Central ASIA
Central Asia in History
Region of old silk road
densely populated; urbanization rate was 15-20% during the late 19th c. →Urban centers such as Samarkand had a remarkably developed merchant culture
the region had experienced many different rulers , Mongols, Persians and Arabs. … cities had been conquered and sometimes destroyed….
Direct colonization took place in Central Asia, & the Caucasus→ Russia began a territorial expansion
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Steppes, Deserts, & Threatened Lakes
Shrinking Aral Sea
Use of rivers feeding the sea for agricultural irrigation
60% of the sea’s total volume has disappeared
Caspian Sea – world’s largest lake; construction of reservoirs on the Volga River diverted water
Desertification
The Gobi Desert
Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum Deserts
Taklamakan Desert
Much of the region has been deforested
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Central Asian Highlands Formed by the collision of Indian subcontinent into Asian mainland → Himalayas, Karakoram Range, Pamir Mountains
Tibetan Plateau – source area of many of Asia’s large rivers
Steppe (grassland) and taiga (coniferous forest) in the north
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Mongolian steppe (left) and the Gobi Desert after rain
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Densely Settled Oases amid Vacant Lands
Most of the region is sparsely inhabited
Too arid or too high in elevation to support human life
Pastoralists: people who raise livestock for subsistence
Highlands Population and Subsistence Patterns
Only sparse vegetation can survive in this region
Yak pastoralism
Sedentary farming in Tibet
Isolated valleys in Pamir Range support agriculture and intensive human settlement
Transhumance: seasonal movement of flocks from winter to summer pastures/meadows
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Milking a Yak in Mongolia
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Population and Settlement: Densely Settled Oases amid Vacant Lands
Astana, Kazakhstan
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Linguistic Geography of Central Asia (Fig. 10.13)
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Contemporary Linguistic and Ethnic Geography
Tibetan
In Sino-Tibetan Family
1.5 million speakers in Tibet and 3 million more in western China
Mongolian
5 million speakers
Other dialects: Buryat, Kalmyk
Turkish Languages
The most widely spoken language group in the region
Include Uygur, Kazak, Azeri, Uzbek, Turkmen, Kyrgyz
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Religions: iSLAM
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Buddhist (Temple in Tibet)
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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Central Asia Under Communist Rule
Soviets inherited Russian Empire’s domain
Created a series of “union republics” (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan)→ sowed the seeds of nationalism, nation-states
After China reemerged as a unified country in 1949, it reclaimed most of its old Central Asian territories→ Movement into Xinjiang and Tibet (Xijiang)
Repression of Tibet & local opposition to Chinese rule
Border of China and India still contested
Chinese control of Xinjiang→ Uygur opposition→ Xinjiang has large mineral wealth and oil reserves & productive agriculture sector
Political Reawakening
Independence in Former Soviet Lands
It has been difficult for the 6 former Soviet Republics to become truly independent because cooperation with Russia on security issues necessary
Authoritarian leaders in these nations has made the transition to democracy more difficult
These countries have opted to remain part of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Ethnic strife in many of these countries
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
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War in Afghanistan before September 11, 2001
1978: Soviet-supported military “revolutionary council” seized power→ Marxist government began to suppress religion→ Russian invasion
U.S. and Saudi support rebels
Soviets withdrew in 1989
1995–1996 rise of the Taliban (Taliban founded by young Muslim religious students )
After September 11th balance of power shifted
U.S. launched a war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban government
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Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) known as the Shanghai Pact
SCO Charter was signed on 7 July 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003. The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, a mutual security agreement formed in between China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan & Tajikistan
transcontinental political economic, security alliance
world's largest regional organization, covering approx. 40% of the world population, & more than 20% of global GDP
Its membership has since expanded to eight states, with India & Pakistan joining on 9 June 2017. Several countries are engaged as observers or partners. SCO members seem unwilling to extend membership to Iran, because that might disturb their relations with Western powers.
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SCO: Powerhouse or Paper Tiger?
The SCO cannot be regarded as a military alliance as it does not oblige the members to collective defend and does not dispose of military forces.
For Russia it is also a forum for checking Chinese cooperation with the Central Asian states
For China, SCO legitimizes ties with the Central Asian states
For the Central Asian members, SCO gives them an equal voice with Russia and China as well as vetoing powers, while not preventing ties with the West.
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