Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous, landlocked former Soviet republic bordering China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. The ethnonym “Kyrgyz”, after which the country is named, is thought to originally mean “forty tribes”, presumably referring to the epic hero Manas who, as legend has it, unified forty tribes against the Khitans. The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan symbolizes the forty tribes of Manas. __