Central Asia
Population density | 17.43/km2 (45.1/sq mi) |
---|---|
GDP (PPP) | $1.25 trillion (2023)[3] |
GDP (nominal) | $446 billion (2023)[3] |
GDP per capita | $5,900 (2023; nominal)[3] $16,400 (2023; PPP)[3] |
HDI | 0.779 (high) |
Demonym | Central Asian |
Countries | |
Languages | Dungan, Karakalpak, Kazakh, Koryo-mar, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Russian, Tajik, Turkmen, Uyghur, Uzbek, and others |
Time zones | 2 time zones
|
Internet TLD | .kg, .kz, .tj, .tm, .uz |
Calling code | Zone 9 except Kazakhstan (Zone 7) |
Largest cities | |
UN M49 code | 143 – Central Asia142 – Asia001 – World |
a With population over 500,000 people |
Central Asia is a subregion of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the southwest and Eastern Europe in the northwest to Western China and Mongolia in the east,[4] and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.[5] The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan" (meaning "land of") in both respective native languages and most other languages.[6]
In the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras (c. 1000 and earlier) Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by
Central Asia was historically closely tied to the Silk Road trade routes,[citation needed] acting as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe and the Far East.[9][10][11] Most countries in Central Asia are still integral to parts of the world economy.[12]
From the mid-19th century until almost the end of the 20th century, Central Asia was colonised by the
Central Asia has a population of about 72 million, in five countries: Kazakhstan (19 million), Kyrgyzstan (7 million), Tajikistan (10 million), Turkmenistan (6 million), and Uzbekistan (35 million).[18]
Definitions
One of the first geographers to mention Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions. Historically, political geography and culture have been two significant parameters widely used in scholarly definitions of Central Asia.[19] Humboldt's definition comprised every country between 5° North and 5° South of the latitude 44.5°N.[20] Humboldt mentions some geographic features of this region, which include the Caspian Sea in the west, the Altai mountains in the north and the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains in the South.[21] He did not give an eastern border for the region. His legacy is still seen: Humboldt University of Berlin, named after him, offers a course in Central Asian studies.[22] The Russian geographer Nikolaĭ Khanykov questioned the latitudinal definition of Central Asia and preferred a physical one of all countries located in the region landlocked from water, including Afghanistan, Khorasan (Northeast Iran), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uyghuristan (Xinjiang), and Uzbekistan.[23][24][25]
Russian culture has two distinct terms: Средняя Азия (Srednyaya Aziya or "Middle Asia", the narrower definition, which includes only those traditionally non-Slavic, Central Asian lands that were incorporated within those borders of historical Russia) and Центральная Азия (Tsentralnaya Aziya or "Central Asia", the wider definition, which includes Central Asian lands that have never been part of historical Russia). The latter definition includes Afghanistan and 'East Turkestan'.[26]
The most limited definition was the official one of the Soviet Union, which defined Middle Asia as consisting solely of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, omitting Kazakhstan. Soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the leaders of the four former Soviet Central Asian Republics met in Tashkent and declared that the definition of Central Asia should include Kazakhstan as well as the original four included by the Soviets. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia.
In 1978, UNESCO defined the region as "Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran, Pakistan, northern India, western China, Mongolia and the Soviet Central Asian Republics".[27]
An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity, and in particular, areas populated by Eastern Turkic, Eastern Iranian, or Mongolian peoples. These areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan and the Kashmir Valley of India may also be included. The Tibetans and Ladakhis are also included. Most of the mentioned peoples are considered the "indigenous" peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan.[28][29][30]
Geography
Central Asia is a region of varied geography, including high passes and
Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming. The
Central Asia has the following geographic extremes:
- The world's northernmost desert (sand dunes), at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, 50°18' N.
- The Northern Hemisphere's southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17' N.
- The world's shortest distance between non-frozen desert and permafrost: 770 km (480 mi).
- The Eurasian pole of inaccessibility.
A majority of the people earn a living by herding livestock. Industrial activity centers in the region's cities.
Major rivers of the region include the
Both of these bodies of water have shrunk significantly in recent decades due to the diversion of water from rivers that feed them for irrigation and industrial purposes. Water is an extremely valuable resource in arid Central Asia and can lead to rather significant international disputes.
Historical regions
Central Asia is bounded on the north by the forests of Siberia. The northern half of Central Asia (Kazakhstan) is the middle part of the
To the east, Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin were united into the Manchu-Chinese province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang; Hsin-kiang) about 1759. Caravans from China usually went along the north or south side of the Tarim basin and joined at Kashgar before crossing the mountains northwest to Ferghana or southwest to Bactria. A minor branch of the silk road went north of the Tian Shan through Dzungaria and Zhetysu before turning southwest near Tashkent. Nomadic migrations usually moved from Mongolia through Dzungaria before turning southwest to conquer the settled lands or continuing west toward Europe.
The
To the southwest, across the Kopet Dagh, lies Persia. From here Persian and Islamic civilisation penetrated Central Asia and dominated its high culture until the Russian conquest. In the southeast is the route to India. In early times Buddhism spread north and throughout much of history warrior kings and tribes would move southeast to establish their rule in northern India. Most nomadic conquerors entered from the northeast. After 1800 western civilisation in its Russian and Soviet form penetrated from the northwest.
