6.4: Central Asia (2 Days)
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- Summarize how Central Asia has been transitioning from a Soviet-dominated region to independent states and what has been occurring in the various states to adapt to the new economic environment.
- Describe how the Aral Sea has been affected by the practices of water use in the region and the environmental consequences that have resulted from water use policies.
- Explain the geopolitical history of Afghanistan and why this area has been so difficult to govern under a central government.
- Learn why there is continual conflict in Afghanistan between Western military forces and local Taliban insurgents.
- Understand the principle that globalization of the economy forces political units to compete over natural resources.
TEKS Regional Unit 06: Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia: Chapter 6.4 Central Asia
WG.2A Describe the human and physical characteristics of the same regions at different periods of time to evaluate relationships between past events and current conditions.
WG.2B Explain how changes in societies have led to diverse uses of physical features.
WG.3B Describe the physical processes that affect the environments of regions, including weather, tectonic forces, erosion, and soil-building processes.
WG.4C Explain how elevation, latitude, wind systems, ocean currents, position on a continent, and mountain barriers influence temperature, precipitation, and distribution of climate regions.
WG.4B Describe different landforms and the physical processes that cause their development.
WG.6A Locate and describe human and physical features that influence the size and distribution of settlements.
WG.8A Compare ways that humans depend on, adapt to, and modify the physical environment, including the influences of culture and technology.
WG.9A Identify physical and/or human factors such as climate, vegetation, language, trade networks, political units, river systems, and religion that constitute a region.
WG.10B Classify where specific countries fall along the economic spectrum between free enterprise and communism.
WG.10C Compare the ways people satisfy their basic needs through the production of goods and services such as subsistence agriculture versus commercial agriculture or cottage industries versus commercial industries.
WG.12A Analyze how the creation, distribution, and management of key natural resources affects the location and patterns of movement of products, money, and people.
WG.13A Interpret maps to explain the division of land, including man-made and natural borders, into separate political units such as cities, states, or countries.
WG.16C Explain ways various groups of people perceive the characteristics of their own and other cultures, places, and regions differently.
WG.16D Compare life in a variety of urban and rural areas in the world to evaluate political, economic, social, and environmental changes.
WG.18A Analyze cultural changes in specific regions caused by migration, war, trade, innovations, and diffusion.
WG.18C Identify examples of cultures that maintain traditional ways, including traditional economies.
WG.19C Examine the environmental, economic, and social impacts of advances in technology on agriculture and natural resources.
WG.21B Locate places of contemporary geopolitical significance on a map.
WG.21C Create and Interpret different types of maps to answer geographic questions, infer relationships, and analyze change.
WG.22A Design and Draw appropriate graphics such as maps, diagrams, tables, and graphs to communicate geographic features, distributions, and relationships.
WG.22B Generate summaries, generalizations, and thesis statements supported by evidence.
WG.22C Use geographic terminology correctly.
WG.22D Use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation.
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region in the Asian continent that extends from the mountains of western China to the shores of the Caspian Sea. Pakistan and Iran create the southern border of the region, and the vast expanse of Russia is to the north. Afghanistan is considered a part of the region even though it was never a formal part of the Soviet Union. Central Asia was located on what was known as the Silk Road between Europe and the Far East and has long been a crossroads for people, ideas, and trade.
Central Asia has an extremely varied geography, including high mountain passes through vast mountain ranges, such as the Tian Shan, Hindu Kush, and the Pamirs. The region is also home to the vast Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum Deserts, which dominate the interior with extensive spans of sand and desolation. The expansive treeless, grassy steppes that surround the desert regions are considered an extension of the steppes of Eastern Europe.
Some geographers think of the Eurasian Steppes as a single geographical zone. Under the sand and prairie grasses lay the some of the most extensive untapped reserves of gas and oil on the planet. Natural resources are the main attraction of the region driving the economic forces that determine the development patterns of individual countries. Multinational corporations have vigorously stepped up their activity in the region.
The political systems are adjusting from the old Soviet Union’s socialist policies to new democratic systems that are subject to high levels of authoritarian rule and corruption in business and politics.
