Central Asia

Physical map of Central Asia from the Caucasus in the northwest, to Mongolia in the northeast.

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.

Various definitions of its exact composition exist and no one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, it does have some important overall characteristics. For one, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. As a result it has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe, West Asia, South Asia, and East Asia.

In modern context, Central Asia consists of the five former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Other areas are often included such as Mongolia, Afghanistan, northern-Pakistan, north-eastern Iran, north-western India, and western parts of the People's Republic of China such as Xinjiang. South-western and middle China such as Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu and Inner Mongolia, and southern parts of Siberia may also be included in Central Asia.

During pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia was a predominantely Persian region that included sedentary Sogdians, Chorasmians and semi-nomadic Scythians, Alans. The ancient sedentary population played an important role in the history of Central Asia. Tajiks, Pashtuns, Pamiris and other Iranian groups are still present in the region. After expansion by Turkic peoples, central Asia became also the homeland for many Turkic peoples, including the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Uyghurs, and Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan.

Definitions

Three sets of possible boundaries for the region

Central Asia's location as a region of the world

The idea of Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was introduced in 1843 by the geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions. Many text books still refer to this area as Turkestan, which was the name used prior to Stalin's rule.

The most limited definition was the official one of the Soviet Union that defined the "Middle Asia" as consisting solely of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, but did not include Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Mongolia. This definition was also often used outside the USSR in this period.

However, the Russian language has two distinct terms: Средняя Азия (Srednyaya Aziya or "Middle Asia", the narrower definition which includes only those traditionally non-Slavic, "Central Asian" lands that were incorporated within those borders of historical Russia) and Центральная Азия (Tsentral'naya Aziya or "Central Asia", the wider definition which includes "Central Asian" lands that have never been part of historical Russia). However, there lacks a meaningful distinction between the two in the English language; and so "Central Asia" is used for both Russian usages, thus creating some confusion.

Soon after independence, the leaders of the five former Soviet Central Asian Republics met in Tashkent and declared that the definition of Central Asia should include Kazakhstan as well as the original four included by the Soviets. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia.

The UNESCO general history of Central Asia, written just before the collapse of the USSR, defines the region based on climate and uses far larger borders. According to it, Central Asia includes Mongolia, Tibet, northeast Iran (Golestan, North Khorasan, and Razavi provinces), Afghanistan, Northern Areas and the N.W.F.P. province of Pakistan, Kashmir and Ladakh districts of India, central-east Russia south of the Taiga, and the former Central Asian Soviet Republics (the five "Stans" of the former Soviet Union).

An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity, and in particular, areas populated by Eastern Turkic, Eastern Iranian, or Mongolian peoples. These areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. Afghanistan as a whole, the Northern Areas of Pakistan and the Kashmir Valley of India may also be included. The Tibetans and Ladakhi are also included. Insofar, the mentioned peoples are considered the "indigenous" peoples of the vast region.

There are several places that claim to be the geographic center of Asia, for example Kyzyl, the capital of the Tuvan Republic in the Russian Federation, and a village 200 miles (320 kilometres) North of Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.

Geography

File:Central Asia climate.jpg

Climate map of Central Asia. This map clearly illustrates the boundaries of Central Asia. From the northwest, the mountain climate (purple) extends from the Caucasus, through Iranian Azerbaijan, along the Iranian border, through Afghanistan, and Pakistan and into Tibet in the southeast. The steppe climate (peach) extends from the North Caucasus in the northwest, over the Caspian Sea, through Kazakhstan, and around Mongolia in the northeast. The arid climates of the Ferghana Valley, Takla Makan and Gobi deserts are also prominently visible. The labels refer to the Trewartha climate classification scheme.

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  Mountainous (H)

  Semi-arid steppe (BSh, BSk)

  Desert (BWk)

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  Continental (DWc)

  Humid sub-tropical (CWa)

  Humid sub-tropical (CWa)

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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. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a homogenous geographical zone known as the Euro-Asian Steppe.

Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming. The Gobi desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs, 77° east, to the Great Khingan (Da Hinggan) Mountains, 116°–118° east.

