Some facts about Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan is sometimes better known for the fact that few people know anything about it ... it is not unique in that respect.

"Chaser's War on Everything -  Americans" was a spoof TV news item which proved to be a popular on item You Tube, in which an Australian "reporter" conducts a number of street interviews with questions like "Can you name a country beginning with U?" ... eliciting a range of strange and humorous replies - he even prompts some with a follow up question, "What about this one? ... the one we're in?". 

At the end of the "news item" the question changes to "Do you agree with the President when he says that Kyrgyzstan is a threat to American interests?" ... once again eliciting responses which are presented to highlight the lack of knowledge amongst the general public - that was, after all the aim of the exercise.   

 Here are some questions about Kyrgyzstan which might test the general knowledge of any Champion of Trivial Pursuits: 

1. In which country is it possible to a) find all the elements of the Periodic Table, b) experience all four seasons of the year in one day and c) find almost all the climatic earths zones represented? 
2. What is the world's longest epic poem, longer than Homer's Odyssey and Iliad put together? 
3. Which city in Kyrgyzstan was "Bigger than Rome was when Rome did its thing ..."?
4. Can you name "The Kyrgyz astronaut"?
5. What nationality was the person who first carried the Kyrgyz flag into an Olympic arena?
6. Which former European Head of State spent his formative years in Bishkek? 
7. Name the battle which halted the westward expansion of one global superpower and the eastward expansion of another "rising star"?
8. Which country established the first foreign embassy in Bishkek after Kyrgyzstan declared Independence in 1991?
9. Who might have phoned home after crash landing at Devil's Tomb?

For the record , here are the answers:

Here are the answers to our questions about Kyrgyzstan: 

1. In which country is it possible to a) find all the elements of the Periodic Table, b) experience all four seasons of the year in one day and c) find almost all the climatic earths zones represented? 
Kyrgyzstan - that was an easy one to start with ...

2. What is the world's longest epic poem, longer than Homer's Odyseey and Illiad put together? 
The epic of Manas, the legendary hero of the Kyrgyz.

3. Which city in Kyrgyzstan was "Bigger than Rome was when Rome did its thing ..."?
Nevkat - this is a bit of a cheat, because Nevkat no longer exists ... all that remains of this once great Silk Road city is a mound where the "upper town" and citadel lay.  It has been, and still is, the subject of extensive archaeological excavations.

Incidentally, whilst on the subject of Rome ... Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan lies at the same latitude as Rome - and ...
it is claimed that the city of Osh is over 3000 years old - and known under the slogan "older than Rome". 

4. Can you name "The Kyrgyz astronaut"?
Salijan Sharipov - who was born in Uzgen in 1964.  Actually, he comes from an Uzbek family and has a Russian passport - and all three nations lay claim to him. 

Incidentally, following his return to earth Yuri Gagarin, (the first man in space), came to recuperate at the Military sanatoria at Tamga, on the Southern shores of Lake Issyk Kul. 

5. What nationality was the person who first carried the Kyrgy flag into an Olympic arena?
Norwegian - it was the 1994 Winter Games at Lillehammer in Norway, and the Kyrgyz team were delayed and did not arrive in time for the opening ceremony. So the flag was carried into an Olympic Area for the first time by a foreigner - the Norwegian translator Torkel Engeness.

6. Which former European Head of State spent his formative years in Bishkek? 
Alexander Dubcek, the former President of Czechoslovakia?

Incidentally, he is not the only head of state to have spent some time in the country - more than just on an official visit.  In the days of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan was the base for one of the USSR's pilot training schools and both President Said of Syria and Mubarak of Egypt trained here.

Also, Baron Carl Gustav (Emil) Mannerheim, who was Marshall of Finland during the Second World War, visited the Southern part of Kyrgyzstan during a fact-finding mission to Central Asia at the start of the twentieth century. 

7. Name the battle which halted the westward expansion of one global superpower and the eastward expansion of another "rising star"?
The Battle of Talas ... in 751AD ... between the Arabs and their local Muslim allies and the Chinese Empire.  Actually, the battle took place just over the modern day border with Kazakhstan on the banks of the River Talas, outside the city of Taraz.

8. Which country established the first foreign embassy in Bishkek after Kyrgyzstan declared Independence in 1991?
The United States of America - The Kyrgyz Republic declared its independence on August 31, 1991 and was recognized formally by the United States on December 25, 1991.  The embassy was opened in the following February.  At first it was located on Derzhinsky Prospect (now Prospect Erkindik) and the neighbouring building was the headquarters of the KGB.  (The KGB duly moved it's main entrance round the corner.) 

9. Who might have phoned home after crash landing at Devil's Tomb?
Extra Terrestrials ? ...   In August 1991 jets were scrambled to intercept an unidentified flying object which had appeared on radar screens across the region.  It is said to have crash landed at Devil's Tomb, which is in a remote part of Eastern Kyrgyzstan, in the Sary Jaz region of Issyk Kul oblast, near the border of China.  

Incidentally, there have been a number of UFO sightings in Kyrgyzstan (!)