Central Asia

2 Independent countries before 1991 6 former Soviet republics 3 Autonomous regions of China Kazakhstan Mongolia Azerbaijan Kyrgyzstan Xinjiang Tajikistan Inner Mongolia Afghanistan Tibet

Introduction  Geopolitical void  Long obscured by Russian and Chinese domination  Low economic link  Arid physical environments  Currently, key area of geopolitical and economic competition  Al Qaeda training camp  Discovery of oil/gas reserves

Environmental Geography Steppes, Deserts, and Threatened Lakes of the Eurasian Heartland

Central Asia’s Physical Regions Northern Steppes Central Deserts Southern Highlands

Southern Highlands  Highest and most extensive mountains in the world  Collision of the Indian subcontinent into the Asian mainland  Tibetan Plateau  Extensive uplands between Hymalayas and Kunlun Shan; averaged around 15,000 feet  Origin of many rivers  Indus, Ganges, Mekong, Yangtze, and Huang He River

Central Deserts  Western desert belt  Lower elevation  Larger rivers  Kara Kum Desert  Kyzyl Kum Desert  Caspian/Aral Sea Basin  Eastern desert belt  Higher elevation Tien Shan  Smaller river Pamir Mt.

 Taklamakan Desert  Gobi Desert  Tarim Basin

Northern Steppes  Between desert zone and taiga  Extensive pastures  Northern Kazakstan, Northern/central Mongolia

 Dominance of dry climate  Deserts  Steppes  Arid highlands  Pronounced continentality

Aridity Environmental issues  Desertification  Salinization  Desiccation

The Shrinking of the Aral Sea 1973 1987 2000

The Shrinking of the Aral Sea  Cause  Diversion of rivers nearby (irrigation projects)  eg. Kara Kum Canal  Consequences  Ecological devastation  Economic damage : Fisheries, agricultural yields  Public health : High infant and maternal death

Population and Settlement Settled Oases amid Vacant Lands

 Most of Central Asia is sparsely populated  Highland is largely uninhabited  Too arid or too high to support human life  Lowland (Desert, Steppe)  Concentrated population along the river valleys

Importance of mountains  For migratory pastoralists  Transhumance  For sedentary farmers  Source of water and wood supplies

Tarim Basin  Most of the inhabitants of Central Asian deserts live in the narrow belt where the mountains meet the basins and plains

Farmland in Uzbekistan

Steppe pastoralism

High TFR in Afghanistan Migration of Han-Chinese

    Unparalleled high TFR in Afghanistan Higher TFR compared to other former Soviet zones  Islam Different TFR within Islamic countries  urbanization Low TFR in Tibet  monasticism & polyandry

Recent migration and refugee flows  Return of ethnic Russians to Russia  Influx of Han Chinese into western China  Refugees from Afghanistan, and Tibet

Urbanization in ancient/medieval time Mercantile centers Silk Road

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Urbanization under communist rule Administrative cities

Hohot, Inner Mongolia

Cultural Coherence and Diversity A Meeting Ground of Disparate Traditions

Historic overview of Central Asia 1000 B.C.

Birthplace of Indo European peoples?

0 7c Replaced by Altaic peoples Tibetan kingdom 13c Conquered by

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire of the 1200s

Geography of language Altaic Indo-European Tibetan

Geography of language  Influx of Han-Chinese into autonomous regions threatens the sphere of indigenous languages in  Inner Mongolia: Mongolian  Xinjiang: Uygur  Tibet: Tibetan  Crossroad of disparate ethnic groups (Indo-European & Altaic peoples) creates ethnic complexity in  Tajikistan: dialects of Persian, etc…

 Afghanistan : Pashtuns, etc…

Afghanistan’s ethnic patchwork

Geography of religion Islam Lamaist Buddhism

Islamic fundamentalism

Afghan women in public

Lamaist Buddhism  Mongolia, Tibet  Buddhism merged with the indigenous religion  Theocracy  Dedication to monasticism  Persecution under communist rule (1959)

Geopolitical Framework Political Reawakening in a Power Void

Partitioning of the Steppes  Power struggle between sedentary and nomadic groups (16c ~ 18c)  victory of sedentary states: China and Russia bordering the Steppes  Manchu (Ch’ing) dynasty (1644-1912)  Captured Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, eastern Kazakstan  Russian Empire (17c – 1917)  Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan

Central Asia was partitioned by Russia and China by the early 1900s with buffer states bordering British-ruled states Russia China British

Central Asia under communist rule  Soviet Union (1922)  Union republics  became independent states (1991)  Mongolia (1924)  China (1949)  Autonomous regions

Current geopolitical tension  The former Soviet republics  Kazakstan: Nationalistic effort of Kazaks against ethnic Russian in north  Tajikistan: war between secular lowland Tajik and Muslim mountain Tajik  Azerbaijan: invasion of Armenia in west  Autonomous regions in western China  Tibet: Tibetan’s protest against Chinese rule  Xinjiang: Uygur’s opposition to Chinese use of their homeland for nuclear testing, and suppression of religion

War in Afghanistan  1978-89 Invasion of Soviet Union  1995-97 Taliban (young Muslim religious students)  2001 U.S.’s war against Al Qaeda and Taliban  2002 Interim government in Kabul; other areas are controlled by local warlords

International dimensions of Central Asian tension  Since 1991, Central Asia emerged as a key arena of geopolitical tension  A number of important countries, including China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and U.S. vied for power and influence in the region  9/11 completely changed the balance of power in the region

Economic and Social Development Abundant Resources, Devastated Economies

 One of the least prosperous regions of the world  Economic collapse in 1990s  end of Soviet subsidies

The post-communist economies 7 former communist economies Kazakhstan Mongolia

Azerbaijan

Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan  Economic liberalization since 1991  With the exception of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Agricultural base eg. Uzbekistan (3 rd largest cotton exporter)  Large deposits of oil and natural gas eg. Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Turmenistan

Oil development in Azerbaijan

The economy of Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous regions of China

Xinjiang

Tibet    Tibet: Relatively isolated from the Chinese/global economy Xinjiang: Large oil reserves, Dominance of Han Chinese New transportation project that connects eastern China

Ethnic tension in Xinjiang

Economic misery in Afghanistan Afghanistan Afghanistan  One of the weakest economies in the world  Production of illicit drugs in the late 1990s  War-torn economy (Taliban, US bombing campaign)

 Global linkages: direct foreign investment   Influential countries have proposed different routes such that they can favor their interests

  High level of social indicator in the former Soviet republics  legacy of social program enacted by socialist regime Afghanistan ranks the lowest  warfare, low connectivity

Social conditions and the status of women in Afghanistan  Afghan women lead highly constrained lives  15 percent adult female literacy  6 million Afghan refugees in neighboring states  Pakistan, Iran…