The five countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan were part of the former Soviet Union until its breakup in 1991. Today, with Afghanistan, they are independent countries that make up the region called Central Asia. The term stan means “land of,” so, for example, Uzbekistan is the land of the Uzbeks. Central Asia is also referred to as Turkestan because of the Turkish influence in the region.
The people of Turkey did not originate from the Middle East; they originated from northern Asia. They swept through Central Asia and dominated the region on their way to the Middle East. The Turkish language and heritage have had the most significant impact on the people of Central Asia. Turkmenistan’s name is another reminder of the Turkish connection. It means “the land of the Turkmen.”
Most of the groups of Central Asia were nomadic peoples who rode horses and herded livestock on the region’s vast steppes. This way of life continued until the 1920s, when the Soviet Union forced many of the groups to abandon their lifestyle and settle on collective farms and in cities. Most of the people of Central Asia continue to identify culturally with their nomadic past. Central Asians who live in cities often demonstrate a mix of local and Russian culture in terms of dress and food because of the large influx of Russian populations in the region. More than six million Russians and Ukrainians were resettled into Central Asia during Soviet rule. Russian is often used as a common language.
One of the primary ways in which people distinguish themselves culturally is through religious practices. Despite the area being part of the Soviet Union, where religious activities were discouraged, Islam was and still is the dominant religion. Most Central Asian Muslims are Sunnis.
Kazakhstan
The traditional people of Kazakhstan, who share a Mongol and Turkic heritage, moved into the Central Asia region some time after 1200 C.E. The expansion of the Russian Empire under the tsars integrated Kazakhstan and its neighbors, which eased their transition when the tsarist system of Russian government gave way to the Soviet Union. The influx of Russian people and culture had a major influence on Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, thereby creating the world’s largest landlocked nation. It is the ninth-largest state on the planet in terms of square miles and is larger in physical area than of all of Western Europe. This vast land is host to a wide variety of physical landscapes, including the high, snow-capped peaks of the ranges on the Chinese border. The western portions are lowlands bordering the Caspian Sea. The seemingly endless grasslands of the interior are one of the largest steppe regions in the world. The steppe region has a semiarid type B climate. A large portion of southern Kazakhstan is desert, including the northern regions of the Kyzyl Kum Desert. Colder type D climates are found in the northern regions of the country.
The steppe produces grain in large quantities and other agricultural products, while the productive mining of minerals adds to the national wealth. Kazakhstan ranks high in the mining of many metals and uranium. Even diamonds are found here. Oil and natural gas extraction accounts for the largest sector of the country’s economy and generates the largest export income. The Tengiz basin around the northeast shores of the Caspian Sea is home to extensive petroleum reserves. Oil pipelines are expanding to transport the oil to port locations and other countries, including China. The economy of Kazakhstan has been larger than the economies of all the other Central Asian states combined.
Kazakhstan also has a forward capital. During the Soviet era, the capital was located in the southeast at Almaty. However, after gaining independence in 1991, the capital was moved north to Astana to ensure that the Russian-dominated northeast would be monitored against devolutionary forces wanting to secede and become part of the Russian Republic.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan physically borders all the Central Asian countries. It is the most populous Central Asian country with a population exceeding 27 million. Uzbekistan's eastern boundary extends deep into Kyrgyzstan territory. The boundary lines were created during the Soviet era to provide the central government with more control over its republics. Geographers call Uzbekistan a doubly landlocked nation because all of the countries that surround it are also landlocked. The main source of fresh water comes from the Eastern Highland regions. The main rivers have been heavily used for irrigation and are often depleted before reaching the Aral Sea.
Cotton is the main agricultural crop. Uzbekistan is one of the top producers of cotton in the world and is a major exporter to world markets. The central and western regions have mainly arid desert climates and rely heavily on the fresh water flowing in from the mountains. Agriculture employs a full one-fourth of the population and accounts for one-fourth of the gross domestic product (GDP). The extraction of gold, minerals, and fossil fuels are also prime economic activities. The country has been transitioning from the old Soviet Union’s command economy to a market economy competing in a global marketplace.
