Islam in Kyrgyzstan

Islam began reaching the region in the 8th century and spread widely among the Turkic tribes under the Karakhanids. As of 2019, 90.7% of the population was Muslim, and the country has more than 2,000 mosques.

Kyrgyz Islam keeps nomadic customs and older beliefs alive: reverence for ancestral spirits, pilgrimage to sacred mountains and springs, and ideas linked to Tengri. The south is more religiously conservative.

Kyrgyzstan is a secular state; since independence mosques, madrasas and religious life have revived. The Central Mosque in Bishkek is one of the largest in Central Asia.