence movement. Mahatma Gandhi visited the city in 1927 and 1934 and addressed public meetings here. In 1926, the labour unrest in Binny Mills due to demand by textile workers for payment of bonus resulted in lathi charging and police firing, resulting in the death of four workers, and several injuries. In July 1928, there were notable communal disturbances in Bangalore, like when a Ganesh idol was removed from a school compound in the Sultanpet area of Bangalore. In 1940, the first flight between Bangalore and Bombay took off, which placed the city on India's urban map.


title: Bangalore

text: After India's independence in August 1947, Bangalore remained in the newly carved Mysore State of which the Maharaja of Mysore was the "Rajapramukh" (appointed governor). The "City Improvement Trust" was formed in 1945, and in 1949, the "City" and the "Cantonment" merged to form the Bangalore City Corporation. The Government of Karnataka later constituted the Bangalore Development Authority in 1976 to coordinate the activities of these two bodies. Public sector employment and education provided opportunities for Kannadigas from the rest of the state to migrate to the city. Bangalore experienced rapid growth in the decades 1941–51 and 1971–81, which saw the arrival of many immigrants from northern Karnataka. By 1961, Bangalore had become the sixth-largest city in India, with a population of 1,207,000. In the following decades, Bangalore's manufacturing base continued to expand with the establishment of private companies such as MICO (Motor Industries Company), which set up its manufacturing plant in the city.


title: Bangalore

text: By the 1980s, urbanisation had spilled over the current boundaries, and in 1986, the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority, was established to co-ordinate the development of the entire region as a single unit. On 8 February 1981, a major fire broke out at Venus Circus in Bangalore, where more than 92 people died, the majority of them children. Bangalore experienced a growth in its real estate market in the 1980s and 1990s, spurred by capital investors from other parts of the country who converted Bangalore's large plots and colonial bungalows into multi-storied apartments. In 1985, Texas Instruments became the first multinational corporation to set up base in Bangalore. Other information technology companies followed suit and by the end of the 20th century, Bangalore had established itself as the "Silicon Valley of India". Today, Bangalore is India's third most populous city. During the 21st century, Bangalore has had major terrorist attacks in 2008, 2010, and 2013.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore lies in the southeast of the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is in the heart of the Mysore Plateau (a region of the larger Cretaceous Deccan Plateau) at an average elevation of . It is located at and covers . The majority of the city of Bangalore lies in the Bangalore Urban district of Karnataka and the surrounding rural areas are a part of the Bangalore Rural district. The Government of Karnataka has carved out the new district of Ramanagara from the old Bangalore Rural district.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore's topography is generally flat, although the western parts of the city are hilly. The highest point is Vidyaranyapura Doddabettahalli, above sea level, situated to the northwest of the city. No major rivers run through the city, although the Arkavathi and South Pennar cross paths at the Nandi Hills, to the north. River Vrishabhavathi, a minor tributary of the Arkavathi, arises within the city at Basavanagudi and flows through the city. The rivers Arkavathi and Vrishabhavathi together carry much of Bangalore's sewage. A sewerage system, constructed in 1922, covers of the city and connects with five sewage treatment centres located in the city's periphery.


title: Bangalore

text: In the 16th century, Kempe Gowda I constructed many lakes to meet the town's water requirements. The Kempambudhi Kere, since overrun by modern development, was prominent among those lakes. In the first half of the 20th century, the Nandi Hills waterworks were commissioned by Sir Mirza Ismail (Diwan of Mysore, 1926–41 CE) to provide a water supply to the city. The river Kaveri provides around 80% of the city's water supply and the remaining 20% is obtained from the Thippagondanahalli and Hesaraghatta reservoirs of the Arkavathi river. Bangalore receives of water a day, more than any other Indian city, but Bangalore does face occasional water shortages, especially during summer and in years with low rainfall. A random sampling of the air quality index (AQI) of twenty stations within the city ranged from 76 to 314, suggesting heavy to severe air pollution around areas of high traffic.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore has a handful of freshwater lakes and water tanks, the largest of which are Madivala tank, Hebbal Lake, Ulsoor Lake, Yediyur Lake and Sankey Tank. However, about 90% of Bangalore's lakes are polluted; the city government began revival and conservation efforts in December 2020. Groundwater occurs in silty to sandy layers of the alluvial sediments. The Peninsular Gneissic Complex (PGC) is the most dominant rock unit in the area and includes granites, gneisses and migmatites, while the soils of Bangalore consist of red laterite and red, fine loamy to clayey soils.


