Living in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan is cheaper to live in than much of the world, yet that bargain does less for a salary than it first appears. Pay lands in the middle of the global range and tax leaves most of it, but once the essentials are met what remains is only modest, enough to live on without much room to get ahead. The job market gives little to a newcomer, with hiring that seldom reaches past established circles and almost no work where English will stand in for the local language. Here the language comes first and the living follows from it.

Kyrgyzstan's diaspora is contracting — down 16% over the past decade, to 540.6K — an unusual reversal for a country that sends labor abroad. By far the largest community is in Russia, home to 333.7K Kyrgyz-born residents, with Kazakhstan a distant second.