- Names of historical regions
Climate
Because Central Asia is landlocked and not buffered by a large body of water, temperature fluctuations are often severe, excluding the hot, sunny summer months. In most areas the climate is dry and continental, with hot summers and cool to cold winters, with occasional snowfall. Outside high-elevation areas, the climate is mostly semi-arid to arid. In lower elevations, summers are hot with blazing sunshine. Winters feature occasional rain or snow from low-pressure systems that cross the area from the Mediterranean Sea. Average monthly precipitation is very low from July to September, rises in autumn (October and November) and is highest in March or April, followed by swift drying in May and June. Winds can be strong, producing dust storms sometimes, especially toward the end of the summer in September and October. Specific cities that exemplify Central Asian climate patterns include Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The last of these represents one of the wettest climates in Central Asia, with an average annual precipitation of over 560 mm (22 inches).
Biogeographically, Central Asia is part of the
Climate change
As of 2022, Central Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to global climate change in the world and the region's temperature is growing faster than the global average.[31]
History
Although, during the golden age of Orientalism the place of Central Asia in the world history was marginalised, contemporary historiography has rediscovered the "centrality" of the Central Asia.[32] The history of Central Asia is defined by the area's climate and geography. The aridness of the region made agriculture difficult, and its distance from the sea cut it off from much trade. Thus, few major cities developed in the region; instead, the area was for millennia dominated by the nomadic horse peoples of the steppe.
Relations between the
During pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by speakers of
The main
Invasion routes through Central Asia
Once populated by
The Tang dynasty of China expanded westwards and controlled large parts of Central Asia, directly and indirectly through their Turkic vassals. Tang China actively supported the Turkification of Central Asia, while extending its cultural influence.[49] The Tang Chinese were defeated by the Abbasid Caliphate at the Battle of Talas in 751, marking the end of the Tang dynasty's western expansion and the 150 years of Chinese influence. The Tibetan Empire would take the chance to rule portions of Central Asia and South Asia. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols conquered and ruled the largest contiguous empire in recorded history. Most of Central Asia fell under the control of the Chagatai Khanate.
The dominance of the nomads ended in the 16th century, as
The Soviet areas of Central Asia saw much industrialisation and construction of infrastructure, but also the suppression of local cultures, hundreds of thousands of deaths from failed collectivisation programmes, and a lasting legacy of ethnic tensions and environmental problems. Soviet authorities deported millions of people, including entire nationalities,[50] from western areas of the Soviet Union to Central Asia and Siberia.[51] According to Touraj Atabaki and Sanjyot Mehendale, "From 1959 to 1970, about two million people from various parts of the Soviet Union migrated to Central Asia, of which about one million moved to Kazakhstan."[52]
With the
In nearly all the new states, former Communist Party officials retained power as local strongmen. None of the new republics could be considered functional democracies in the early days of independence, although in recent years Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia have made further progress towards more open societies, unlike Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, which have maintained many Soviet-style repressive tactics.[54]
Culture
Arts
At the crossroads of Asia,
Central Asia also has an indigenous form of improvisational
Photography in Central Asia began to develop after 1882, when a
Some also learn to sing the
As a consequence of Russian colonisation, European fine arts – painting, sculpture and graphics – have developed in Central Asia. The first years of the Soviet regime saw the appearance of modernism, which took inspiration from the Russian avant-garde movement. Until the 1980s, Central Asian arts had developed along with general tendencies of Soviet arts. In the 90s, arts of the region underwent some significant changes. Institutionally speaking, some fields of arts were regulated by the birth of the art market, some stayed as representatives of official views, while many were sponsored by international organisations. The years of 1990–2000 were times for the establishment of contemporary arts. In the region, many important international exhibitions are taking place, Central Asian art is represented in European and American museums, and the Central Asian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale has been organised since 2005.
Sports
The traditional game of Buzkashi is played throughout the Central Asian region, the countries sometimes organise Buzkashi competition amongst each other. The First regional competition among the Central Asian countries, Russia, Chinese Xinjiang and Turkey was held in 2013.[57] The first world title competition was played in 2017 and won by Kazakhstan.[58]
Association football is popular across Central Asia. Most countries are members of the Central Asian Football Association, a region of the Asian Football Confederation. However, Kazakhstan is a member of the UEFA.
Wrestling is popular across Central Asia, with Kazakhstan having claimed 14 Olympic medals, Uzbekistan seven, and Kyrgyzstan three. As former Soviet states, Central Asian countries have been successful in gymnastics.
Cricket is the most popular sport in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan national cricket team, first formed in 2001, has claimed wins over Bangladesh, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Notable Kazakh competitors include cyclists
Notable Uzbekistani competitors include cyclist Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, boxer Ruslan Chagaev, canoer Michael Kolganov, gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, tennis player Denis Istomin, chess player Rustam Kasimdzhanov, and figure skater Misha Ge.
