Central Asia Geography, History and Culture

Steppes

The dominant physical feature of Central Asia is these dry grasslands

Mongolia

The only country within Central Asia that is mostly Buddhist

Many people are jobless and there is no good health care or education. Both are hard to get.

Two negative ways Soviet rule affected Central Asia

Russia built railroads, factories and large farms in the region. They brought new ways of life.

Two positive Soviet rule affected Central Asia.

Highlands, deserts, and steppes

What are Central Asia's three main physical features?

Coal, petroleum and natural gas

What are the three major natural resources in Central Asia?

Muslim and speak Russian

What characteristics do most people in Central Asia share?

Death of more than 1 million people in Central Asia

What is the result of collective farms that the Soviets in Central Asia set up in the 1930s?

Caused it to shrink by up to 90 percent and left pollution of the soil.

What were the effects of irrigation on the Aral Sea?

dry

the dominant type of climate in Central Asia

Along with goods the traders exchanged ideas and inventions

How did trade influence the culture in Central Asia?

New countries started governing themselves. Most countries are hurt by a weak economy.

How has the collapse of the Soviet Union impacted the people of Central Asia?

polluted soil

How have pesticides damaged the land in Central Asia?

Raising livestock and agriculture

How is most of the land in Central Asia used?

Aral Sea

It was once the fourth largest lake in the world but had now dried up and split into several lakes because the rivers that feed it have been diverted for irrigation

Gobi

Large desert on the border between Mongolia and China

Ysyk Kol

Large lake in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan

Largest country in Central Asia by land area

Lake Balkhash

Largest lake entirely within one country in Central Asia

Caspian Sea

Largest lake in the world; Has large petroleum and natural gas reserves underneath it.

Altai

Mountains that extend from northeastern Kazakhstan into southwestern Mongolia

Pamirs

Mountains that form part of the border between Afghanistan and Tajikstan

Silk Road

Name for the ancient trading route across Asia that brought wealth and Islam to Central Asia

Tien Shan and Pamirs

Name two mountain ranges in Central Asia

Petroleum

Often used as a synonym for oil, this natural resource is found in abundance under the Caspian Sea

nomads

Some of the people in Central Asia are still this, which means they move from place to place with their herds of animals.

Hindu Kush

Tall mountain range that extends from Afghanistan into Pakistan

Turkmenistan

Ashgabat is the capital of this country that is covered almost entirely by the Kara Kum.

collective farm

in a communist country, a large farm formed from many private farms collected into a single unit controlled by the government

indigenous

originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native

Nur-Sultan

Recently built (mid 1990s) capital city of Kazakhstan; formerly Astana.

Ural

River that divides Europe from Asia in western Kazakhstan

Syr Darya

River that feeds the Lesser Aral Sea, which is now a smaller lake entirely within Kazakhstan.

Nauryz

The New Year of many of the Turkic people of Central Asia, including Kazakhs and Kirghiz.

mining

common economic activity throughout Central Asia

agrarian

composed of or pertaining to farmers