Uzbekistan is a country of young people. About one-third of the population is under the age of 15. Education was heavily emphasized during the Soviet era. As a result, about 99 percent of the population is literate, although about one-third of the people still live in poverty. Islam emerged in this country after Uzbekistan won its independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. In a culture of openness, Islam has risen in prominence to the point that approximately 88 percent of Uzbeks profess Islamic beliefs. The most commonly spoken language is Persian/Farsi.
Samarkand and the country’s capital city, Tashkent, are located in the eastern core region, which is home to most of the population. Tashkent has an unofficial population of more than three million people. The city, which sits on the confluence of a local river and its tributaries, started as an oasis for trade along the Silk Road. Samarkand is Uzbekistan’s second-largest city and is most noted as the central city of the Silk Road as well as an important historical city for Islamic scholars.
In 2001, UNESCO declared this 2,750-year-old city a World Heritage Site. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world and has been one of the more important cities in Central Asia. The historical architecture is heavily influenced by Islamic styles from Iran. The region around Bukhara, Uzbekistan’s 5th-largest city, has been occupied for at least the last 5,000 years. Bukhara was another important city on the Silk Road and is known for its Asian carpet and textile industry. This region has been an important cultural, economic, and scholarly center for most of its known existence.
The Aral Sea Environmental Disaster
Central Asia’s shrinking Aral Sea is shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The sea was once the 4th-largest body of water in the world, but it has been reduced to a fraction of its original area. In 1960, the Aral Sea covered about 26,254 square miles, an area larger than the size of the US state of West Virginia. By 2009, the sea covered less than 10 percent of the same area. The entire eastern portion of the sea has become a sand desert, complete with the deteriorating hulls of abandoned fishing vessels. The loss of water is approximately equivalent to the complete draining of both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in North America.
The water loss escalated when the Syr Darya River, which flowed into the northern part of the sea, and the Amu Darya River, which flowed into the southern side of the sea, were diverted for the irrigation of cotton and other crops. At about 1,500 miles long, the Amu Darya is the region’s longest river. Its source is the high mountain streams and lakes of the Pamir Mountains. Environmental problems were further exacerbated by the extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural processes. The chemicals contaminated the water flowing into the Aral Sea.
Once the water dried up in the sea, the winds carried the buildup of chemicals and salt from the dry seabed over the land, causing serious health-related problems in the nearby human population. Cancer and respiratory illness rates continue to be higher than normal. Water and land pollution is a serious problem. Even the climate around the Aral Sea has changed gradually because of the loss of water from evaporation for precipitation, causing the climate to become warmer in the summer and colder in the winter.
The decline of the Aral Sea has destroyed habitats and the local economy. The fishing industry, which employed more than 60,000 people, has been devastated. The remaining western portion of the sea has a rising salt content that is contributing to the decline of the fish population. Adding to the environmental devastation, the Soviets conducted biological weapons experiments on an island that was once in the middle of the Aral Sea.
Hazardous wastes such as anthrax and toxic chemicals contaminated the land and found their way into the sea. Efforts have been made to improve the environmental damage of the contamination, but the damage has had a lasting impact. The sea has historically been an important environmental location for wildlife. It is located in a major flyway for migratory waterfowl in Central Asia and served as an important habitat.
The deterioration of the Aral Sea and the destruction of habitat for waterfowl and other organisms is one of the world’s worst environmental catastrophes. The fact that the Aral Sea is located in a region that is not part of the core economic area of the global community has rendered it “out of sight and out of mind” by entities that could potentially provide economic support.
In the northern portion of the Aral Sea, called the Little Aral Sea, there has been some success in abating the deterioration of this once-thriving environmental habitat. A major dam has been constructed that partitions off the Little Aral Sea, causing water from the Syr Darya River to increase the water level of the Little Aral Sea and reduce the salt content. Canals, dikes, and irrigation processes have been updated to reduce the loss of water and increase the amount that flows into the northern section. These development efforts have resulted in the water level rising and have given the fishing industry new life. The efforts have been undertaken by Kazakhstan’s government, which controls the Little Aral Sea.
