Transportation in Kyrgyzstan
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Transportation in Kyrgyzstan is severely constrained by the country's alpine topography. Roads have to snake up steep valleys, cross passes of 3,000 meter altitude and more, and are subject to frequent mud slides and snow avalanches. Winter travel is close to impossible in many of the more remote and high-altitude regions. Additional problems are due to the fact that many roads and railway lines built during the Soviet period are today intersected by international boundaries, requiring time-consuming border formalities to cross where they are not completely closed. It is worth mentioning that the horse is still a much used transport option, especially in rural and inaccessible areas, as it does not depend on imported fuel.
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Railways
total: 370 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
broad gauge: 370 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Highways
With support from the Asian Development Bank, a major road linking the north and southwest from Bishkek to Osh is currently under construction, which will considerably ease communication between the two major population centers of the country - the Chui Valley in the north and the Ferghana Valley in the South. An offshoot of this road branches off across a 3,500 meter pass into the Talas Valley in the northwest. Plans are now being formulated to build a major road from Osh into China.
total: 30,300 km (including 140 km of expressways)
paved: 22,600 km (includes some all-weather gravel-surfaced roads)
unpaved: 7,700 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990)
Pipelines
Natural gas 200 km
Waterways
Water transport exists only on Lake Issyk Kul, and has drastically shrunk since the end of the Soviet Union.
Ports and harbors
Balykchy (Ysyk-Kol or Rybach'ye), on Lake Issyk Kul.
Airports
50 (2001). Only few airports remain in service today.
- Manas airport near Bishkek is the main international terminal, with flights to Moscow, Tashkent, Dushanbe, Istanbul, Baku, and London.
- Osh airport is the main air terminal in the South, with daily connections to Bishkek.
- Jalal-Abad airport is linked to Bishkek by two flights per week.
- Other facilities built during the Soviet era are either closed down, used only occasionally or restricted to military use (e.g., Kant, a Russian air base near Bishkek).
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 46
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 6
under 914 m: 32 (2002)