Economy
Since gaining independence in the early 1990s, the Central Asian republics have gradually been moving from a state-controlled economy to a market economy. However, reform has been deliberately gradual and selective, as governments strive to limit the social cost and ameliorate living standards. All five countries are implementing structural reforms to improve competitiveness. Kazakhstan is the only CIS country to be included in the 2020[59] and 2019[60] IWB World Competitiveness rankings. In particular, they have been modernizing the industrial sector and fostering the development of service industries through business-friendly fiscal policies and other measures, to reduce the share of agriculture in GDP. Between 2005 and 2013, the share of agriculture dropped in all but Tajikistan, where it increased while industry decreased. The fastest growth in industry was observed in Turkmenistan, whereas the services sector progressed most in the other four countries.[61]
Public policies pursued by Central Asian governments focus on buffering the political and economic spheres from external shocks. This includes maintaining a trade balance, minimizing public debt and accumulating national reserves. They cannot totally insulate themselves from negative exterior forces, however, such as the persistently weak recovery of global industrial production and international trade since 2008. Notwithstanding this, they have emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. Growth faltered only briefly in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and not at all in Uzbekistan, where the economy grew by more than 7% per year on average between 2008 and 2013. Turkmenistan achieved unusually high 14.7% growth in 2011. Kyrgyzstan's performance has been more erratic but this phenomenon was visible well before 2008.[61]
The republics which have fared best benefitted from the commodities boom during the first decade of the 2000s. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have abundant oil and natural gas reserves and Uzbekistan's own reserves make it more or less self-sufficient. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan all have gold reserves and Kazakhstan has the world's largest uranium reserves. Fluctuating global demand for cotton, aluminium and other metals (except gold) in recent years has hit Tajikistan hardest, since aluminium and raw cotton are its chief exports − the Tajik Aluminium Company is the country's primary industrial asset. In January 2014, the Minister of Agriculture announced the government's intention to reduce the acreage of land cultivated by cotton to make way for other crops. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are major cotton exporters themselves, ranking fifth and ninth respectively worldwide for volume in 2014.[61]
Although both exports and imports have grown significantly over the past decade, Central Asian republics countries remain vulnerable to economic shocks, owing to their reliance on exports of raw materials, a restricted circle of trading partners and a negligible manufacturing capacity. Kyrgyzstan has the added disadvantage of being considered resource poor, although it does have ample water. Most of its electricity is generated by hydropower.[61]
The Kyrgyz economy was shaken by a series of shocks between 2010 and 2012. In April 2010, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was deposed by a popular uprising, with former minister of foreign affairs Roza Otunbayeva assuring the interim presidency until the election of Almazbek Atambayev in November 2011. Food prices rose two years in a row and, in 2012, production at the major Kumtor gold mine fell by 60% after the site was perturbed by geological movements. According to the World Bank, 33.7% of the population was living in absolute poverty[clarification needed] in 2010 and 36.8% a year later.[61]
Despite high rates of economic growth in recent years, GDP per capita in Central Asia was higher than the average for developing countries only in Kazakhstan in 2013 (PPP$23,206) and Turkmenistan (PPP$14 201). It dropped to PPP$5,167 for Uzbekistan, home to 45% of the region's population, and was even lower for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.[61]
Kazakhstan leads the Central Asian region in terms of foreign direct investments. The Kazakh economy accounts for more than 70% of all the investment attracted in Central Asia.[62]
In terms of the economic influence of big powers, China is viewed as one of the key economic players in Central Asia, especially after Beijing launched its grand development strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013.[63]
The Central Asian countries attracted $378.2 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) between 2007 and 2019. Kazakhstan accounted for 77.7% of the total FDI directed to the region. Kazakhstan is also the largest country in Central Asia accounting for more than 60 percent of the region's gross domestic product (GDP).[64]
Central Asian nations fared better economically throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Many variables are likely to have been at play, but disparities in economic structure, the intensity of the pandemic, and accompanying containment efforts may all be linked to part of the variety in nations' experiences.[65][66] Central Asian countries are, however, predicted to be hit the worst in the future. Only 4% of permanently closed businesses anticipate to return in the future, with huge differences across sectors, ranging from 3% in lodging and food services to 27% in retail commerce.[65][67]
In 2022, experts assessed that global climate change is likely to pose multiple economic risks to Central Asia and may possibly result in many billions of losses unless proper adaptation measures are developed to counter growing temperatures across the region.[31][68]
Education, science and technology
Modernisation of research infrastructure
Bolstered by strong economic growth in all but
