Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz family in a region of Kyrgyzstan. *Photo from Wikipedia August 31 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kyrgyzstan from the Soviet Union in 1991. Although geographically isolated by its mountainous location, it had an important role as part of the historical Silk Road trade route. In between periods of self-government it was ruled by Göktürks (突厥, a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia), the Uyghur Empire, and the Khitan (契丹) people, before being conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century; subsequently it regained independence but was invaded by Kalmyks (the Oirats in Russia), Manchus