But unlike some other new post-Soviet countries, it has a strong sense of national identity that stretches back over many centuries. The identity is bound intimately to the snowy Tien Shan, or Celestial Mountains, which cover most of Kyrgyz territory, and to Lake Issyk-Kul, one of the world's largest bodies of fresh water. Both are shrouded in layers of myth and tradition. Strong ties to the past have not been enough to keep Kyrgyzstan prosperous. The cash economy, which was based on processing cotton brought from other Soviet republics and mining uranium for the Soviet weapons program, has collapsed.
Poverty is widespread, and foreign aid is all that prevents disaster.
Amid these troubles, the appeal of tradition remains strong. Despite decades of forced collectivization under Stalin and later Soviet leaders, and despite the strong pull of modernity, most people still identify with the life of the mountain shepherd, the horseman, and the nomad whose home is a collapsible felt yurt. Kyrgyzstan's isolation is due not only to its location. Most of its territory was closed to outsiders during the Soviet period. Its mountainous border with China, plus the fact that Lake Issyk-Kul was used as a secret testing ground for torpedoes, made it a highly sensitive area.