The office of the President of Mongolia, Public Relations & Communications Division

www.president.mn

2012-04-08

President of Mongoli Received the Kalmyk Citizens of the Kyrgyz

Elbegdorj Tsakhia, The President of Mongolia, met with representatives of Kalmyk citizens in Kirgiz Republic during his official visit. Some of them talked to the President in their torguud language about their lives, origins, cultures and traditions and enquired about Mongolia, how Mongolians keep their culture and traditions and national holidays such as Tsagaan-sar and Naadam.
Kalmyks came from the Ijil River basin and Uigar in Shenyang 340 years ago and settled here. There are about 12.000 Kalmyk people in Kyrgyz. Kalmyks call themselves as Sart Kalmyks. They live in 3 villages of Kyrgyz and breed the livestock. A major source of their living is agriculture. According to the estimate, there are 100-300 heads of animals for each Kalmyk family. Apart from those, they grow vegetables and fruits for their food supply. Their religious affinity belongs to the Islam. They have lived there through fifth generations, so they speak more in Kyrgyz and Russian than their own language.