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are also building technology parks as part of their drive to modernise infrastructure. In 2011, construction began of a technopark in the village of Bikrova near Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital. It will combine research, education, industrial facilities, business incubators and exhibition centres. The technopark will house research on alternative energy sources (sun, wind) and the assimilation of nanotechnologies. Between 2010 and 2012, technological parks were set up in the east, south and north Kazakhstan oblasts (administrative units) and in the capital, Astana. A Centre for Metallurgy was also established in the east Kazakhstan oblast, as well as a Centre for Oil and Gas Technologies which will be part of the planned Caspian Energy Hub. In addition, the Centre for Technology Commercialisation has been set up in Kazakhstan as part of the Parasat National Scientific and Technological Holding, a joint stock company established in 2008 that is 100% state-owned. The centre supports research projects in technology marketing, intellectual property protection, technology licensing contracts and start-ups. The centre plans to conduct a technology audit in Kazakhstan and to review the legal framework regulating the commercialisation of research results and technology.[61]
Countries are seeking to augment the efficiency of traditional extractive sectors but also to make greater use of information and communication technologies and other modern technologies, such as solar energy, to develop the business sector, education and research. In March 2013, two research institutes were created by presidential decree to foster the development of alternative energy sources in Uzbekistan, with funding from the Asian Development Bank and other institutions: the SPU Physical−Technical Institute (Physics Sun Institute) and the International Solar Energy Institute. Three universities have been set up since 2011 to foster competence in strategic economic areas: Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan (first intake in 2011), an international research university, Inha University in Uzbekistan (first intake in 2014), specializing in information and communication technologies, and the International Oil and Gas University in Turkmenistan (founded in 2013). Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are both generalizing the teaching of foreign languages at school, in order to facilitate international ties. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have both adopted the three-tier bachelor's, master's and PhD degree system, in 2007 and 2012 respectively, which is gradually replacing the Soviet system of Candidates and Doctors of Science. In 2010, Kazakhstan became the only Central Asian member of the Bologna Process, which seeks to harmonise higher education systems in order to create a European Higher Education Area.[61]
Financial investment in research
The Central Asian republics' ambition of developing the business sector, education and research is being hampered by chronic low investment in research and development. Over the decade to 2013, the region's investment in research and development hovered around 0.2–0.3% of GDP. Uzbekistan broke with this trend in 2013 by raising its own research intensity to 0.41% of GDP.[61]
Kazakhstan is the only country where the business enterprise and private non-profit sectors make any significant contribution to research and development – but research intensity overall is low in Kazakhstan: just 0.18% of GDP in 2013. Moreover, few industrial enterprises conduct research in Kazakhstan. Only one in eight (12.5%) of the country's manufacturing firms were active in innovation in 2012, according to a survey by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Enterprises prefer to purchase technological solutions that are already embodied in imported machinery and equipment. Just 4% of firms purchase the license and patents that come with this technology. Nevertheless, there appears to be a growing demand for the products of research, since enterprises spent 4.5 times more on scientific and technological services in 2008 than in 1997.[61]
Trends in researchers
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan count the highest researcher density in Central Asia. The number of researchers per million population is close to the world average (1,083 in 2013) in Kazakhstan (1,046) and higher than the world average in Uzbekistan (1,097).[61]
Kazakhstan is the only Central Asian country where the business enterprise and private non-profit sectors make any significant contribution to research and development. Uzbekistan is in a particularly vulnerable position, with its heavy reliance on higher education: three-quarters of researchers were employed by the university sector in 2013 and just 6% in the business enterprise sector. With most Uzbek university researchers nearing retirement, this imbalance imperils Uzbekistan's research future. Almost all holders of a Candidate of Science, Doctor of Science or PhD are more than 40 years old and half are aged over 60; more than one in three researchers (38.4%) holds a PhD degree, or its equivalent, the remainder holding a bachelor's or master's degree.[61]
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have all maintained a share of women researchers above 40% since the fall of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan has even achieved gender parity, with Kazakh women dominating medical and health research and representing some 45–55% of engineering and technology researchers in 2013. In Tajikistan, however, only one in three scientists (34%) was a woman in 2013, down from 40% in 2002. Although policies are in place to give Tajik women equal rights and opportunities, these are underfunded and poorly understood. Turkmenistan has offered a state guarantee of equality for women since a law adopted in 2007 but the lack of available data makes it impossible to draw any conclusions as to the law's impact on research. As for Turkmenistan, it does not make data available on higher education, research expenditure or researchers.[61]
Table: PhDs obtained in science and engineering in Central Asia, 2013 or closest year
PhDs | PhDs in science | PhDs in engineering | ||||||||
Total | Women (%) | Total | Women (%) | Total per million pop. | Women PhDs per million pop. | Total | Women (%) | Total per million pop. | Women PhDs per million pop. | |
Kazakhstan (2013) | 247 | 51 | 73 | 60 | 4.4 | 2.7 | 37 | 38 | 2.3 | 0.9 |
Kyrgyzstan (2012) | 499 | 63 | 91 | 63 | 16.6 | 10.4 | 54 | 63 | – | – |
Tajikistan (2012) | 331 | 11 | 31 | – | 3.9 | – | 14 | – | – | – |
Uzbekistan (2011) | 838 | 42 | 152 | 30 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 118 | 27.0 | – | – |
Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Table 14.1
Note: PhD graduates in science cover life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and statistics, and computing; PhDs in engineering also cover manufacturing and construction. For Central Asia, the generic term of PhD also encompasses Candidate of Science and Doctor of Science degrees. Data are unavailable for Turkmenistan.
