I got an e-mail newsletter (which means that I can't link to it) that had some interesting information, including a word I hadn't known about: khanate. Here is part of what it said:
Kyrgyzstan (pronounced "Kier-gee-stan") is a more familiar name for a Central Asian nation whose official name is the Kyrgyz Republic.
The Kyrgyz, a traditionally nomadic people...show up in Chinese chronicles that date to around 200 BC. Back then, they lived in what is now northern Mongolia, though they later moved to Siberia before migrating to the land that now bears their name. Kyrgyz raiders were probably among the marauders who prompted the Chinese to build the original Great Wall in the 3rd century BC.
By the 9th century AD, the Kyrgyz had begun to build a khanate that at length included parts of modern Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Siberia, and China. That khanate came crashing down in the 13th century, with the spread of Mongol armies under Genghis Khan and his descendents.

It did give a link to some stunning pictures:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Kyrgyzstan/page1.htm