NBR Analysis vol. 6, no. 4
Central Asia's Foreign Policy and Security Challenges
Implications for the United States
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, each a former union republic of the U.S.S.R., arose in Central Asia followig the formal collapse of the soviet Union. Central Asia is bounded by the Caspian Sea in the west, China’s Xinjiang province in the east, Russia in the north, and Iran and Afghanistan in the south.
With the formal collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, five independent states
(Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), each a former union republic of the U.S.S.R., arose in Central Asia. Central Asia, which covers just under four million square kilometers, is bounded by the Caspian Sea in the west, China’s Xinjiang province in the east, Russia in the north, and Iran and Afghanistan in the south. The region is home to some 50 million people. Its indigenous inhabitants are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims. Their languages and cultures are of Turkic origin, except for the Tajiks, who are closer to Iranians in both respects. The terrain of Central Asia is diverse as well, and includes the vast, sparsely populated steppe of Kazakhstan, the densely-populated Fergana Valley that slices through Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, large deserts (the Karakum in Turkmenistan, the Kyzylkum in Uzbekistan), and the rugged mountains of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
The Kazaks, Kyrgyz, and Turkmen were nomadic peoples, unlike the sedentary Tajiks and Uzbeks. Kazakhstan, with a population of 16.5 million, is a third the size of the lower 48 states of the United States. Uzbekistan’s 19.8 million people inhabit an area two-thirds the size of Texas. Turkmenistan is as large as Colorado and Wyoming combined and has a population of 3.6 million. In contrast, Kyrgyzstan (4.3 million people) is the size of South Dakota, and Tajikistan, with 5.1 million people, is the size of Iowa.