former soviet central asia kazakhstan, turkmenistan, uzbekistan, kyrgyzstan, and tajikistan

Former Soviet Central Asia

Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan

Objectives

• Identify Kazakhstan on a blank map.

• Explain what is happening to the Aral Sea and why.

• Explain where the population is highest in Central Asia and why people would live there.

• Describe the ways in which modernization and increases in wealth has come to Central Asia.

• Describe how modernization has changed the people’s lives.

Terms and People

Aral Sea is a shrinking sea. Its waters are being used to irrigate cotton fields.

A steppe is a vast, mostly level, treeless plain covered in grasses.

Yurt is a tent-like structure used in Central Asia.

Landlocked means it doesn’t have access to the ocean.

The former Soviet Stans lie south of Russia.

The former Soviet Stans lie east of the Caspian Sea.

The former Soviet Stans lie

west of China.

South of the Former Soviet

Stans lie Iran…

… and Afghanistan,

and Pakistan.

Central Asia’s main physical features are highlands, deserts, and steppes.

Desert covers much of the land in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Most of Central Asia has an arid or semiarid climate with cold winters.

At the western edge of this dry region is the Caspian Sea, which is actually a salt lake.

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake in the world, and it has some of the world’s largest oil reserves.

Central Asia: Elevation Map

Don’t mistake green on an elevation map

for vegetation!

Much of Central Asia’s population is

in these valleys.

Melt from ice and snow in the

mountains makes these valleys fertile.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is not, however, just a prairie wilderness.

It is also a modern country.

Kazakhstan is the richest of the Central Asian countries.

The source of this wealth is wheat and oil.

Watch the first two minutes.

15

This Central Asian dwelling is called a yurt.

The northern steppes have the least dense population in this area.

The population of

the former Soviet

republics is concentrated

in the mountain valleys.

73m

74m

173m

34m

5m

16m

28m

6m

5m

Uzbekistan has the highest

population of these countries.

They began using ALL of the water in

the river.

High mountains lie on its east.

When this area was under control of the

Soviets, they started using the river to irrigate cotton fields.

Uzbekistan

Most people live in this fertile

valley.

For a tiny country, Uzbekistan is producing a

lot of cotton.

The cotton crop has brought wealth to this country.

It has, however, come with a price.

20

The Shrinking Aral Sea

21Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree,

Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

Shrinking Aral Sea

Much of the unrest in this area come from this area of complicated borders.

When the Russian dictator Stalin was in charge here, he carved up the fertile Fergana Valley amongst three republics.

Kyrgyzstan

Turkmenistan

Central Asia produces oil, but much less than Russia or

the Middle East.

What does this graph tell about oil production in

Central Asia?

What does this graph tell about gas production in Central Asia? Where is most of the gas being

mined? Where is most of it going?

Most of the gas is mined in

Turkmenistan.

Most of the gas is going to Russia.

Central Asia: Natural Resources

Please read

“Central Asia: Physical Geography.” World Studies: Asia and the Pacific. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. Pg. 44-48.

And

Central Asia: Cultures and History.” World Studies: Asia and the Pacific. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. Pg. 112-116.

And

“Conflicts in other Central Asian Countries.” World Studies: Asia and the Pacific. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. Pg. 210-214.

Amu Darya a is a river whose water is being taken for agriculture.