Central Asia

T It's a very big place. It is, in fact, bigger than Texas, Germany, the Solomon Islands, Mongolia, and Los Angeles combined. So you'd know it's gotta be incredibly diverse. W As it is very often divided into n Looking at the UN subregions just for simplicity, there's East Asia, the place people most often mean when they refer to somet This area, however, much But that doesn't mean they aren't still full of fascinating cultures and interesting So here's a basic guide to Central Asia, as made by an American living in Germany who still hasn't yet visited. Central Asia contains five different countries, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Afghanistan is also sometimes included, but is mostly considered part of South Asia. Aside from the more Persian based culture of Tajikistan, the countries of Central Asia all have varying Turkic cultures, including their titular nationalities, as well as n Seeing as the area borders rushes to the north and also kind of to the west, Iran to the south and C The climate of Central Asia ranges from 30 degrees Celsius s By the way, Khan has not The region was the major part of the Silk Road in its heyday, boasting cities such as Samarkand, Bukhara, Kokans, Osh, Almaty, and several others. And yeah, Uzbekistan really got the lion'share of those. Obviously, helping the region financially, considering none of the countries have access to the wide open sea. Except maybe through the Caspian, now that Russia built the Volga-Dong Canal, but t In fact, Uzbekistan is one of only two double landlocked countries in the world. That is, a landlocked country whose only neighbors are other landlocked countries. W Sorry Uzbekistan, didn't mean to rub it in your face Throughout the vast majority of its short Where it served as the crossroads between the Empire's vast holdings. And would later be split between the Chagatai Khanate and the Golden Horde after the Empire's collapse. The general Timor, or Tamerlane, also somewhat pejoratively known as Timor the Lame, would then establish the Timor Empire across Persia and Central Asia. With its capital in the city of S In the latter half of the second millenni At first by the Russian Empire, and then later by the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. Thus, Russian influence can often be seen throughout. Namely, the Cyrillic alphabet used in most of their languages, and the widespread use of the Russian language itself, though do keep in mind the Cyrillic alphabet is largely being phased out in many places. Although the USSR was a strictly atheist country, Islam is and has for centuries been particularly prevalent in the region. With Kazakhstan being the northernmost Muslim majority nation in the world. Many notable people also hail from Central Asia. For instance, the Persian polymath, Mohammed bin Musa Al-Khorezmi. Who, as And whose name, after he invented algebra of course, would be Latinized to Algorithmy, w Since there are only five countries to talk about, I t First, t Its capital city is Astan, North Sultan, its largest city is Almaty, and it is home to 16 million people, 65% of whom are of Kazakh descent, with the others belonging to over 130 other ethnic groups, including Russians and even Germans. Kazakhstan is physically by far the largest of all these countries, being the ninth largest in the world, and the largest landlocked country in the world, with its westernmost point being closer to France than to its easternmost point. And its southernmost point being closer to Saudi Arabia than to Saturn. Next, we have Kyrgyzstan, a smaller, more mountainous country based in the capital of Bishkek. Home to 6. 4 million people, the term Kyrgyz might sound vaguely familiar to anyone who speaks Turkish, or a similar language, I guess. Literally meaning, we are 40, referring to the original 40 clans united by the Fokira Manas against the Uyghurs, as according to the Epic of Manas, in a sense Kyrgyzstan's founding legend. Moving west, we get to Uzbekistan, with its capital and largest city, Tashkent, one of the many aforementioned cities on the Silk Road. Uzbekistan has a population of 34 million, making up nearly half the population of the entire region. Uzbekistan is home to the aforementioned region of Horizm, as well as the autonomous Republic of Karakalpaksdan, and of course, the famous cities of Kiva, Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, and so many others. To the south is Turkmenistan, known today rather sadly more for its poor governmental record and gimmicky leaders. Yeah, comparisons to North Korea aren't exactly all that rare. The capital and largest city, Ashkhabat, is known for its grand boulevards, grandiose arc I mean seriously, the place is even w Turkmenistan is also home to the Darfaza gas crater, also known as the Gates to Hell, a crater filled with natural gas, w That happened in 1971. Finally, we have Tajikistan, a smaller republic at the south end of the Furgana Valley. With its capital and largest city, Dushanbe, its 9. 2 million citizens, or at least 84% of them, are of Tajik descent. An Iranian group, speaking a more or less Persian-based dialect, again completely different from the Turkic dialects spoken by its northern neighbors, and perhaps more similar to that spoken in its southern neighbor, Afghanistan. So hopefully this video has given you a better idea of what this place is I certainly want to. Of course, after we're allowed to go outside and travel again. Let's try not to put anyone in danger here, please. Of course, the region is largely gaining in popularity, and visa requirements are already being lightened, especially for US and EU travelers. So hopefully, Central Asia can get the attention it deserves once again. Obviously, t Nevertheless, if you found t