Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Compare · Countries

Afghanistan vs Kyrgyzstan

On research quality in 2022-now, Afghanistan ranks #106 in the world and Kyrgyzstan #142, of 189 countries. Afghanistan stands higher in 4 of the 10 fields both publish in, Kyrgyzstan in 6.

Research profiles alike: 0.84very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

Compare other countries
vs

Afghanistan

World rank, 2022-now
#106
#135 all time
Works, 2022-now
4.5k
fractional
Top-10% rate
9.0%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
86%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Transportation, Political Science and International Relations, Chemical Health and Safety.

Kyrgyzstan

World rank, 2022-now
#142
#162 all time
Works, 2022-now
6.4k
fractional
Top-10% rate
5.1%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
73%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Anatomy, Fuel Technology, Archeology.

Who leads, measure by measure?

Afghanistan leads on 7 of 9 measures: research quality, citation excellence for its fields, top-10% rate, citations per work, open access, international co-authorship and growth. Kyrgyzstan leads on 1 of 9 measures: output. The two are level on institutions in the world top 100.

Afghanistan 71 level1 Kyrgyzstan
  1. #106Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#142
  2. 0.80×Citation excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected0.41×
  3. 4.5kOutputfractional works, 2022-now6.4k
  4. 9.0%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited5.1%
  5. 4.7Citations per workall time, per fractional work2.6
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 86%Open accessof its works free to read, all time73%
  8. 34%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time25%
  9. +155%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+87%

A rank is drawn as its standing: the longer the bar, the nearer the top. Anything else is drawn against the larger of the two, and two values a hair apart are called level. Quality, citation excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Afghanistan stands higher in 4 of 10 fields, Kyrgyzstan in 6. Kyrgyzstan leads most in Social Sciences (#80 against #89); Afghanistan leads most in Medicine (#115 against #145). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Afghanistan 46 Kyrgyzstan
  1. #95Agricultural and Biological Sciences#115
  2. -Arts and Humanities#74
  3. -Business, Management and Accounting#80
  4. #94Computer Science#116
  5. -Economics, Econometrics and Finance#84
  6. #99Engineering#119
  7. -Environmental Science#101
  8. #115Medicine#145
  9. -Psychology#86
  10. #89Social Sciences#80

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

The numbers behind each field

Click a heading to sort. The side that does better in a pair of columns is shaded: a lower rank, a higher rate, more works.

Field Afghanistan rankKyrgyzstan rank Afghanistan top 10%Kyrgyzstan top 10% Afghanistan worksKyrgyzstan works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #95 #115 8.9% 5.4% 317 276
Arts and Humanities - #74 - 9.5% - 373
Business, Management and Accounting - #80 - 7.5% - 222
Computer Science #94 #116 13.5% 4.0% 260 503
Economics, Econometrics and Finance - #84 - 6.4% - 309
Engineering #99 #119 9.0% 3.4% 416 455
Environmental Science - #101 - 4.1% - 229
Medicine #115 #145 6.5% 2.7% 690 1k
Psychology - #86 - 3.3% - 220
Social Sciences #89 #80 10.4% 7.0% 1.3k 1.9k

What is each known for?

The keywords that describe each side's research, by fractional works in 2022-now and weighted toward what it does more of than the world.

Afghanistan

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Security309▲ 8.7×24 topics
  2. Epidemiology296▲ 1.39×126 topics
  3. Conflict293▲ 34×9 topics
  4. Central Asia260▲ 69×4 topics
  5. Nation-Building252▲ 89×3 topics
  6. Reconstruction252▲ 28×6 topics
  7. State-Building251▲ 133×2 topics
  8. Afghanistan249▲ 196×1 topic
  9. Pakistan249▲ 196×1 topic
  10. Globalization244▲ 2.3×91 topics
  11. Ethnicity210▲ 11×14 topics
  12. Culture207▲ 7.4×16 topics
  13. History204▲ 5.5×20 topics
  14. Climate Change202▲ 1.39×97 topics
  15. Literature201▲ 6.9×23 topics
  16. Philosophy198▲ 8.4×13 topics
  17. Islam191▲ 17×5 topics
  18. Social Influence190▲ 17×3 topics
  19. Science189▲ 14×3 topics
  20. Malay Language188▲ 25×1 topic
  21. Sharia Law188▲ 25×1 topic
  22. Sustainable Development178▲ 2.1×76 topics
  23. Economic Security164▲ 14×7 topics
  24. Legal Regulation162▲ 14×7 topics
  25. Strategic Planning158▲ 20×3 topics
  26. Design158▲ 18×4 topics
  27. Modernization157▲ 16×4 topics
  28. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles157▲ 16×4 topics
  29. International Trade Law156▲ 22×2 topics
  30. Foresight156▲ 22×2 topics
  31. Air Force155▲ 25×1 topic
  32. Warfare155▲ 25×1 topic
  33. Public Oversight155▲ 24×1 topic
  34. Transport Policy155▲ 24×1 topic
  35. Human Rights133▲ 2.4×55 topics
  36. Teacher Training107▲ 3.3×16 topics
  37. Islamic Education87▲ 4.9×4 topics
  38. Religious Education68▲ 7.9×3 topics
  39. Madrasa66▲ 18×1 topic
  40. Muslim Students66▲ 18×1 topic