Table: Central Asian researchers by field of science and gender, 2013 or closest year
Total researchers (head counts) | Researchers by field of science (head counts) | |||||||||||||||
Natural Sciences | Engineering and technology | Medical and health sciences | Agricultural sciences | Social sciences | Humanities | |||||||||||
Total | Per million pop. | Number of women | Women (%) | Total | Women (%) | Total | Women (%) | Total | Women (%) | Total | Women (%) | Total | Women (%) | Total | Women (%) | |
Kazakhstan
2013 |
17,195 | 1,046 | 8,849 | 51.5 | 5,091 | 51.9 | 4,996 | 44.7 | 1,068 | 69.5 | 2,150 | 43.4 | 1,776 | 61.0 | 2 114 | 57.5 |
Kyrgyzstan
2011 |
2,224 | 412 | 961 | 43.2 | 593 | 46.5 | 567 | 30.0 | 393 | 44.0 | 212 | 50.0 | 154 | 42.9 | 259 | 52.1 |
Tajikistan
2013 |
2,152 | 262 | 728 | 33.8 | 509 | 30.3 | 206 | 18.0 | 374 | 67.6 | 472 | 23.5 | 335 | 25.7 | 256 | 34.0 |
Uzbekistan
2011 |
30,890 | 1,097 | 12,639 | 40.9 | 6,910 | 35.3 | 4,982 | 30.1 | 3,659 | 53.6 | 1,872 | 24.8 | 6,817 | 41.2 | 6,650 | 52.0 |
Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Table 14.1
Research output
The number of scientific papers published in Central Asia grew by almost 50% between 2005 and 2014, driven by Kazakhstan, which overtook Uzbekistan over this period to become the region's most prolific scientific publisher, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded). Between 2005 and 2014, Kazakhstan's share of scientific papers from the region grew from 35% to 56%. Although two-thirds of papers from the region have a foreign co-author, the main partners tend to come from beyond Central Asia, namely the Russian Federation, USA, German, United Kingdom and Japan.[61]
Five Kazakh patents were registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office between 2008 and 2013, compared to three for Uzbek inventors and none at all for the other three Central Asian republics, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.[61]
Kazakhstan is Central Asia's main trader in high-tech products. Kazakh imports nearly doubled between 2008 and 2013, from US$2.7 billion to US$5.1 billion. There has been a surge in imports of computers, electronics and telecommunications; these products represented an investment of US$744 million in 2008 and US$2.6 billion five years later. The growth in exports was more gradual – from US$2.3 billion to US$3.1 billion – and dominated by chemical products (other than pharmaceuticals), which represented two-thirds of exports in 2008 (US$1.5 billion) and 83% (US$2.6 billion) in 2013.[61]
International cooperation
The five Central Asian republics belong to several international bodies, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Economic Cooperation Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. They are also members of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Programme, which also includes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Mongolia and Pakistan. In November 2011, the 10 member countries adopted the CAREC 2020 Strategy, a blueprint for furthering regional co-operation. Over the decade to 2020, US$50 billion is being invested in priority projects in transport, trade and energy to improve members' competitiveness. The landlocked Central Asian republics are conscious of the need to co-operate in order to maintain and develop their transport networks and energy, communication and irrigation systems. Only Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan border the Caspian Sea and none of the republics has direct access to an ocean, complicating the transportation of hydrocarbons, in particular, to world markets.[61]
Kazakhstan is also one of the three founding members of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2014, along with Belarus and the Russian Federation. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have since joined this body. As co-operation among the member states in science and technology is already considerable and well-codified in legal texts, the Eurasian Economic Union is expected to have a limited additional impact on co-operation among public laboratories or academia but it should encourage business ties and scientific mobility, since it includes provision for the free circulation of labour and unified patent regulations.[61][69]
Kazakhstan and Tajikistan participated in the Innovative Biotechnologies Programme (2011–2015) launched by the Eurasian Economic Community, the predecessor of the Eurasian Economic Union, The programme also involved Belarus and the Russian Federation. Within this programme, prizes were awarded at an annual bio-industry exhibition and conference. In 2012, 86 Russian organisations participated, plus three from Belarus, one from Kazakhstan and three from Tajikistan, as well as two scientific research groups from Germany. At the time, Vladimir Debabov, scientific director of the Genetika State Research Institute for Genetics and the Selection of Industrial Micro-organisms in the Russian Federation, stressed the paramount importance of developing bio-industry. "In the world today, there is a strong tendency to switch from petrochemicals to renewable biological sources", he said. "Biotechnology is developing two to three times faster than chemicals."[61]
Kazakhstan also participated in a second project of the Eurasian Economic Community, the establishment of the Centre for Innovative Technologies on 4 April 2013, with the signing of an agreement between the Russian Venture Company (a government fund of funds), the Kazakh JSC National Agency and the Belarusian Innovative Foundation. Each of the selected projects is entitled to funding of US$3–90 million and is implemented within a public–private partnership. The first few approved projects focused on supercomputers, space technologies, medicine, petroleum recycling, nanotechnologies and the ecological use of natural resources. Once these initial projects have spawned viable commercial products, the venture company plans to reinvest the profits in new projects. This venture company is not a purely economic structure; it has also been designed to promote a common economic space among the three participating countries.[61] Kazakhstan recognises the role civil society initiatives have to address the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis.[70]
Four of the five Central Asian republics have also been involved in a project launched by the
The International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) was established in 1992 by the European Union, Japan, the Russian Federation and the US to engage weapons scientists in civilian research projects and to foster technology transfer. ISTC branches have been set up in the following countries party to the agreement: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The headquarters of ISTC were moved to Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan in June 2014, three years after the Russian Federation announced its withdrawal from the centre.[61]
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have been members of the World Trade Organization since 1998, 2013 and 2015 respectively.[61]
Territorial and regional data
Country | Area km2 |
(2021) |
Population density per km2 |
Nominal GDP (2023) |
GDP per capita (2023) |
HDI (2021) | Capital
|
Official languages
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kazakhstan | 2,724,900 | 19,196,465 | 6.3 | $245.695 billion | $12,306 | 0.811 | Astana | Kazakh, Russian |
Kyrgyzstan | 199,950 | 6,527,743 | 29.7 | $12.309 billion | $1,736 | 0.692 | Bishkek | Kyrgyz, Russian |
Tajikistan | 142,550 | 9,750,064 | 60.4 | $12.796 billion | $1,277 | 0.685 | Dushanbe | Tajik, Russian |
Turkmenistan | 488,100 | 6,341,855 | 11.1 | $82.624 billion | $13,065 | 0.745 | Ashgabat | Turkmen |
Uzbekistan | 448,978 | 36,024,900[73] | 69.1 | $92.332 billion | $2,563 | 0.727 | Tashkent | Uzbek |
Demographics
By a broad definition including Mongolia and Afghanistan, more than 90 million people live in Central Asia, about 2% of Asia's total population. Of the regions of Asia, only North Asia has fewer people. It has a population density of 9 people per km2, vastly less than the 80.5 people per km2 of the continent as a whole. Kazakhstan is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.
