Water Unites

Kyrgyzstan
High mountains cover about 65% of Kyrgyzstan,
which is located at the juncture of the
Tian Shan and Pamir mountains. More than
3 500 rivers have their origin in its territory,
which is divided into six river basins. The
biggest part of the country belongs to the Syr
Darya Basin. Its tributaries are the Naryn
(807 km), the Kara Darya, and the Chatkal,
which flow from Kyrgyzstan into Uzbekistan.
Other trans boundary rivers are the Chu and
B A S I C I N F O R M AT I O N
Total area
Irrigated land
Population (2011)
Population growth
Median age
Gross domestic product
per capita (2010)
199 951 km 2
10 196 km 2
5.6 mln
Talas, flowing into Kazakhstan, and the Aksu feeding the Tarim River in China.
There are 1 923 lakes in Kyrgyzstan, more than 80% of which are located above
3 000m. Lake Issyk-Kul-located at 1 608 m in the Tian Shan mountains-has a surface
area of 6 249 km². It is the country’s largest lake and the second-largest alpine lake in the
world. Glaciers occupy about 4% of the country. Seasonal snowmelt and runoff from
melted glaciers account for up to 80% of the rivers’ total flow.
Due to the mountainous topography, only 7% of the total land area is used for crop
cultivation, while 44% is used as pasture for livestock. Animal husbandry is a significant
part of the agricultural economy. Most cultivated land is irrigated so the agricultural sector
consumes more than 90% of the water. The main cropland areas are the Ferghana Valley
and the Talas and Chu provinces. Main crops include fodder, wheat, corn, rice, tobacco,
cotton, vegetables and fruits. The main agricultural export products are cotton and tobacco.
Though the share of agriculture in GDP decreased from 37% in 1991 to 29% in 2008,
it remains important, especially for the two-thirds of the population living in rural areas.
The agricultural sector employs 36% of the labour force.
Nevertheless, the priority water usage is the production of electricity. Although to
date only a small portion of their potential is used, dams provide more than 90% of the
country’s power. Kyrgyzstan has also been exporting 2–2.5 billion kWh/year to China,
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Hydropower plants produce 10.7 billion kWh of electricity
per year. The five biggest plants, which are all located on the Naryn, produce 97% of the
country’s hydropower.
Thirteen artificial reservoirs with a storage capacity of more than 20 km³ have been
created to regulate the water flow, mainly for the purpose of hydropower production,
irrigation and flood protection. The biggest reservoir is the Toktogul (see page 18). Other
dams and reservoirs are the Kirov on the Talas River and the Orto-Say on the Chu River.
When constructed during the Soviet Union era, these reservoirs were designed not for
the benefit of Kyrgyzstan, but for irrigation in the downstream republics. Indeed, Kyrgyzstan
lost 21 100 ha of cultivated land when the dams were built. After independence,
it could use and sell the electricity from the hydropower plants, but also had to bear the
full cost of operating and maintaining the dams. For this reason, Kyrgyzstan has regularly
requested fair cost-sharing mechanisms.
1.4%
23.8 years
$ 860
36 Kyrgyzstan