Almazbek Atambayev lahir pada tahun 1956 di wilayah utara Chui. Ia menerima gelar sarjana di bidang ekonomi selama belajar di Moskow Institute of Management. Atambayev memiliki empat anak dari pernikahannya dengan istri pertamanya Buazhar, dua putra bernama Seyit dan Seytek, dan dua anak perempuan Diana dan Dinara. Pada tahun 1988 ia menikah dengan istri keduanya, Raisa. Mereka memiliki dua anak, seorang anak laki-laki bernama Kadyrbek dan seorang anak perempuan bernama Aliya. Raisa berasal dari etnis Tatar, lahir di Pegunungan Ural, Rusia, yang kemudian pindah ke Osh ketika masih kecil, dengan orang tuanya. Raisa adalah seorang dokter.
The first popularly elected officeholder was Askar Akayev, who served from October 1990 until March 24, 2005. In July 2005, Kurmanbek Bakiyev was elected. He was re-elected in 2009, but large riots in April 2010 forced him to resign and flee the country. Roza Otunbayeva was selected in April 2010 to head the interim government. She was officially inaugurated on July 3, 2010, as president for a limited term, until elections could be organised. Her successor, Almazbek Atambayev, was elected in the Kyrgyzstani presidential election, 2011 and took over on 1 December 2011.