title: Bangalore

text: The city's vegetation is mostly large deciduous canopy and some coconut trees. Many trees are frequently felled to pave way for infrastructure development. Though Bangalore has been classified as a part of the seismic zone II (a stable zone), it has experienced earthquakes of magnitude as high as 4.5 on the Richter scale.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification "Aw") with distinct wet and dry seasons. Due to its high elevation, Bangalore usually enjoys a more moderate climate throughout the year, although occasional heat waves can make summer somewhat uncomfortable. The coolest month is January with an average low temperature of and the hottest month is April with an average high of . The highest temperature ever recorded in Bangalore is , recorded 24 April 2016, corresponding with the strong El Niño in that year. The lowest ever recorded is in January 1884. Winter temperatures rarely drop below , and summer temperatures seldom exceed . Bangalore receives rainfall from both the northeast and the southwest monsoons, and the wettest months is September, followed by October and August. The summer heat is moderated by fairly frequent thunderstorms, which occasionally cause power outages and local flooding. Most of the rainfall occurs during the late afternoon or evening and rain before noon is infrequent. November 2015 (290.4 mm) was recorded as one of the wettest months in Bangalore with heavy rains causing severe flooding in some areas, and closure of a number of organisations for over a couple of days. The heaviest rainfall recorded in a 24-hour period is recorded on 1 October 1997. In 2022, Bangalore faced a large amount of rainfall, which was 368% more than the yearly average. Several areas were flooded, and power supply was also cut off.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore is a megacity with a population of 8,443,675 in the city and 10,456,000 in the urban agglomeration, up from 8.5 million at the 2011 census. It is the third most populous city in India, the 18th most populous city in the world and the fifth most populous urban agglomeration in India. With a growth rate of 38% during the decade, Bangalore was the fastest-growing Indian metropolis after New Delhi between 1991 and 2001. Residents of Bangalore are referred to as "Bangaloreans" in English, "Bengaloorinavaru or Bengaloorigaru" in Kannada and "Banglori" in Hindi or Urdu. People from other states have migrated to Bangalore, study, or work there as well.


title: Bangalore

text: census of India, 78.9% of Bangalore's population is Hindu, a little less than the national average. Muslims comprise 13.9% of the population, roughly the same as their national average. Christians and Jains account for 5.6% and 1.0% of the population, respectively, double that of their national averages. The city has a literacy rate of 90%. Roughly 10% of Bangalore's population lives in slums.—a relatively low proportion when compared to other cities in the developing world such as Mumbai (50%) and Nairobi (60%). The 2008 National Crime Records Bureau statistics indicate that Bangalore accounts for 8.5% of the total crimes reported from 35 major cities in India which is an increase in the crime rate when compared to the number of crimes fifteen years ago.


title: Bangalore

text: In the "Ease of Living Index 2020 ("published by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs), it was ranked the most livable Indian city with a population of over a million.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore has the same major urbanisation problems seen in many fast-growing cities in developing countries: rapidly escalating social inequality, mass displacement and dispossession, the proliferation of slum settlements, and epidemic public health crisis due to severe water shortage and sewage problems in poor and working-class neighbourhoods.


title: Bangalore

text: The official language of Bangalore is Kannada, spoken by 42.05% of the population. The second-largest language is Tamil, spoken by 16.34% of the population. 13.73% speak Telugu, 13.00% Urdu, 4.64% Hindi, 3.16% Malayalam and 2.05% have Marathi as their first language. Other major languages in the city include Konkani, Marwari, Tulu, Odia and Gujarati. The Kannada language spoken in Bangalore is a form called as 'Old Mysuru Kannada' which is also used in most of the southern part of Karnataka. A vernacular dialect of this, known as Bangalore Kannada, is spoken among the youth in Bangalore and the adjoining Mysore regions. English is extensively spoken and is the principal language of the professional and business class.


title: Bangalore

text: The major communities of Bangalore who share a long history in the city, other than the Kannadigas, are the Telugus and Tamilians, who both migrated to Bangalore in search of a better livelihood, and the Dakhanis. Already in the 16th century, Bangalore had few Tamil or Telugu or speakers, who spoke Kannada for business. Telugu-speaking people initially came to Bangalore on invitation by the Mysore royalty.


title: Bangalore

text: Other native communities are the Tuluvas and the Konkanis of coastal Karnataka, and the Kodavas of the state's Kodagu district. The migrant communities include Maharashtrians, Punjabis, Rajasthanis, Gujaratis, Tamilians, Telugus, Malayalis, Odias, Sindhis, Biharis, Jharkhandis, and Bengalis. Bangalore once had a large Anglo-Indian population, the second-largest after Calcutta. Today, there are around 10,000 Anglo-Indians in Bangalore. Bangalorean Christians include Tamil Christians, Mangalorean Catholics, Kannadiga Christians, Malayali Syrian Christians and Northeast Indian Christians. Muslims form a very diverse population, consisting of Dakhini and Urdu-speaking Muslims, Kutchi Memons, Labbay and Mappilas.


title: Bangalore

text: Other languages with sizeable numbers of speakers include Konkani, Bengali, Marwari, Tulu, Odia, Gujarati, Kodagu, Punjabi, Lambadi, Sindhi and Nepali.