Central Asia has the following geographic extremes:

• The world's northernmost desert (sand dunes), at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, 50°18' north.
• The Northern Hemisphere's southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17' north.
• The world's shortest distance between non-frozen desert and permafrost: 770 km (480 mi).

A majority of the people earn a living by herding livestock. Industrial activity centers in the region's cities.

Major rivers of the region include the Amu Darya, the Syr Darya and the Hari River. Major bodies of water include the Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash, both of which are part of the huge west/central Asian endorheic basin that also includes the Caspian Sea.

Both of these bodies of water have shrunk significantly in recent decades due to diversion of water from rivers that feed them for irrigation and industrial purposes. Water is an extremely valuable resource in arid Central Asia, and can lead to rather significant international disputes.

Climate

Since Central Asia is not buffered by a large body of water, temperature fluctuations are more severe.

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Central Asia is part of the Palearctic ecozone. The largest biome in Central Asia is the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. Central Asia also contains the Montane grasslands and shrublands, Deserts and xeric shrublands and Temperate coniferous forests biomes.

History

Main article: History of Central Asia

Geographical extent of Iranian influence in the 1st century BC. Scythia (mostly Eastern Iranian) is shown in orange.

A Scythian horseman from the general area of the Ili river, Pazyryk, c.300 BCE.

The history of Central Asia is defined by the area's climate and geography. The aridness of the region made agriculture difficult and its distance from the sea cut it off from much trade. Thus few major cities developed in the region, instead the area was for millennia dominated by the nomadic horse peoples of the steppe.

Relations between the steppe nomads and the settled people in and around Central Asia were long marked by conflict. The nomadic lifestyle was well suited to warfare and the steppe horse riders became some of the most militarily potent peoples in the world, limited only by their lack of internal unity. Any internal unity that was achieved, was most probably due to the influence of the Silk Road, which traveled along Central Asia. Periodically great leaders or changing conditions would organize several tribes into one force, and create an almost unstoppable power. These included the Hun invasion of Europe, the Wu Hu attacks on China and most notably the Mongol conquest of much of Eurasia.

During pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, southern Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by speakers of Iranian languages. Among the ancient sedentary Iranian peoples, the Sogdians and Chorasmians played an important role, while Iranian peoples such as Scythians and the later on Alans lived a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle.

The main migration of Turkic peoples occurred between the 5th and 10th centuries, when they spread across most of Central Asia. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols conquered and ruled the largest contiguous empire in recorded history.

The dominance of the nomads ended in the 16th century, as firearms allowed settled peoples to gain control of the region. Russia, China, and other powers expanded into the region and had captured the bulk of Central Asia by the end of the nineteenth century. After the Russian Revolution the Central Asian regions were incorporated into the Soviet Union. Mongolia remained independent but became a Soviet satellite state. However Afghanistan remained independent of any influence by the Russian empire.

The Soviet areas of Central Asia saw much industrialization and construction of infrastructure, but also the suppression of local cultures, hundreds of thousands of deaths from failed collectivization programs, and a lasting legacy of ethnic tensions and environmental problems. Soviet authorities deported millions of people, including entire nationalities, from western areas of the USSR to Central Asia and Siberia.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union five countries gained independence. In nearly all the new states former Communist Party officials retained power as local strongmen. None of the new republics could be considered functional democracies in the early days of independence, although it appears Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia have made great strides. Other parts of Central Asia remain part of China or Russia.

Culture

Blue-eyed Central Asian and East-Asian Buddhist monks, Bezeklik, 9th-10th century.

Religions

Islam is the religion most common in the Central Asian Republics, Afghanistan, Xinjiang and the peripheral western regions, such as Bashkiria. Most Central Asian Muslims are Sunni, although there are sizeable Shia minorities in Afghanistan. Islam is also the most prevalent religion in Northern Pakistan and northwest-India.

Buddhism was prominent in Central Asia prior to the arrival of Islam, and the transmission of Buddhism along the Silk Road eventually brought the religion to China. Tibetan Buddhism is most common in Tibet, Mongolia, Ladakh and the southern Russian regions of Siberia, where Shamanism is also popular. Increasing Han Chinese migration westward since the establishment of the PRC has brought Confucianism and other beliefs into the region.