A major part of the southern portion of the once thriving sea is located in Uzbekistan. The remaining western portion of the Uzbekistan side of the Aral Sea will continue to shrink if measures are not taken to address the loss of water from the Amu Darya River. The eastern side was completely dry by 2009. Uzbekistan has responded to the situation by contracting out to various multinational oil companies from Korea, China, and Russia to explore for oil beneath the dry seabed.
The demise of the Aral Sea was caused in part by the diversion of water from its northern inlet, the Syr Darya River. At the other end of the Syr Darya River an additional factor augmented the lack of water flow. The Soviet Union placed a dam on the river and allowed the overflow from the dam to flow into low-lying dry pans, creating artificial lakes. As a result, Aydar Lake was created and became the second-largest lake in Uzbekistan. Various species of fish were introduced and the lake became a major source for commercial fishing. Hundreds of tons of fish are harvested annually. Just as fishing was declining in the Aral Sea, the fishing industry was growing at Aydar Lake.
Turkmenistan
To the south of the Amu Darya River is the desert country of Turkmenistan, which extends from the Caspian Sea to Afghanistan in the east. Turkmenistan is slightly larger in physical area than the US state of California. Roughly 80 percent of the country is covered by the Kara Kum Desert, which is among the driest in the world. The southern mountains along the Iranian and Afghan border reach as high as 10,290 feet in elevation. Water from the Amu Darya River has been diverted by the 700-mile-long Kara Kum Canal through Turkmenistan to help grow cotton and other agricultural products.
The transition from a Soviet republic to an independent state in 1991 brought many changes. The former leader of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Saparmurat Niyazov (also know as Turkmenbashi), was the president for 15 years. Through his authoritarian rule, he promoted a traditional culture with Islam as the predominant religion. He changed all the names of the days of the week and the months of the year to his name, the names of his family members, and the names of Turkmen heroes or famous people.
Turkmenbashi’s image was printed on the currency, and large posters of him could be seen throughout the country. His book on important concepts, the Ruhnama (The Book of the Soul), was to be read by all school children and the public. After his death in 2006, many of his actions were reversed. The country continues to transition to a stable democratic state, though many of the same dynamics of corruption and authoritarian rule remain.
Turkmenistan has the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world. The income from natural gas exports has become the country’s greatest means of gaining wealth. Because Turkmenistan is landlocked, its government has been forced to partner with Russia to use of Russia’s pipelines to export the natural gas. Not wishing to rely on Russia’s monopoly on the pipelines, Turkmenistan developed an additional pipeline to China to help boost income and profits.
Many international corporations are seeking to do business in Turkmenistan and Central Asia to corner a piece of the vast natural resources. Corporate colonialism is extremely active and has contributed to a high level of corruption in the government and the business sector. It is unclear how much of the country’s wealth filters down to most of the population. Over the past decade, unemployment rates have exceeded 50 percent, and more than half the population lives below the poverty line.
The administrative center and largest city of Turkmenistan is its capital, Ashgabat, which has a population of about one million. Ashgabat lies between the Kara Kum Desert and the mountains near the former Silk Road. In the historic region of Central Asia, it is comparatively a very young town, having grown out of a small village founded in 1818. Ashgabat is primarily a government and administrative center, although it has thriving cotton, textile, and metalworking industries. Ashgabat is also a popular stop along the Trans-Caspian Railway.
Kyrgyzstan
Local groups in the mountains of Central Asia make up the population of Kyrgyzstan. The 40 rays of sun on the country’s flag symbolize of the legendary 40 tribes of Manas that represent the nation. The rugged landscape of this mountainous land includes the high ranges of the Tian Shan Mountains, which can reach elevations as high as 24,400 feet and cover about 80 percent of the country. Snowfall from the mountains provides fresh water for agriculture as well as hydroelectric energy.
Food crops can be grown in the valleys and the few lowland areas. Half of the population works in agriculture, and self-sufficiency in food production is a major objective for survival. The mountains hold deposits of metals and minerals that have a strong potential for adding to the national wealth. Oil and natural gas reserves are also available for profit. The government is seeking foreign aid and investments to help develop these resources.
In 2009, Kyrgyzstan had a population of about 5.4 million in a land area about the size of the US state of South Dakota. About 30 percent of the population is under the age of 15, and about 36 percent of the population is urban. The western boundary with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is winding and creates various small enclaves and exclaves of people from one country surrounded by people of another country and separated from their home nations.
