The culture of Kyrgyzstan has a wide mix of ethnic groups and cultures, with the Kyrgyz being the majority group. It is generally considered that there are 40 Kyrgyz clans, symbolized by the 40-rayed yellow sun in the center of the flag. The red lines inside the sun visualise the crown of a yurt, the traditional dwelling of nomadic farmers, once the main population of the Central Asian area. The dominant religion of Kyrgyzstan is Sunni Islam (91%). The Russian population is Russian Orthodox. Languages Kyrgyzstan is the only former Soviet Central Asian republic to start out with two official languages, in this case Russian and Kyrgyz. An aggressive post-Soviet campaign was established to make the latter the official national language in all commercial and government uses by 1997; Russian is still used extensively, and the non-Kyrgyz population, most not Kyrgyz speakers, are hostile to forcible Kyrgyzification. Kyrgyzstan has a high literacy rate (99%), and a strong tradition of educating all citizens. However, its ambitious program to restructure the Soviet educational system is hampered by insufficient resources. School attendance is mandatory through grade nine. Kyrgyz is increasingly used for instruction; the transition from Russian to Kyrgyz has been hampered by lack of textbooks. It remains to be seen whether Russian will continue as the second language of choice, or whether English will supersede it as a lingua franca. Demographics In 1992, the population of Kyrgyzstan was estimated as being 53% ethnic Kyrgyz, 22% Russian, 14.5% Uzbek, 1.9% Tatar, 0.5% Ukrainian, a population of Chinese Muslims known as the Dungan (1%), and a small community of Germans. Of some potential political significance are the Uyghurs. That group numbered only about 36,000 in Kyrgyzstan, but about 185,000 lived in neighboring Kazakhstan. The Uyghurs are also the majority population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, whose population is about 24 million, located to the northeast of Kyrgyzstan. Literary works Manas is an orally transmitted epic poem told by manaschis, and the name of the epic's eponymous hero. The poem, with close to half a million lines, is twenty times longer than Homer's Odyssey, and one of the longest epics in the world. It is a patriotic work recounting the exploits of Manas and his descendants and followers, who, according to tradition, fought against the Chinese and Kalmyks in the 9th century to preserve Kyrgyz independence. Chingiz Aytmatov is often referred to