Nestorianism was the form of Christianity most practiced in the region in previous centuries, but now the largest denomination is the Russian Orthodox Church, with many members in Kazakhstan. The Bukharian Jews were once a sizable community in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but nearly all have emigrated since the Collapse of the Soviet Union and the revival of Islam in the region.

Arts

Yama, the Lord of Death.

At the crossroads of Asia, shamanist practices live alongside Buddhism. Thus Yama, Lord of Death, was revered in Tibet as a spiritual guardian and judge. Mongolian Buddhism in particular influenced Tibetan Buddhism. The Qianlong Emperor of China in the 18th century was Tibetan Buddhist, and would sometimes travel from Beijing to other cities for personal religious worship.

Note the human skulls and severed heads that festoon Yama's crown and necklace, which give some concept of the size that Yama was expected to be when one faced him at one's death. This particular Dharmapala is painted wood, four feet high in total.

Central Asia also has an indigenous form of improvisational oral poetry which is over 1000 years old. It is principally practiced in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan by akyns, lyrical improvisationists. They will engage in lyrical battles, the aitysh or the alym sabak. The tradition arose out of early bardic oral historians. They are usually accompanied by a stringed instrument—in Kyrgyzstan, a three-stringed komuz and in Kazakhstan a similar two-stringed instrument.

Some also learn to sing the Manas, Kyrgyzstan's epic poem (those who learn the Manas exclusively but do not improvise are called manaschis). During Soviet rule, akyn performance was co-opted by the authorities and subsequently declined in popularity. With the fall of the Soviet Union it has enjoyed a resurgence, although akyns still do use their art to campaign for political candidates. A 2005 Washington Post article proposed a similarity between the improvisational art of akyns and modern freestyle rap performed in the West.

Demographics

The ethnolinguistic patchwork of Central Asia

By the most inclusive definition, more than 80 million people live in Central Asia, about 2% of Asia's total population. Of the regions of Asia, only North Asia has fewer people. It has a population density of 9 people per km², vastly less than the 80.5 people per km² of the continent as a whole.

Languages

The languages of the majority of the inhabitants of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics come from the Turkic language group. Turkmen, closely related to Turkish (they are both members of the Oghuz group of Turkic), is mainly spoken in Turkmenistan and into Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tatar are related languages of the Kypchak group of Turkic languages, and are spoken throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and into Afghanistan, Xinjiang and Qinghai. Uzbek and Uyghur are spoken in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Xinjiang.

Russian, as well as being spoken by around six million ethnic Russians and Ukrainians of Central Asia, is a lingua franca throughout the former Soviet Central Asian Republics. Mandarin Chinese has an equally dominant presence in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Xinjiang.

The Turkic languages belong to the much larger, but controversial Altaic language family, which includes Mongolian. Mongolian is spoken throughout the region of Mongolia and into Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Xinjiang.

East Iranian languages were once spoken throughout Central Asia, but the once prominent Sogdian, Khwarezmian, Bactrian and Scythian languages are now extinct. However, the East Iranian Pashto is still spoken in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, and other minor East Iranian languages, such as Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi, Sarikoli, Wakhi, Yaghnobi and Ossetian are also spoken in various places in Central Asia. Varieties of Persian are also spoken in the region, locally known as Darī (in Afghanistan), Tojikī (by Tajiks in Tajikistan), and Bukhori (by the Bukharan Jews in Bukhara).

The Tibetan language is spoken by around six million people across the Tibetan Plateau and into Qinghai, Sichuan and Ladakh.

Dardic languages are predominant in the Northern areas of Pakistan and north-western India and spread into Ladakh and NWFP and include Shina, Kashmiri and Khowar.

Tocharian, an Indo-European language, was once spoken in Xinjiang and parts of Afghanistan, but is now extinct.

Geostrategy

Main article: Geostrategy in Central Asia

Central Asia has long been a strategic location merely because of its proximity to several great powers on the Eurasian landmass. The region itself never held a dominant stationary population, nor was able to make use of natural resources. Thus it has rarely throughout history become the seat of power for an empire or influential state. Central Asia has been divided, redivided, conquered out of existence, and fragmented time and time again. Central Asia has served more as the battleground for outside powers, than as a power in its own right.