Languages
Russian, as well as being spoken by around six million ethnic Russians and Ukrainians of Central Asia,[74] is the de facto lingua franca throughout the former Soviet Central Asian Republics. Mandarin Chinese has an equally dominant presence in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Xinjiang.
The languages of the majority of the inhabitants of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics belong to the Turkic language group. Turkmen is mainly spoken in Turkmenistan, and as a minority language in Afghanistan, Russia, Iran and Turkey. Kazakh and Kyrgyz are related languages of the Kypchak group of Turkic languages and are spoken throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and as a minority language in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Xinjiang. Uzbek and Uyghur are spoken in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Xinjiang.
Tocharian, another Indo-European language group, which was once predominant in oases on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, is now extinct.
Other language groups include the Tibetic languages, spoken by around six million people across the Tibetan Plateau and into Qinghai, Sichuan (Szechwan), Ladakh and Baltistan, and the Nuristani languages of northeastern Afghanistan. Korean is spoken by the Koryo-saram minority, mainly in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.[75]
Religions
Buddhism and Zoroastrianism were the major faiths in Central Asia before the arrival of Islam. Zoroastrian influence is still felt today in such celebrations as Nowruz, held in all five of the Central Asian states.[76] The transmission of Buddhism along the Silk Road eventually brought the religion to China.[77] Amongst the Turkic peoples, Tengrism was the leading religion before Islam.[78] Tibetan Buddhism is most common in Tibet, Mongolia, Ladakh, and the southern Russian regions of Siberia.
The form of Christianity most practiced in the region in previous centuries was Nestorianism,[79] but now the largest denomination is the Russian Orthodox Church, with many members in Kazakhstan, where about 25% of the population of 19 million identify as Christian, 17% in Uzbekistan and 5% in Kyrgyzstan. Pew Research Center estimates indicate that in 2010, around 6 million Christians lived in Central Asian countries, the Pew Forum study finds that Kazakhstan (4.1 million) has the largest Christian population in the region, followed by Uzbekistan (710,000), Kyrgyzstan (660,000), Turkmenistan (320,000) and Tajikistan (100,000).[80]
The Bukharan Jews were once a sizable community in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but nearly all have emigrated since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In Siberia, shaministic practices persist, including forms of divination such as Kumalak.
Contact and migration with
Central Asia is where many integral beliefs and elements in various religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism originated.[12]
Country | Population | Christian | Muslim | Irreligion | Hindu | Buddhist | Folk religion | Other religion | Jewish | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | ||
Kazakhstan | 18,745,000 | 3,130,415 | 16.70 | 12,990,285 | 69.30 | 2,493,085 | 13.30 | 0 | 0.00 | 16,870 | 0.10 | 20,620 | 0.10 | 18,745 | 0.10 | 3,400 | 0.02 |
Kyrgyzstan | 6,520,000 | 521,600 | 8.00 | 5,868,000 | 90.00 | 130,400 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Tajikistan | 6,880,000 | 110,080 | 1.6 | 6,652,960 | 96.7 | 103,200 | 1.5 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 |
Turkmenistan | 5,040,000 | 322,560 | 6.4 | 4,687,200 | 93.0 | 25,200 | 0.5 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 |
Uzbekistan | 27,440,000 | 631,120 | 2.3 | 26,534,480 | 96.7 | 219,520 | 0.8 | 0 | < 0.1 | 10,000 | < 0.1 | 10,000 | < 0.1 | 0 | < 0.1 | 10,000 | < 0.1 |
Total | 64,625,000 | 4,663,615 | 7.22 | 55,535,690 | 85.94 | 4,158,860 | 6.44 | 0 | 0.00 | 26,870 | 0.04 | 51,370 | 0.08 | 136,105 | 0.21 | 10,000 | 0.02 |
Geostrategy
Central Asia has long been a strategic location merely because of its proximity to several great powers on the Eurasian landmass. The region itself never held a dominant stationary population nor was able to make use of natural resources. Thus, it has rarely throughout history become the seat of power for an empire or influential state. Central Asia has been divided, redivided, conquered out of existence, and fragmented time and time again. Central Asia has served more as the battleground for outside powers than as a power in its own right.
