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