A country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. Kyrgyzstan is divided into seven provinces (oblast. The capital, Bishkek, and the second large city Osh are administratively the independent cities (shaar) with a status equal to a province. Each province comprises a number of districts (raions).