Second paragraph of the Introduction of a book titled "History of Kyrgyzstan":
"History of Kyrgyzstan is an integral part of the World History and the History of Central Asia. Prior to the 20 th century, Central Asia was a single region not separated into Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Turkmen states. All of them were Central Asians, although different states emerged and developed in the region since ancient times. Following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, the region split into five Soviet republics with national borders that in 1991 became the borders of independent Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan."
History of Kyrgyzstan (Chotaeva)