Some implements found in the Tian Shan mountains indicate the presence of humn society in what is now Kyrgyzstan as many as 200,000 to 300,000 years ago.The first written records of a civilisationin the area occupied by Kyrgyzstanappear in chinese chronicles about 2000 BC.
Historical map of central Asia
The Kyrgyz were a nomadic people of Turkic descent living in the northern Tien Shan mountain range. Origim=nally chronicled as living in the region of what is eastern Siberia and Mongolia, the Kyrgyz migrated westward more than a thousand years ago and settled in the mountains of Central Asia.
The Kyrgyz are a largely Muslim people of Turko-Mongol origin whose language, Kyrgyz, is a member of the central , or kipchak, branch of the Turkic linguistic group. Kyrgyz have been divided into clans for many centuries .The word Kyrgyz derives from the Turkic words kyrk ( forty) and yz (clans) .Kyrgyz tribes setled in the area of Kyrgyzstan between the 13th to 16th centuries.
The ethnic group of the kyrgyz , traditionally nomads that still nowadays often live as half-nomads makes up a bit more than 50 %of the population. The two other ethnic groups are Ussians and Uzbeks both 15 %of the population.