Central Asia had both the advantage and disadvantage of a central location between four historical seats of power. From its central location, it has access to trade routes to and from all the regional powers. On the other hand, it has been continuously vulnerable to attack from all sides throughout its history, resulting in political fragmentation or outright power vacuum, as it is successively dominated.

Political cartoon from the period of the Great Game showing the Afghan Amir Sher Ali with his "friends" Imperial Russia and the United Kingdom (1878)

• To the North, the steppe allowed for rapid mobility, first for nomadic horseback warriors like the Huns and Mongols, and later for Russian traders, eventually supported by railroads. As the Russian empire expanded to the East, it would also push down into Central Asia towards the sea, in a search for warm water ports. The Soviet bloc would reinforce dominance from the North, and attempt to project power as far south as Afghanistan.
• To the East, the demographic and cultural weight of Chinese empires continually pushed outward into Central Asia. Manchu Qing dynasty would conquer Uyghurstan/East Turkistan and Tibet. As part of the Sino-Soviet bloc, China would keep Tibet. However, with the Sino-Soviet split, China would project power into Central Asia, most notably in the case of Afghanistan, to counter Russian dominance of the region.
• To the Southeast, the demographic and cultural influence of India was felt in Central Asia, notably in Tibet, the Hindu Kush, and slightly beyond. Several historical Indian dynasties, especially those seated along the Indus river would expand into Central Asia. India's ability to project power into Central Asia although has been limited due to the mountain ranges in Pakistan (and the country itself, which has somewhat advanced greater into the affairs of the overall region), as well as the cultural differences between Hindu India, and what would become a mostly Muslim Central Asia. From its base in India, the British Empire competed with the Russian Empire for influence in the region in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• To the Southwest, Western Asian powers have expanded into the Southern areas of Central Asia (usually, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). Several Persian empires would conquer and reconquer parts of Central Asia; Alexander the Great's Hellenic empire would extend into Central Asia; two Islamic empires would exert substantial influence throughout the region; and the modern state of Iran has projected influence throughout the region as well.

In the post-Cold War era, Central Asia is an ethnic cauldron, prone to instability and conflicts, without a sense of national identity, but rather a mess of historical cultural influences, tribal and clan loyalties, and religious fervor. Projecting influence into the area is no longer just Russia, but also Turkey, Iran, China, Pakistan, India and the United States:

• Russia continues to dominate political decision-making throughout the former SSRs, although as other countries move into the area Russia's influence has slowly waned, yet they are still the dominant power.
• The United States with its military involvement in the region, and oil diplomacy, is also significantly involved in the region's politics. The United States and other NATO members are the main contributors to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and also exert considerable influence in other Central Asian nations.
• China, already controlling Xinjiang and Tibet, projects significant power in the region, especially in energy/oil politics (for example, through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization).
• India has geographic proximity to the Central Asian region, and in addition, enjoys considerable influence on Afghanistan. India maintains a military base at Farkhor, Tajikistan and also has extensive military relations with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
• Turkey also exerts considerable influence in the region on account of its ethnic and linguistic ties with the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and its involvement in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Political and economic relations are growing rapidly (e.g. Turkey recently eliminated visa requirements for citizens of the Central Asian Turkic republics).
• Iran, the seat of historical empires which controlled parts of Central Asia, has historical and cultural links to the region, and is vying to construct an oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf.
• Pakistan, a nuclear-armed Islamic state helped to sustain Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and is termed capable of exercising influence. For some Central Asian nations, the shortest route to the ocean lies through Pakistan. Pakistan seeks Natural Gas from Central Asia, and supports the development of pipelines from its countries.

War on Terror

In the context of the United States' War on Terror, Central Asia has once again become the center of geostrategic calculations. Pakistan's status has been upgraded by the U.S. government to Major non-NATO ally because of its central role in serving as a staging point for the invasion of Afghanistan, providing intelligence on Al-Qaeda operations in the region, and leading the hunt on Osama bin Laden, believed to still be in the region.

