In the streets of Bishkek
From the main languages to the national dress, find out more about the customs and traditions of the Kyrgyzstan people
The nation's largest ethnic group are the Kyrgyz, (also spelled Kirgiz, Kirghiz) are a Turkic people, who comprise about 70% of the population.
Other ethnic groups include Russians (9.0%) concentrated in the north and Uzbeks (14.5%) living in the south. Small but noticeable minorities include Tatars (1.9%), Uyghurs (1.1%), Tajiks (1.1%), Kazakhs (0.7%), and Ukrainians (0.5%) and other smaller ethnic minorities (1.7%). Kyrgyzstan has over 80 distinct ethnic groups in the country.
Kyrgyz and Russian are the official languages of Kyrgyzstan.
Other languages such as Uzbek, Tajik, Kazakh and Dungan are spoken within local communities.
National costume is still popular in Kyrgyzstan but usually worn only on festival days and for celebrations; sometimes aged people wear traditinal clothes as well!.
There’s a long and rich history of traditional arts and crafts in Kyrgyzstan, and many of these skills are alive and well today.
Traditional folk music and dancing remains popular with locals.