Overview of the Central Asian Countries

Central Asia is loosely defined as including the countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Central Asia covers an area of 3,994,300 square kilometers. It is located between the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south. Central Asia is an extremely large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains (Tian Shan), vast deserts (Kara Kum, Kyzyl Kum, Taklamakan), and especially treeless, grassy steppes. There are several rivers here, such as the Amu Darya, the Syr Darya and the Hari River. Central Asia draws on the resources of the world's four largest inland waters, i.e., the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and Lake Balkhash. The peoples of present-day Central Asia come from two distinct ethnic groups: Indo-European and Uralic Altaic. Central Asia has long been a strategic location merely because of its proximity to several great powers on the Eurasian landmass. Today, Central Asia has been divided into five states.

Kazakhstan, is the largest country in Central Asia (2,717,300 sq km). It is the only Central Asian republic which shares borders with both Russia (over 4,000 miles) and China (nearly 1,000 miles).Kazakhstan is divided into 14 provinces. Native Kazakhs,is a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes (Altaic Peoples). But, today the ethnic Kazakhs represent 59.2% of the population. while, ethnic Russians 25.6% of the population. Another groups including Tatars, Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Uyghurs and Ukrainians. This country has major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, and uranium. In Kazakhstan, energy is the leading economic sector. Kazakhstan is a presidential republic. This country is a secular state, which Islam, Orthodoxy, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and other faiths are all practiced openly and freely.

Uzbekistan, is approximately the size of Morocco (447,400 sq km). Uzbekistan also the only Central Asian state to border the other four states (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan). Uzbekistan is divided into twelve provinces. There are several ethnic groups in Uzbekistan, such as Uzbek 80%, Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, Tatar 1.5%, other 2.5%. Uzbekistan is now the world's second-largest cotton exporter. Although Uzbekistan has many export comodities (cotton, gold, energy products, mineral fertilizers, metals, textiles, food products, machinery, automobiles), but this country has a very low GNI per capita (US$610 in current dollars in 2006). Constitutionally, the Government of Uzbekistan provides for democracy. But, Uzbekistan's domestic policies of human rights and individual freedoms are often criticized by international organizations.

Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. The mountainous region of the Tian Shan covers over 80% of the country. Kyrgyzstan is divided into seven provinces. The nation's largest ethnic group is the Kyrgyz (64,9%), a Turkic people. Then the others ethnic groups are Uzbek 13.8%, Russian 12.5%, Dungan 1.1%, Ukrainian 1%, Uygur 1%, other 5.7%. Kyrgyzstan has had economic difficulties following independence in 1991. Agriculture is an important sector of the economy in Kyrgyzstan. Main crops include wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, cotton, tobacco, vegetables, and fruit. Kyrgyzstan also has deposits of coal, gold, uranium, antimony, and other valuable metals. Kyrgyzstan is a republic. In the early 1990s, The United States bestowed WTO membership and World Bank credits, but the country remained poor and corrupt. Today, a clandestine radical Islamist party known as Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Party of Islamic Liberation) is recruiting supporters by the thousand. Many of them are the poor.

Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Tajikistan consists of 4 administrative divisions (143,100 sq km). More than fifty percent of the country is over 3,000 meters above sea level. Tajiks (Indo-Iranian ethnic group) are the main ethnic group. Tajiks represent 79,9% of the population. Another ethnic groups include Uzbek 15.3%, Russian 1.1%, Kyrgyz 1.1%, other 2.6%. The primary sources of income in Tajikistan are aluminium production, cotton growing and remittances from migrant workers. Mineral resources include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten.Tajikistan also has great hydropower potential, with the hydroelectric power station Nurek in the highest dam in the world. But, Tajikistan was the poorest country in Central Asia. The civil war in 1992-1997 severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. Today, Tajikistan is a source country for women trafficked through Kyrgyzstan and Russia to the UAE, Turkey for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.

Turkmenistan, bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the southwest, Uzbekistan to the northeast, Kazakhstan to the northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Turkmenistan is divided into five provinces, with total area 488,100 sq km. Over 80% of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert. Turkmen represent 85% of the population, while another ethnic groups are Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6%. Turkmenistan has substantial reserves of oil and gas, and also has deposits of sulfur, hydrocarbons, iodine, celestine, potassium salt, magnesium salt, sodium chloride, bentonite clays, limestone, gypsum, brown coal, cement, basalt, and dolomite. Then, half of the country's irrigated land is planted with cotton, making the country the world's tenth-largest producer of it. But, the percentage of the population living below the poverty line was thought to be 58% a year earlier and the unemployment rate was estimated to be 60%. Turkmenistan is totalitarian state in the world. Government control of all activities within a country, People are forced to do what the government tells them. Human rights are generally not respected by many authorities in Turkmenistan. Protestant Christian adherents are affected here. Turkmenistan had the third-worst restrictions on the freedom of the press in the world by Reporters Without Borders.