Kyrgyzstan’s transition from a Soviet republic to independence was not smooth. The loss of the state social safety net pushed the economy further to the informal sector, where trading and small transactions for personal survival are common. Shortages of consumer goods occur in rural areas and small towns. Kyrgyzstan is an isolated country that has been working to integrate itself into the global economy through technology and modernization. In 2010, clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz brought about riots in the streets of major cities. These riots resulted in more than 200 casualties and 300,000 displaced citizens. After the situation cooled down, the government worked to stabilize itself with new leadership.
A form of improvisational oral poetry, which allegedly dates back to more than 1,000 years ago, is an aspect of traditional culture that has been preserved. While common throughout the region, it is mainly found in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Practitioners will often engage in “lyrical battles” of folklore. These poets, often accompanied by two- or three-stringed instruments, will recite the Manas, an epic poem of Kyrgyzstan that details the life of the Kyrgyzstan hero Manas. This epic tale is a renowned part of the culture and festivals of Kyrgyzstan.
Tajikistan
The eastern region of Central Asia has some of the highest mountain ranges in the world. About 90 percent of Tajikistan is mountainous, and more than half the country is 10,000 feet in elevation or higher. Ranges of the Himalayas extend from the south all the way to the western border with China. The Pamirs is a mountain range located where the Tian Shan, Karakorum, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges meet in Tajikistan, an area referred to as the Pamir Knot, or the roof of the world. Elevations in the Pamirs often exceed 24,500 feet.
The Pamirs is the source of the Amu Darya River and is home to the longest glacier outside the polar regions (48 miles long in 2009). There is great potential for hydroelectric power generation, and Tajikistan is developing the world’s highest dam.
Tajikistan has the smallest physical area of any country in Central Asia but has a population of about 7.3 million. Only about one-fourth of the population is urban, and one-third of the population is younger than 15 years of age. There is less ethnic or religious diversity. Approximately 80 percent of the people are ethnically Tajik and are Sunni Muslims. Though it has natural resources similar in quantity to those in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan’s economy is not advanced enough to fully take advantage of its economic potential. Half of the labor base works abroad and sends remittances back to their families for economic support. Unemployment is high, and job opportunities have not been able to keep up with demand.
Dushanbe, the capital and largest city of Tajikistan, is situated on the confluence of two local rivers and is famous for its Monday markets. Dushanbe, like Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, was originally a small village. It became an administrative center for the region when the Soviet army conquered the area in 1929. Similar to many of the other cities and regions in Central Asia, the Soviets transformed the political and economic landscape and made Dushanbe a center for cotton and silk production. The Soviets also transformed the cultural and ethnic makeup of the city by relocating tens of thousands of people from Russia and other regions of Central Asia to Dushanbe.
The transition from the Soviet Republic to an independent country in 1991 was difficult for Tajikistan. From 1992 to 1997, a bitter civil war between regional factions killed more than 50,000 people. Political instability and corruption have hampered the growth of a market economy, and political power remains in the hands of the economic elite. Debt restructuring with Russia and development loans from China have aided the ailing economy. Aid from the US helped fund a 36-million-dollar bridge linking Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which opened in August 2007. US aid has also contributed to infrastructure development designed to help US military operations in Afghanistan and in the region as a whole. Countries such as Russia, China, and the United States are all looking to gain an advantage with their ties to Tajikistan to exploit the region’s natural resources.
Afghanistan
Present-day Afghanistan has been conquered by the likes of Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, and the Mogul Empire. It was also a buffer zone for colonial feuds between Russia and British India. The high central mountain range of the Hindu Kush dominates the country and leaves a zone of well-watered fertile plains to the north and a dry desert region to the south. Afghanistan is a remote region without access to the sea and acts as a strategic link between the Middle East and the Far East.
