The monograph Nature of Kyrgyzstan was published in 1962. At that time, the leading scientists and specialists of Kyrgyzstan summarized the results of research on the spatiotemporal patterns of change in the various components of the natural environment that had been accumulated up to that point. During the past half century, new data have been obtained, greatly expanding our knowledge of the characteristics of natural geographical features and processes within our mountainous country. This knowledge has been reflected in numerous scattered publications. At the same time, a fundamental synthesis of this information was carried out during the preparation of the Atlas of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (published in 1987). The publication of this atlas was made possible through the active participation of the staff of the Department of Geography of the Geological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, under the leadership of the department head, S. Umurzakov. Given the natural temporal stability of the basic parameters of environmental components, the present book makes the fullest possible use of the information contained in that atlas in its description of the country's physical geography. Some of the maps have been included in this volume. At the same time, special attention is given to changes in the natural environment brought about by human economic activity during recent decades. This book is intended for a broad readership, first and foremost scientists, practitioners, university faculty and students, as well as primary and secondary school teachers interested in general knowledge about the geology, geomorphological structure, climate, hydrology, soils, flora and fauna, and landscapes of Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, in order to provide readers with an understanding of the underlying regularities, the author set the task of describing in detail the spatial distribution patterns of geographical features. The chapters devoted to the history of geographical research, processes of surface denudation, and specially protected natural areas are also of considerable value to readers. It should be noted that the problem of transliterating Kyrgyz geographical names into Russian has not yet been fully resolved, which created difficulties for the author. These difficulties were overcome by adopting the transliteration system used in the 2001 edition of the Kyrgyzstan Encyclopedia. At the same time, place names associated with natural features and possessing the status of established geographical terms have been retained in their original form without alteration. This monograph consists of 12 chapters and presents the fundamental elements of the physical geography of Kyrgyzstan.