Kyrgyzstan

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Education583▲ 4.3×88 topics
  2. Globalization536▲ 3.5×103 topics
  3. Sustainable Development521▲ 4.3×91 topics
  4. Innovation487▲ 6.1×59 topics
  5. Educational Technology440▲ 4.8×42 topics
  6. Pedagogy407▲ 10×17 topics
  7. Sustainability373▲ 1.96×98 topics
  8. E-Learning359▲ 4.8×23 topics
  9. Climate Change352▲ 1.66×107 topics
  10. Online Learning304▲ 4.7×23 topics
  11. Digital Education302▲ 26×6 topics
  12. Digital Economy282▲ 18×17 topics
  13. Artificial Intelligence280▲ 2.5×61 topics
  14. Economic Development279▲ 4.5×38 topics
  15. Educational Technologies274▲ 39×2 topics
  16. Public Health272▲ 2.4×57 topics
  17. Language Teaching267▲ 13×8 topics
  18. Social Media256▲ 2.4×32 topics
  19. Teacher Training255▲ 5.3×21 topics
  20. Central Asia253▲ 46×4 topics
  21. Tourism Development246▲ 23×2 topics
  22. Teaching Methods241▲ 19×10 topics
  23. Critical Thinking237▲ 26×4 topics
  24. International Relations237▲ 13×25 topics
  25. Entrepreneurship235▲ 7.6×14 topics
  26. Formative Assessment233▲ 36×2 topics
  27. Artistic Education232▲ 46×1 topic
  28. Student Competencies232▲ 46×1 topic
  29. Cultural Diplomacy224▲ 35×5 topics
  30. Digital Transformation222▲ 5.3×26 topics
  31. Migration219▲ 8.2×22 topics
  32. Geopolitics214▲ 18×10 topics
  33. Security205▲ 3.9×26 topics
  34. Distance Learning205▲ 7.6×10 topics
  35. Digitalization203▲ 13×13 topics
  36. Language192▲ 9.9×11 topics
  37. Belt and Road Initiative182▲ 61×3 topics
  38. Soft Power146▲ 46×3 topics
  39. Eurasian integration142▲ 153×1 topic
  40. Russia-China cooperation142▲ 153×1 topic

Size is fractional works in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of the side's work against its share of the world's. Each word links to the topic it comes from most.

How has their output grown?

Kyrgyzstan has out-published Afghanistan every year since 1991, when it overtook it.

still counting1k2k3kKyrgyzstan2,414 in 2025Afghanistan1,716 in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year.

Their share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share, because all of science grows. Each line is a side as a percentage of every work published that year.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Kyrgyzstan0.041% in 2025Afghanistan0.029% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

The share of each side's works, year by year, that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. The average of all institutions is 10.0% (why not 10%).

still counting5%10%15%Afghanistan8.5% in 2025Kyrgyzstan5.1% in 202520102020

A year with under 1% of the side's peak output is left out: a rate over a handful of papers says nothing. The latest years are still being cited.

Who holds more of the world's best institutions?

A country's average quality and the number of institutions it holds at the very top can disagree, and both are worth knowing. The counts are nested: an institution in the top 50 is also in the top 100.

Afghanistan 05 level0 Kyrgyzstan
  1. 0In the world top 500
  2. 0In the top 1000
  3. 0In the top 5000
  4. 0In the top 1,0000
  5. #51Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#51

Institutions ranked on research quality, 2022-now. Elite capacity counts a country's institutions by their worldwide rank, weighted so a place at #1 counts for more than one at #480.

Which publishes more research, Afghanistan or Kyrgyzstan?

Kyrgyzstan publishes 1.4× as much research as Afghanistan in 2022-now (6.4k against 4.5k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Afghanistan or Kyrgyzstan?

9.0% of Afghanistan's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 5.1% for Kyrgyzstan.

Is Afghanistan or Kyrgyzstan growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +155% against 2018-21 for Afghanistan, and +87% for Kyrgyzstan.

Which has more open access research, Afghanistan or Kyrgyzstan?

86% of Afghanistan's research is free to read, against 73% of Kyrgyzstan's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Afghanistan or Kyrgyzstan?

Afghanistan holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Kyrgyzstan 0; in the top 1,000 it is 0 against 0.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

Afghanistan

  1. 1Kabul University8.3% top 10% · 1.2k works
  2. 2Kandahar University12.7% top 10% · 207 works
  3. 3Herat University10.0% top 10% · 340 works
  4. 4Kabul Education University7.5% top 10% · 249 works
  5. 5Nangarhar University8.9% top 10% · 332 works
  6. 6Kardan University13.9% top 10% · 145 works

Kyrgyzstan

  1. 1Kyrgyz State National University2.5% top 10% · 1.2k works
  2. 2Kyrgyz-Türkish Manas Üniversity8.5% top 10% · 716 works
  3. 3Osh State University4.4% top 10% · 914 works
  4. 4Aga Khan Foundation6.4% top 10% · 285 works
  5. 5University of Central Asia12.5% top 10% · 219 works
  6. 6International University of Kyrgyzstan6.7% top 10% · 311 works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

Who are the top researchers on each side?

The most cited researchers on each side, among those ranked.

Afghanistan

  1. 1 Muhammad Haroon Stanikzai #146,569 worldwide 9.4k citations · 116 works
  2. 2 Ahmad Shah Irshad #157,819 worldwide 648 citations · 45 works
  3. 3 Sajid Ullah #165,934 worldwide 561 citations · 24 works
  4. 4 Sayeed Naqibullah Orfan #191,532 worldwide 523 citations · 37 works
  5. 5 Abdul Qawi Noori #209,787 worldwide 484 citations · 30 works

Kyrgyzstan

  1. 1 Erkin Mirsaidovich Mirrakhimov #910 worldwide 238k citations · 309 works
  2. 2 Alina S Kerimkulova #184,365 worldwide 54k citations · 73 works
  3. 3 Kashif Hasan Khan #402,554 worldwide 217 citations · 36 works
  4. 4 Kubatbek Sh. Tabaldiev #510,674 worldwide 2.5k citations · 44 works
  5. 5 Ayman Aljarbouh #536,372 worldwide 1.2k citations · 66 works