The Soviet Invasion and the Taliban
In 1979, the Soviet Union took advantage of ongoing ethnic warfare in Afghanistan. The Soviets pushed in from the north and occupied much of Afghanistan until they completely withdrew in 1989. During the Soviet occupation, the United States supported anti-Communist resistance groups such as the Mujahideen with money, arms, and surface-to-air missiles. The missiles were instrumental in taking out Soviet aircraft and MiG fighters, which caused a critical shift in the balance of power in the war. One of the major connections between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Mujahideen was a Saudi national named Osama bin Laden. Support from the CIA through bin Laden to the Mujahideen was instrumental in defeating the Soviets.
The power vacuum left by the retreating Soviets allowed conflicts to reemerge between the many ethnic factions in Afghanistan. Dozens of languages are spoken in Afghanistan. The top two are Pashtu and Afghan Persian-Dari. There are also a dozen major ethnic groups. The top two are Pashtun and Tajik. The groups regularly fight among themselves, but they have also been known to form alliances. Rural areas are usually led by clan leaders who are not part of any official arm of a national government. Afghanistan is a place where forming any national unity or identity is not easy. The national government in the capital city of Kabul has little influence in the country’s rural regions.
The Soviet invasion united the warring factions for a short period of time to focus on the Soviet threat. Chaos and anarchy thrived after the Soviet forces withdrew, but the Islamic fundamentalist group known as the Taliban came forward to fill the power vacuum. One objective of the Taliban was to use Islam as a unifying force to bring the country together. The problem with that concept was that there was much diversity in how Islam was practiced by the numerous local groups.
Many of the factions in Afghanistan opposed the Taliban. One such group was the Northern Alliance, which was an association of groups located in the northern area of the country. The civil war between the Taliban and those that opposed them resulted in the deaths of more than 50,000 people by 1996, when the Taliban emerged to take power in Kabul. The Taliban is a Sunni Muslim group that adheres to strict Islamic laws under the Wahhabi branch of the faith similar to that of Saudi Arabia.
Under Taliban rule, women were removed from positions in hospitals, schools, and work environments and had to wear burkas and be covered from head to toe, including a veil over their faces. Violators were either beaten or shot. The Taliban brought militant order to Kabul and the regions under their control. Various factions such as the Northern Alliance did not share the Taliban’s strict Islamic views and continued to oppose their position in power.
Al-Qaeda and the US Invasion
After the war against the Soviet Union was over, the US role in Afghanistan diminished. The groups that the United States had supported continued to vie for power in local conflicts. Osama bin Laden remained in Afghanistan and established training camps for his version of an anti-Western resistance group called al-Qaeda. Just as he had opposed the Soviet Union, he now opposed the United States, even though the United States had supported him against the Soviets.
The Saudi government allowed the United States to establish military bases in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War. This was one reason for bin Laden’s opposition. He believed that non-Muslims should not be on the same ground as the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina.
The 9/11 attack in New York City was traced back to al-Qaeda and bin Laden, the latter whom was living in Afghanistan at the time. In a military action called Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, removed the Taliban from power, and dismantled the al-Qaeda training camps. Although bin Laden escaped, the terror of the Taliban was temporarily reduced. Women were allowed to return to the workplace, and the rebuilding of the country became a priority.
The country was devastated by war and divided because of the various ethnic and traditional groups. Afghanistan is one of the most impoverished places on Earth. The armed conflicts in Afghanistan did not end with the US invasion. After regrouping, the Taliban rallied its supporters on the Pakistani side of the border and returned to the fighting front in Afghanistan against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and US forces.
Fighting between Western forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan continued to provide the exiled bin Laden a platform to promote his al-Qaeda terrorist activities from his hiding place. Efforts to locate and marginalize bin Laden continued through to the US presidency of Barack Obama. In May of 2011, on orders from President Obama, a team of US Navy Seals was sent into the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan to a private compound where intelligence indicated that bin Laden was hiding. In the confrontation, the US Navy Seal team killed bin Laden. The entire operation was conducted without the awareness of the Pakistani government.
The country is the world’s largest producer of opium, a product extracted from a poppy plant seedpod. Heroin is also produced from the poppy plant. The expanding poppy cultivation, as well as a growing drug trade, may account for one-third of the country’s income. More than 80 percent of the heroin consumed in Europe is grown in Afghanistan. The drug trade has only multiplied the problems in this devastated country.