Central Asia had both the advantage and disadvantage of a central location between four historical seats of power. From its central location, it has access to trade routes to and from all the regional powers. On the other hand, it has been continuously vulnerable to attack from all sides throughout its history, resulting in political fragmentation or outright power vacuum, as it is successively dominated.
- To the North, the steppe allowed for rapid mobility, first for nomadic horseback warriors like the Huns and Mongols, and later for Russian traders, eventually supported by railroads. As the Russian Empire expanded to the East, it would also push down into Central Asia towards the sea, in a search for warm water ports. The Soviet bloc would reinforce dominance from the North and attempt to project power as far south as Afghanistan.
- To the East, the demographic and cultural weight of Chinese empires continually pushed outward into Central Asia since the Silk Road period of Han dynasty. However, with the Sino-Soviet split and collapse of Soviet Union, China would project its soft power into Central Asia, most notably in the case of Afghanistan, to counter Russian dominance of the region.
- To the Southeast, the demographic and cultural influence of India was felt in Central Asia, notably in Tibet, the Hindu Kush, and slightly beyond. From its base in India, the British Empire competed with the Russian Empire for influence in the region in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- To the Southwest, West Asian powers have expanded into the southern areas of Central Asia (usually Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan). Several Persian empires would conquer and reconquer parts of Central Asia; Alexander the Great's Hellenic empire would extend into Central Asia; two Islamic empires would exert substantial influence throughout the region;Turkic Council.[83]
In the post–Cold War era, Central Asia is an ethnic cauldron, prone to instability and conflicts, without a sense of national identity, but rather a mess of historical cultural influences, tribal and clan loyalties, and religious fervor. Projecting influence into the area is no longer just Russia, but also Turkey, Iran, China, Pakistan, India and the United States:
- Russia continues to dominate political decision-making throughout the former SSRs; although, as other countries move into the area, Russia's influence has begun to wane though Russia still maintains military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.[84]
- The United States, with its military involvement in the region and oil diplomacy, is also significantly involved in the region's politics.[82] The United States and other NATO members were the main contributors to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during the Islamic Republic period and also exert considerable influence in other Central Asian nations.
- China has security ties with Central Asian states through the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and conducts energy trade bilaterally.[85]
- India has geographic proximity to the Central Asian region and, in addition, enjoys considerable influence on Afghanistan.[86][87] India maintains a military base at Farkhor, Tajikistan, and also has extensive military relations with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.[88]
- Turkey also exerts considerable influence in the region on account of its ethnic and linguistic ties with the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and its involvement in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Political and economic relations are growing rapidly (e.g., Turkey recently eliminated visa requirements for citizens of the Central Asian Turkic republics).
- Iran, the seat of historical empires that controlled parts of Central Asia, has historical and cultural links to the region and is vying to construct an oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf.
- Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan lies adjacent to Tajikistan, separated only by the narrow Afghan Wakhan Corridor. Being located on the northwest of South Asia, the area forming modern-day Pakistan maintained extensive historical and cultural links with the central Asian region.
- Japan has an important and growing influence in Central Asia, with the master plan of the capital city of Astana in Kazakhstan being designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, and the Central Asia plus Japan initiative designed to strengthen ties between them and promote development and stability of the region.
Russian historian
The region, along with Russia, is also part of "the great pivot" as per the
War on Terror
In the context of the United States'
Afghanistan, which had served as a haven and source of support for Al-Qaeda under the protection of Mullah Omar and the Taliban, was the target of a U.S. invasion in 2001 and ongoing reconstruction and drug-eradication efforts. U.S. military bases have also been established in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, causing both Russia and the People's Republic of China to voice their concern over a permanent U.S. military presence in the region.
Western governments have accused Russia, China and the former Soviet republics of justifying the suppression of separatist movements, and the associated ethnics and religion with the War on Terror.
Major cultural, scientific and economic centres
Cities in Central Asia
Rank | Country | Pop. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tashkent Almaty |
1 | Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 3,000,000 | Astana | ||||
2 | Almaty | Kazakhstan | 2,156,749 | ||||||
3 | Astana | Kazakhstan | 1,350,228 | ||||||
4 | Shymkent | Kazakhstan | 1,189,209 | ||||||
5 | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 1,074,075 | ||||||
6 | Ashgabat | Turkmenistan | 727,000 | ||||||
7 | Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 679,400 | ||||||
8 | Namangan | Uzbekistan | 597,000 | ||||||
9 | Aktobe | Kazakhstan | 560,820 | ||||||
10 | Samarkand | Uzbekistan | 530,000 |
City | Country | Population | Image | Information |
---|---|---|---|---|
Astana | Kazakhstan | 1,006,574 (2017) |
The capital and second largest city in Kazakhstan. After Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991, the city and the region were renamed from Tselinograd to Aqmola. The name was often translated as "White Tombstone", but actually means "Holy Place" or "Holy Shrine". The "White Tombstone" literal translation was too appropriate for many visitors to escape notice in almost all guide books and travel accounts. In 1994, the city was designated as the future capital of the newly independent country and again renamed to the Astana after the capital was officially moved from Almaty in 1997. In 2019 the city was renamed to Nur-Sultan to honor the resigned president, but was reverted to Astana in 2022. | |
Almaty | Kazakhstan | 1,713,220 (2017) |
It was the capital of Kazakhstan (and its predecessor, the Kazakh SSR ) from 1929 to 1998. Despite losing its status as the capital, Almaty remains the major commercial center of Kazakhstan. It is a recognised financial center of Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region.
