What is ‘Kyrgyzstani Som – KGS’
The official currency of Kyrgyzstan, which is also called the Kyrgyz Republic. The multicolored paper notes come in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 som and feature portraits of important people in the country’s history. A fraction of a som – the functional equivalent of a U.S. cent – is a tiyin.
Explaining ‘Kyrgyzstani Som – KGS’
Located in Central Asia and bordered by China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan was a Soviet republic until 1991. It replaced the Soviet ruble with the som in 1993. This country of 5 million is the second poorest in Central Asia and is considered politically unstable. The economy is largely based on agriculture and industry, especially tobacco, cotton and gold.
Further Reading
- The Impact of Kumtor Gold Mine on the Economic and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic – papers.ssrn.com [PDF]
- An assessment of the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food sector of Kyrgyzstan – vdu.lt [PDF]
- The Russian financial crisis and workers' remittances to Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic – www.lifescienceglobal.com [PDF]
- Abbreviations and acronyms – www.oecd-ilibrary.org [PDF]
- Characterization of the aquafeed sub-sector in Kyrgyz Republic: A value chain analysis – www.sciencedirect.com [PDF]
- Moneylending and moral reasoning on the capitalist frontier in Kyrgyzstan – muse.jhu.edu [PDF]
