The history of Kyrgyzstan dates from over two thousand years ago and includes a wide variety of cultures and empires. Although geographically isolated by its highly mountainous terrain, Kyrgyzstan was historically at the crossroads of several great civilizations as part of the Silk Road and other trade and cultural routes.
The national language, Kyrgyz, is closely related to the other Turkish languages, with which it shares strong cultural and historical ties. Kyrgyzstan is one of the active members of the Turkic Council and the TÜRKSOY community.
Kyrgyzstan is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. On 8 May 2015, it became a full member of the Eurasian Economic Union along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.