Most of the country is ruled by warlords and clan leaders who have few resources other than tradition and custom. Afghanistan’s infrastructure has been destroyed through warfare, and its government is dependent on foreign aid. Without it, this country cannot recover to participate in the global economy. Central Asia has enormous oil and natural gas reserves, and the core economic regions of the world will continue their work to extract these resources for economic gain.
The US Department of Defense issued an official statement on Afghanistan in 2008 (Source DoD 2008):
In response to the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. and its allies launched an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime and destroy the al-Qaeda terrorist network it supported. In the years since, the International Security Assistance Force, under NATO leadership, has taken charge of extensive provincial reconstruction and stabilization efforts, helping set the economic, political and security conditions for the growth of an effective, democratic national government in Afghanistan. As the lead member of the international coalition, the U.S. contributes troops to both the ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mission and Operation Enduring Freedom, tasked with pursuing al-Qaeda throughout Afghanistan’s inhospitable border region with Pakistan.
The Western military troops aligned themselves with Afghan groups such as the Northern Alliance to defeat the Taliban and remove the al-Qaeda presence.
Democratic elections were held for the office of president in Afghanistan beginning in October of 2004. Hamid Karzai was the country’s first elected president in the 20th century. He was reelected as president in 2009 under claims of election fraud. The right to vote was restored to women in the 2004 election. To combat voter fraud, people would dip their fingers in ink to indicate that they did not vote more than once. Voting has not been a smooth process because democratic rule is new to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s future is insecure. Most of Afghanistan is still ruled by warlords and clan leaders. The Taliban has sustained its support in Afghanistan from bases on the Pakistani side of the border, and the United Nations (UN) and NATO troops continue to confront the Taliban and work toward stability. Kandahar, the second-largest city in Afghanistan, is located in the south, an area where support for the Taliban is stronger than it is in Kabul in the north.
Resources and Globalization
In 2010, a US government report indicated that vast amounts of mineral wealth were discovered in Afghanistan by American geologists and Pentagon officials. Enormous deposits of iron, copper, gold, cobalt, and rare industrial minerals such as lithium are reported to be present in Afghanistan. Total reserves are unknown or have not been released but if extracted would result in trillions of dollars of economic gain for the country. Lithium is highly sought after and is used in the manufacturing of batteries, computers, and electronic devices. The report indicated that Afghanistan could become the world’s premier mining country.
Discovery of vast resources helps place the war in Afghanistan in perspective with respect to global competition over the control of resources. It has been reported that China has already offered millions of dollars in incentive money to Afghan government officials to allow its country to mine copper. Bribery and corruption in the Afghan government is an obstacle to a stable political environment, but criminal activities are projected to persist and grow with the potential for additional mining wealth.
Afghanistan does not have a long-standing tradition of mining. Agriculture has been the main focus of economic activity for rural communities. A newfound potential for mineral wealth will change the future of Afghanistan. It will be interesting to track how Afghanistan adapts to and benefits from the discovery of previously unknown resources.
- Central Asia is a landlocked region that receives little rainfall.
- Two large desert regions are located at the region’s core.
- Vast grasslands called steppes dominate the northern sector.
- High mountains to the east provide a border between Central Asia and China.
- Central Asia (a.k.a. Turkestan) has been dominated by the Soviet Union during the 20th century.
- The transition to independence has challenged the region to adjust to changes in political and economic systems.
- The demise of the Aral Sea is being caused by the diversion of water from the two rivers flowing into the sea. A once-thriving fishing industry has been destroyed and environmental damage has been catastrophic.
- Armed conflicts in Afghanistan continue between Western military forces and the Taliban over the control of the country. Clan leaders are a main part of the political foundation of the country. The diversity and fragmentation of the country make it almost impossible to govern.
- Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world based on data on standards of living. However, the country has one of the largest deposits of valuable minerals and ores in the world waiting to be extracted. The deposits are the target of multinational corporations around the globe.
