Current Issues In Language and Society
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Volume: 6 Number: 1 Page: 85–91
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Kyrgyzstan: The Political and Linguistic Context
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Sue Wright
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The Kyrgyz were ruled by the Russians for more than a century. Originally a nomadic people, they constituted the rural population of Kirgizia under Soviet rule. The residents of the towns were Russians
who had migrated to provide the work force for industrialisation and the more russified Kyrgyz. In the post-Soviet period, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Kirgizia became independent Kyrgyzstan and adopted
among much other new legislation a law which made Kyrgyz the official language. The large Russian minority had a number of reasons both political and economic to leave Kyrgyzstan. The language shift required
of them was one. In the late 1990s, the Kyrgyz government made concessions in order to stem the departure of a class they felt to be vital to the well-being of the economy.
© Multilingual Matters 1999
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