Afghanistan, which had served as a haven and source of support for Al-Qaeda, under the protection of Mullah Omar and the Taliban, was the target of a U.S. invasion in 2001, and ongoing reconstruction and drug-eradication efforts. U.S. military bases have also been established in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, causing both Russia and the People's Republic of China to voice their concern over a permanent U.S. military presence in the region.

Western observers and governments have claimed that Russia, China and the former Soviet republics have taken advantage of the War on Terror to increase oppression of certain ethnic groups, including minority separatist movements, as well as some religious groups. The U.S. government, which considers Russia and China strategic partners in the War on Terror, has largely turned a blind eye to these claims .

See also

• Agriculture in Central Asia
• Central Asian studies
• Central Asian Union
• Continental pole of inaccessibility
• ECO
• Eurasian nomads
• Euro-Asian Steppe
• Great Game (the rivalry between the British Empire and Tsarist Russia in the 19th century for control of Central Asia)
• Hindutash
• Khotan
• Music of Central Asia
• Soviet Central Asia (1924-1991)
• Survey of India
• Turkistan
• Afghan Turkestan
• International University Of Kyrgyzstan
• University of Central Asia
• Ancient India and Central Asia

General references

• Dani, A.H. and V.M. Masson eds. UNESCO History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Paris: UNESCO, 1992.
• Mandelbaum, Michael. ed. Central Asia and the World: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994.
• Olcott, Martha Brill. Central Asia's New States: Independence, Foreign policy, and Regional security. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996.
• Soucek, Svatopluk. A History of Inner Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Marcinkowski, M. Ismail. Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Pakistan and Early Ottoman Turkey, Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003.
• Rall, Ted. "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?" New York: NBM Publishing, 2006.
• Stone, L. A' 'The International Politics of Central Eurasia', (272 pp). Central Eurasian Studies On Line: Accessible via the Web Page of the International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research: http://www.iicas.org/forumen.htm
• Weston, David. Teaching about Inner Asia, Bloomington, Indiana: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies, 1989.

External links

• The Spektator - Society, culture and travel articles on Kyrgyzstan and the Central Asian region
• Central Asia Health Review
• University of Cambridge Central Asia Forum
• Central Asia Gateway
• Central Asia Travel - Travel to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
• You travel guide in Central Asia
• Central Eurasian Studies World Wide
• National Geographic.com - Nat Geo Music: Central Asian Classical Music page
• National Geographic.com - Nat Geo Music: Central Asian Bardic Music page
• Publications on the history of Central Asia Prior to 1917
• Policymakers' Guide to Central Asia
• University of Central Asia
• Discovery Central Asia magazine: Publications on the travel, history and culture of Central Asia
• New Europe News Extensive news coverage and analysis of Central Asia.
• Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor
• Texas Tech University, full-text examples of Central Asian literature
• International University Of Kyrgyzstan
• [2] The International Politics of Central Eurasia], (272 pp). Central Eurasian Studies On Line: The International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research, 2001.
• Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (RIFIAS) Library Online Catalog Text Collection is one of North America's premier resources for teaching and research in the history, languages, literatures, geography, religions, and cultures of Inner Asia and is located at Indiana University
• University of Turin-Observatory on Central Asia
• Mansi Mehrotra India and US Strategic Convergence in Central Asia
• The Library: Central on politics, universities, culture, languages, etc.