- The following is a summary of trends in Central Asia: (1) Shift from the Soviet Union to independent states; (2) Rise in authoritarian governments and corruption; (3) Increase of cultural influence of Islamic institutions; (4) Global economic focus on extractive activities; (5) Increase in military activity over control of resources; (6) Decline in agriculture as an economic base; (7) Continued concern for environmental problems
Vocabulary Terms
The Aral Sea | An inland sea in Central Asia fed by the Syr Darya and Amu Darya Rivers; it has been steadily shrinking |
dryland farming | Farming that relies on rainfall instead of irrigation |
irrigation | The supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channeling water from a river |
landlocked | Completely surrounded by land with no direct access to the ocean |
nomads | People who do not have a permanent home and who often move from place to place |
Taliban | A radical Muslim group that rose to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s |
Applying Knowledge
Discussion and Study Questions
- Why is Central Asia often referred to as Turkestan? What does the suffix “stan” indicate?
- Which country in Central Asia has a forward capital and why?
- How is the Tengiz basin important to the global economy? Where is it located?
- How have problems with the Aral Sea affected the people of the region?
- What is attracting multinational corporations to Central Asia? How do corporations impact politics?
- What happened in Tajikistan after it received independence in 1991? How did this affect the country?
- List at least five general trends that have been occurring in Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- Why did the CIA get involved in the 1980s war in Afghanistan? Who acted as a CIA contact?
- What role did the Taliban once have in Afghanistan’s government? Why were not they allies with Iran?
- What are the main methods of gaining wealth in Afghanistan today? How might this change in the future?
Real-World Geography Exercise
Using Google Maps, locate each one of the physical regions below. From the list, choose five and calculate the distance and how long it would take to travel by airplane from El Paso, Texas to the nearest airport of your chose location. Be prepared to share your answers.
- Amu Darya River
- Aral Sea
- Aydar Lake
- Caspian Sea
- Hindu Kush
- Kandahar
- Kara Kum Canal
- Kara Kum Desert
- Karakorum Ranges
- Kyzyl Kum Desert
- Little Aral Sea
- Pamir Knot
- Pamirs
- Samarkand
- Syr Darya River
- Tengiz basin
Mapping Exercise
Down to the Last Drop: Students will explore the impact of human activities on water resources throughout the world with online mapping software.
Videos for Geography Enrichment
Helpful Websites for the Study of Geography
Canadian Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia funded by the Canadian government covering all branches of knowledge. Their scholarly collection includes interactive materials.
CIA World Factbook provides information on the people, history, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for the world's entities.
Congress.gov is a US government website where you can find federal legislation, past and present, as well as information about the US legal system.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a government agency website that provides current news, resources, topics of interest, information about drugs, careers in the DEA, and a tip hotline.
Library of Congress is the largest library in the world and provides manuscripts, files, information, pictures, and videos.
NASA Earth Observatory (NEO) is a US government agency website that allows users to search for and retrieve satellite images of Earth.
National Archives is a US government website that provides historical documents, photos, records, publications, and educator resources.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is a US government agency website that provides weather-related information and ocean research.
National Map is a website by the United States Geological Survey and other federal, state, and local agencies that delivers topographic information for the United States.
NationMaster is a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations.
Real-Time World Air Quality Index is a website that measures most locations in the world for air pollution in real time.
StateMaster is a unique statistical database, which allows you to research and compare a multitude of different data on US states.
United Nations (UN) is an international organization founded in 1945 and made up of 193 member states. The UN maintains international peace and security, protects human rights, delivers humanitarian aid, promotes sustainable development, and upholds international law.
United States Census Bureau is a US government agency that provides a population clock, data, surveys, statistics, a library with information and infographics, news about the economy, and much more.
United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a US government agency website that provides scientific information about the natural hazards that threaten lives, the natural resources we rely on, the health of our ecosystems and environment, and the impacts of climate and land-use change.
Whitehouse.gov is a US government website that provides the latest presidential news, information about the budget, policy, defense, and many more topics.
World Health Organization (WHO) is under the United Nations and provides leadership on matters critical to health, shapes the research agenda on health, and monitors the health situation and assessing health trends around the world. Their website provides information on the state of health around the world, outbreaks, current health news, and more.
World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade. The website provides information on the history of the multilateral trading system, featured videos, news and events, trade topics, and more.