Languages
Kyrgyzstan is one of the two former Soviet republics in Central Asia to retain Russian as an official language, Kazakhstan being the other. It added the Kyrgyz language to become an officially bilingual country in September 1991.
Kyrgyz is a member of the Turkic group of languages. It was written in the Arabic alphabet until the twentieth century. Latin script was introduced and adopted in 1928, and was subsequently replaced by Cyrillic script in 1941.
According to the 2009 census, 4.1 millions of people spoke Kyrgyz as native or second language and 2.5 millions of people spoke Russian as native or second language. Uzbek is the second most widely spoken native language, followed by Russian; Russian is the most widely spoken second language, followed by Kyrgyz, Uzbek and English.
| Language name | Native speakers | Second-language speakers | Total speakers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyrgyz | 3,830,556 | 271,187 | 4,121,743 |
| Russian | 482,243 | 2,109,393 | 2,591,636 |
| Uzbek | 772,561 | 97,753 | 870,314 |
| English | 28,416 | 28,416 | |
| French | 641 | 641 | |
| German | 10 | 10 | |
| Other | 277,433 | 31,411 |
Read more about this topic: Kyrgyzstan
Famous quotes containing the word languages:
“No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The trouble with foreign languages is, you have to think before your speak.”
—Swedish proverb, trans. by Verne Moberg.
“People in places many of us never heard of, whose names we can’t pronounce or even spell, are speaking up for themselves. They speak in languages we once classified as “exotic” but whose mastery is now essential for our diplomats and businessmen. But what they say is very much the same the world over. They want a decent standard of living. They want human dignity and a voice in their own futures. They want their children to grow up strong and healthy and free.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)