| |
Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 1,027,200 (2019) |
The capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative center of Chüy Region, which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the region, but rather a region-level unit of Kyrgyzstan. | |
Osh | Kyrgyzstan | 243,216 (2009) |
The second largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Osh is also the administrative center of Osh Region, which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the region, but rather a region-level unit of Kyrgyzstan. | |
Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 780,000 (2014) |
The capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik and Persian,[101] and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday marketplace. | |
Ashgabat | Turkmenistan | 1,032,000 (2014) |
The capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. Ashgabat is a relatively young city, growing out of a village of the same name established by Nisa, the ancient capital of the Parthians, and it grew on the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala, which was first mentioned as a wine-producing village in the 2nd century BC and was leveled by an earthquake in the 1st century BC (a precursor of the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake). Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road, and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century AD. After that, it survived as a small village until the Russians took over in the 19th century.[102][103]
| |
Bukhara | Uzbekistan | 237,900 (1999) |
The nation's fifth-largest city and the capital of the Bukhara Region of Uzbekistan. Bukhara has been one of the main centers of Persian civilisation from its early days in the 6th century BC, and, since the 12th century AD, Turkic speakers gradually moved in. Its architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art. | |
Kokand | Uzbekistan | 209,389 (2011) |
Kokand (Uzbek: Qo'qon, Қўқон; Tajik: Хӯқанд; Persian: خوقند; Chagatai: خوقند; Russian: Коканд) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. It has a population of 192,500 (1999 census estimate). Kokand is 228 km southeast of Tashkent, 115 km west of Andijan, and 88 km west of Fergana. It is nicknamed "City of Winds", or sometimes "Town of the Boar". | |
Samarkand | Uzbekistan | 596,300 (2008) |
The second largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Region. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic center for scholarly study. It was here that the ruler Ulugh Beg (1394–1449) built a gigantic astronomical observatory.[104] | |
Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 2,571,668 (2020) |
The capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the town and the region were known as Chach. Tashkent started as an |
See also
- Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program
- Central Asian Football Federation
- Central Asian Games
- Central Asian Union
- Central Asians in ancient Indian literature
- Chinese Central Asia
- Chinese Turkestan
- Continental pole of inaccessibility
- Hindutash
- Inner Asia
- Mountains of Central Asia
- Russian Turkestan
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- This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA IGO 3.0. Text taken from UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030, 365–387, UNESCO, UNESCO Publishing.
Further reading
- Blank, Stephen J. (2013). Central Asia After 2014. ISBN 978-1-58487-593-2.
- Chow, Edward. "Central Asia's Pipelines: Field of Dreams and Reality", in Pipeline Politics in Asia: The Intersection of Demand, Energy Markets, and Supply Routes. National Bureau of Asian Research, 2010.
- Farah, Paolo Davide, Energy Security, Water Resources and Economic Development in Central Asia, World Scientific Reference on Globalisation in Eurasia and the Pacific Rim, Imperial College Press (London, UK) & World Scientific Publishing, November 2015. Available at SSRN: Energy Security, Water Resources and Economic Development in Central Asia
- Dani, A.H. and V.M. Masson, eds. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Paris: ISSN 0869-5415. (in Russian).
- Klein, I.; Gessner, U.; Kuenzer (2012). "Regional land cover mapping and change detection in Central Asia using MODIS time-series". Applied Geography. 35 (1–2): 219–234. .
- Luong, Pauline Jones (2004). The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-8842-9.
- Mandelbaum, Michael, ed. Central Asia and the World: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994.
- Marcinkowski, M. Ismail. Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Pakistan and Early Ottoman Turkey. Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003.
- Menga, Filippo (2020). Power and Water in Central Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9780367667351
- United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996.
- Phillips, Andrew; S2CID 146570543.
- Hasan Bulent Paksoy. ALPAMYSH: Central Asian Identity under Russian Rule. Hartford: AACAR, 1989. alpamysh: central asian identity under Russian rule
- Soucek, Svatopluk. A History of Inner Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Rall, Ted. Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East? New York: NBM Publishing, 2006.
- Stone, L.A. The International Politics of Central Eurasia (272 pp). Central Eurasian Studies On Line: Accessible via the Web Page of the International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research: IEI_forum / International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research
- Trochev, Alexei; Slade, Gavin (2019), in Caron, Jean-François (ed.), "Trials and Tribulations: Kazakhstan's Criminal Justice Reforms", Kazakhstan and the Soviet Legacy, Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 75–99, ISBN 978-981-13-6692-5, retrieved 4 December 2020.
- Vakulchuk, Roman (2014) Kazakhstan's Emerging Economy: Between State and Market, Peter Lang: Frankfurt/Main. Available at: www.researchgate.net/publication/299731455
- Weston, David. Teaching about Inner Asia Archived 3 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Bloomington, Indiana: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies, 1989.
- Yellinek, Roie, The Impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative on Central Asia and the South Caucasus, E-International Relations, 14 February 2020.