City	Country	Population	Image	Information
Tashkent	Uzbekistan	2,180,000 (2008)		The capital of Uzbekistan and the biggest city in Uzbekistan. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times the town and the province were known as "Chach". Tashkent started as an oasis on the Chirchik River, near the foothills of the Golestan Mountains. In ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer "capital" of the Kangju confederacy.
Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	695,300 (2001)	File:PresidentialPalaceAshgabat.jpg	The capital of Turkmenistan and the biggest city in Turkmenistan. Ashgabat is a relatively young city, growing out of a village of the same name established by Russians in 1818. It is not far from the site of Nisa, the ancient capital of the Parthians, and it grew on the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala, which was first mentioned as a wine-producing village in 2nd century BCE and was leveled by an earthquake in 1st century BCE (a precursor of the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake). Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century CE. After that it survived as a small village until the Russians took over in the 19th century.
Kabul	Afghanistan	3,000,000 (2008)		The capital and largest city of Afghanistan. The city of Kabul is thought to have been established between 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE. In the Rig Veda (composed between 1700–1100 BCE) the word "Kubhā" is mentioned, which appears to refer to the Kabul River.
Peshawar	Pakistan	2,955,254 (2006)	File:Islamia.jpg	Peshawar is the capital of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, located on the edge of the Khyber Pass near the Afghan border. In ancient times, a major settlement called Purushpur (Sanskrit for "city of men") was established by Kanishka, the Kushan king, in the general area of modern Peshawar. Purushpur emerged as a major center of Buddhist learning, and the capital of the ancient Gandhara was moved to Peshawar in the 2nd century CE. During much of its history, Peshawar was one of the main trading centres on the ancient Silk Road and was a major crossroads for various cultures between Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.
Mashhad	Iran	2,427,316 (2006)	File:Imam Ali Reza.jpg	The second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. At the beginning of the 9th century (3rd century AH) Mashhad was a small village called Sanabad situated 24 km away from Tus. It was not considered a great city until Mongol raids in 1220 which caused the destruction of many large cities in the Greater Khorasan territories, leaving Mashhad relatively intact. Thus the survivors of the massacres migrated to Mashhad.
Ürümqi	Xinjiang AR, PRC	2,681,834 (2006)	File:Ürümqi 2008.png	The capital and largest city in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the cultural center of Uyghurs. Two thousand years ago Ürümqi was an important town on the northern route of the Silk Road, a vast network of trade routes that also facilitated cultural exchanges throughout Eurasia.
Mazar-e Sharif	Afghanistan	300,600 (2008)		The fourth largest city in Afghanistan and capital of Balkh province and is linked by roads to Kabul in the south-east, Herat to the west and Uzbekistan to the north.
Ulaanbaatar	Mongolia	1,067,472 (2008)		The capital and largest city in Mongolia and the cultural center of Mongolians. The city was founded in 1639 as an initially nomadic Buddhist monastic centre. Since 1778 it has been located in the Tuul river valley. In the 20th century, Ulaanbaatar grew into a major manufacturing centre.
Samarkand	Uzbekistan	596,300 (2008)		The second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study.
Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	1,250,000 (2007)		The capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative center of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.
Tous	Iran	N/A		An ancient city in the Iranian province of Razavi Khorasan. To the ancient Greeks, it was known asn Susia (Gr. Σούσια). It was captured by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. The city was almost entirely destroyed by Genghis Khan's Mongol conquest in 1220.
Astana	Kazakhstan	700,000 (2009)		The capital and second largest city in Kazakhstan. After Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991, the city and the region were renamed "Aqmola". The name was often translated as "White Tombstone", but actually means "Holy Place" or "Holy Shrine". The "White Tombstone" literal translation was too appropriate for many visitors to escape notice in almost all guide books and travel accounts. In 1994, the city was designated as the future capital of the newly-independent country, and again renamed to the present "Astana" after the capital was officially moved from Almaty in 1997.
Dushanbe	Tajikistan	679,400 (2008)		The capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik and Persian, and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday marketplace.
Bukhara	Uzbekistan	237,900 (1999)	File:Bukhara10.jpg	The nation's fifth-largest city and the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. Bukhara has been one of the main centres of Persian civilization from its early days in 6th century BCE and since 12th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in. Its architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of the Central Asian history and art.
Almaty	Kazakhstan	1,420,747 (2009)	File:Almaty-mountains.jpg	It was the capital of Kazakhstan (and its predecessor, the Kazakh SSR) from 1929 to 1998. Despite losing its status as the capital, Almaty remains the major commercial center of Kazakhstan.
Nishapur	Iran	270,972 (2006)		The city is located in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad. It's hometown of several respected Persian poets and artists, including Omar Khayyám, Attar Neyshapuri and Kamal-ol-molk.