title: Bangalore

text: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, "Greater Bangalore Municipal Corporation") is in charge of civic administration of the city. It was formed in 2007 by merging 100 wards of the erstwhile "Bangalore Mahanagara Palike", with seven neighbouring City Municipal Councils, one Town Municipal Council and 110 villages around Bangalore. The number of wards increased to 198 in 2009. The BBMP is run by a city council of 250 members, including 198 corporators representing each of the wards of the city and 52 other elected representatives, consisting of members of Parliament and the state legislature. Elections to the council are held once every five years and are decided by popular vote. Members contesting elections to the council usually represent one or more of the state's political parties. A mayor and deputy mayor are also elected from the elected members of the council. Elections to the BBMP were held on 28 March 2010, after a gap of three and a half years since the expiry of the previous elected body's term, and the Bharatiya Janata Party was voted into powerthe first time it had ever won a civic poll in the city. Indian National Congress councillor Sampath Raj became the city's mayor in September 2017; the vote was boycotted by the BJP. In September 2018, Indian National Congress councillor Gangambike Mallikarjun was elected as mayor, replacing Sampath Raj. In 2019 BJP's M Goutham Kumar took charge as mayor. On 10 September 2020, the term of the BBMP council ended and Gaurav Gupta was appointed as the administrator of BBMP. The municipal commissioner of Bangalore is Tushar Giri Nath, and the police commissioner is Pratap Reddy.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore's rapid growth has created several administrative problems relating to traffic congestion and degrading infrastructure. The unplanned nature of growth in the city resulted in massive traffic gridlocks; a flyover system and one-way traffic systems were introduced, which were only moderately successful. A 2003 "Battelle Environmental Evaluation System" (BEES) evaluation of Bangalore's physical, biological and socioeconomic parameters indicated that Bangalore's water quality and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems were close to ideal, while the city's socioeconomic parameters (traffic, quality of life) air quality and noise pollution were poor. The BBMP works in conjunction with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the Agenda for Bangalore's Infrastructure and Development Task Force (ABIDe) to design and implement civic and infrastructural projects.


title: Bangalore

text: The Bangalore City Police (BCP) has seven geographic zones, includes the Traffic Police, the City Armed Reserve, the Central Crime Branch and the City Crime Record Bureau and runs 86 police stations, including two all-women police stations. Other units within the BCP include Traffic Police, City Armed Reserve (CAR), City Special Branch (CSB), City Crime Branch (CCB) and City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB). As capital of the state of Karnataka, Bangalore houses important state government facilities such as the Karnataka High Court, the Vidhana Soudha (the home of the Karnataka state legislature) and Raj Bhavan (the residence of the governor of Karnataka). Bangalore contributes four members to the lower house of the Indian Parliament, the "Lok Sabha", from its four constituencies: Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Central, Bangalore North, and Bangalore South, and 28 members to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.


title: Bangalore

text: Electricity in Bangalore is regulated through the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), while water supply and sanitation facilities are provided by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).


title: Bangalore

text: The city has offices of the Consulate General of Germany, France, Japan, Israel, British Deputy High Commission, along with honorary consulates of Ireland, Finland, Switzerland, Maldives, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Peru. It also has a trade office of Canada and a virtual Consulate of the United States.


title: Bangalore

text: As of 2022, Bangalore produces around 6000 metric tonnes of solid waste per day. This waste is transported from collection units located near Hesaraghatta Lake, to the garbage dumping sites. The city has considerable dust pollution, hazardous waste disposal, and disorganised, unscientific waste retrievals. The IT hub, the Whitefield region, is the most polluted area in Bangalore. In 2016, a study found that over 36% of diesel vehicles in the city exceed the national limit for emissions.


title: Bangalore

text: Anil Kumar, Commissioner of the BBMP, said: "The deteriorating air quality in cities and its impact on public health is an area of growing concern for city authorities. While much is already being done about collecting and monitoring air quality data, little focus has been given on managing the impacts that bad air quality is having on the health of citizens."


title: Bangalore

text: report submitted to the World Bank by Karnataka Slum Clearance Board, Bangalore had 862 slums out of around 2000 slums in all of Karnataka. 42% of the households migrated from different parts of India like Chennai, Hyderabad and most of North India, and 43% of the households had remained in the slums for over 10 years. The Karnataka Municipality works to shift 300 families annually to newly constructed buildings. One-third of these slum clearance projects lacked basic service connections, 60% of slum dwellers lacked complete water supply lines and shared BWSSB water supply.


title: Bangalore

text: Ιn 2012, Bangalore generated 2.1 million tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste, or 194.3 kilograms per person. Waste management in Karnataka is regulated by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) under the aegis of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a Central Government entity. As part of the Waste Management Guidelines, the government of Karnataka through the KSPCB has authorised a few well-established companies to manage biomedical and other hazardous waste in Karnataka.


title: Bangalore

text: Bangalore is second fastest growing metropolis in India. Bangalore contributes 38% of India's total IT exports. Its economy is primarily service oriented and industrial, dominated by information technology, telecommunication, biotechnology, and manufacturing of electronics, machinery, automobiles, food, etc. Major industrial areas around Bangalore are Adugodi, Bidadi, Bommanahalli, Bommasandra, Domlur, Hoodi, Whitefield, Doddaballapura, Hoskote, Bashettihalli, Yelahanka, Electronic City, Peenya, Krishnarajapuram, Bellandur, Narasapura, Rajajinagar, Mahadevapura etc. It is the fifth Indian city to host maximum numbers of Fortune Companies, after Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.