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Uzbekistan vs. Kyrgyzstan

Geography

UzbekistanKyrgyzstan
LocationCentral Asia, north of Turkmenistan, south of KazakhstanCentral Asia, west of China, south of Kazakhstan
Geographic coordinates41 00 N, 64 00 E41 00 N, 75 00 E
Map referencesAsiaAsia
Areatotal: 447,400 sq km

land: 425,400 sq km

water: 22,000 sq km
total: 199,951 sq km

land: 191,801 sq km

water: 8,150 sq km
Area - comparativeabout four times the size of Virginia; slightly larger than Californiaslightly smaller than South Dakota
Land boundariestotal: 6,893 km

border countries (5): Afghanistan 144 km, Kazakhstan 2330 km, Kyrgyzstan 1314 km, Tajikistan 1312 km, Turkmenistan 1793 km
total: 4,573 km

border countries (4): China 1063 km, Kazakhstan 1212 km, Tajikistan 984 km, Uzbekistan 1314 km
Coastline0 km (doubly landlocked); note - Uzbekistan includes the southern portion of the Aral Sea with a 420 km shoreline0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claimsnone (doubly landlocked)none (landlocked)
Climatemostly mid-latitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in eastdry continental to polar in high Tien Shan Mountains; subtropical in southwest (Fergana Valley); temperate in northern foothill zone
Terrainmostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya, Syr Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zarafshon; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in westpeaks of the Tien Shan mountain range and associated valleys and basins encompass the entire country
Elevation extremeshighest point: Adelunga Toghi 4,301 m

lowest point: Sariqamish Kuli -12 m
highest point: Jengish Chokusu (Pik Pobedy) 7,439 m

lowest point: Kara-Daryya (Karadar'ya) 132 m

mean elevation: 2,988 m
Natural resourcesnatural gas, petroleum, coal, gold, uranium, silver, copper, lead and zinc, tungsten, molybdenumabundant hydropower; gold, rare earth metals; locally exploitable coal, oil, and natural gas; other deposits of nepheline, mercury, bismuth, lead, and zinc
Land useagricultural land: 62.6% (2018 est.)

arable land: 10.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 51.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 7.7% (2018 est.)

other: 29.7% (2018 est.)
agricultural land: 55.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 6.7% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 48.3% (2018 est.)

forest: 5.1% (2018 est.)

other: 39.5% (2018 est.)
Irrigated land42,150 sq km (2012)10,233 sq km (2012)
Natural hazardsearthquakes; floods; landslides or mudslides; avalanches; droughtsmajor flooding during snow melt; prone to earthquakes
Environment - current issuesshrinkage of the Aral Sea has resulted in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification and respiratory health problems; water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salination; soil contamination from buried nuclear processing and agricultural chemicals, including DDTwater pollution; many people get their water directly from contaminated streams and wells; as a result, water-borne diseases are prevalent; increasing soil salinity from faulty irrigation practices; air pollution due to rapid increase of traffic
Environment - international agreementsparty to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - notealong with Liechtenstein, one of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the worldlandlocked; entirely mountainous, dominated by the Tien Shan range; 94% of the country is 1,000 m above sea level with an average elevation of 2,750 m; many tall peaks, glaciers, and high-altitude lakes
Total renewable water resources48.87 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)23.618 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Population distributionmost of the population is concentrated in the fertile Fergana Valley in the easternmost arm of the country; the south has significant clusters of people, while the central and western deserts are sparsely populatedthe vast majority of Kyrgyzstanis live in rural areas; densest population settlement is to the north in and around the capital, Bishkek, followed by Osh in the west; the least densely populated area is the east, southeast in the Tien Shan mountains

Source: CIA Factbook