Central Asia had both the advantage and disadvantage of a central location between four historical seats of power. In the context of the United States' War on Terror, Central Asia has once again become the center of geostrategic calculations. As co-operation among the member states in science and technology is already considerable and well-codified in legal texts, the Eurasian Economic Union is expected to have a limited additional impact on co-operation among public laboratories or academia but it should encourage business ties and scientific mobility, since it includes provision for the free circulation of labour and unified patent regulations. The tribes considered part of Central Asia include the Eastern Turkic, Eastern Iranian and Mongolian peoples. At the crossroads of Asia, shamanistic practices live alongside Buddhism. Russia and China had taken control of most of the region by the nineteenth century. "[35], With the collapse of the Soviet Union, five countries gained independence. The nation of Iran is also sometimes included in Western Asia. In Siberia, shaministic practices persist, including forms of divination such as Kumalak. '[43], Kazakhstan also participated in a second project of the Eurasian Economic Community, the establishment of the Centre for Innovative Technologies on 4 April 2013, with the signing of an agreement between the Russian Venture Company (a government fund of funds), the Kazakh JSC National Agency and the Belarusian Innovative Foundation. Most nomadic conquerors entered from the northeast. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have since joined this body. In November 2011, the 10 member countries adopted the CAREC 2020 Strategy, a blueprint for furthering regional co-operation. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a homogeneous geographical zone known as the Eurasian Steppe. Association football is popular across Central Asia. Ta'lim Primary 6 Parent and Teacher Guide (p. 72) – Islamic Publications Limited for the Institute of Ismaili Studies London, Encyclopædia Iranica, "CENTRAL ASIA: The Islamic period up to the Mongols", C. Edmund Bosworth: "In early Islamic times Persians tended to identify all the lands to the northeast of Khorasan and lying beyond the Oxus with the region of Turan, which in the Shahnama of Ferdowsi is regarded as the land allotted to Fereydun's son Tur. In Afghanistan, for example, President Hamid Karzai has little control outside the city of Kabul. To the southwest, across the Kopet Dagh, lies Persia. Central Asia. Turkey, through a common, Russia continues to dominate political decision-making throughout the former SSRs; although, as other countries move into the area, Russia's influence has begun to wane though Russia still maintains military bases in, The United States, with its military involvement in the region and oil diplomacy, is also significantly involved in the region's politics. In nearly all the new states, former Communist Party officials retained power as local strongmen. Periodically, great leaders or changing conditions would organize several tribes into one force and create an almost unstoppable power. The denizens of Turan were held to include the Turks, in the first four centuries of Islam essentially those nomadizing beyond the Jaxartes, and behind them the Chinese (see Kowalski; Minorsky, "Turan"). However, it is unlikely that the oil reserves in Central Asia will last much beyond the next two generations. The main migration of Turkic peoples occurred between the 5th and 10th centuries, when they spread across most of Central Asia. Their nomadic lifestyle was ideally suited to mobile warfare, and they were some of the most powerful military peoples in the world during their time. Although the exact number of migrants is unknown, some estimates place the total number of … Local “strongmen” and “warlords” may be far more powerful than the national governments. Inner Asia. The Turkic Khaganate had special policy against Chinese assimilation policy. [66], The region, along with Russia, is also part of "the great pivot" as per the Heartland Theory of Halford Mackinder, which says that the power which controls Central Asia—richly endowed with natural resources—shall ultimately be the "empire of the world".[67]. Any internal unity that was achieved was most probably due to the influence of the Silk Road, which traveled along Central Asia. It involves a consortium of partner institutions from Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Portugal, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. For thousands of years Central Asia has been controlled by the famous horse-riding peoples. Uzbek and Uyghur are spoken in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Xinjiang. 7-1a: Historical cultures of West and Central Asia reside in a vast area that includes the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, Anatolia, Greater Iran, Central Asia, Inner Asia, and Himalayan Asia. Moreover, few industrial enterprises conduct research in Kazakhstan. Central Asia is bounded on the north by the forests of Siberia. After Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991, the city and the region were renamed from Tselinograd to Aqmola. [43], Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are also building technology parks as part of their drive to modernize infrastructure. Just 4% of firms purchase the license and patents that come with this technology. Their military power declined in the sixteenth century with the proliferation of firearms that shifted power into the hands of the settled people. … Caravans from China usually went along the north or south side of the Tarim basin and joined at Kashgar before crossing the mountains northwest to Ferghana or southwest to Bactria. Because Central Asia is not buffered by a large body of water, temperature fluctuations are often severe, excluding the hot, sunny summer months. The aridness of the region made agriculture difficult, and its distance from the sea cut it off from much trade. Thus, it has rarely throughout history become the seat of power for an empire or influential state. Most of its electricity is generated by hydropower. Justin Long manages strategicnetwork.org and is senior editor for Momentum, a magazine devoted to unreached peoples. Soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the leaders of the four 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. Southward the land becomes increasingly dry and the nomadic population increasingly thin. In the southeast is the route to India. [37], Some also learn to sing the Manas, Kyrgyzstan's epic poem (those who learn the Manas exclusively but do not improvise are called manaschis). Central Asia has long been a strategic location merely because of its proximity to several great powers on the Eurasian landmass. The centre plans to conduct a technology audit in Kazakhstan and to review the legal framework regulating the commercialization of research results and technology. Of the regions of Asia, only North Asia has fewer people. Other minor Eastern Iranian languages such as Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi, Sarikoli, Wakhi, Yaghnobi and Ossetic are also spoken at various places in Central Asia. ISTC branches have been set up in the following countries party to the agreement: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The well-preserved Tarim mummies with Caucasoid features have been found in the Tarim Basin.[32]. Wrestling is popular across Central Asia, with Kazakhstan having claimed 14 Olympic medals, Uzbekistan seven, and Kyrgyzstan three. 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. Oil and natural gas are two major resources contained within the region. Central Asia also has an indigenous form of improvisational oral poetry that is over 1000 years old. Buddhism was a prominent religion in Central Asia prior to the arrival of Islam, and the transmission of Buddhism along the Silk Road eventually brought the religion to China. Enterprises prefer to purchase technological solutions that are already embodied in imported machinery and equipment. Many people are leaving due to poor economies and unstable governments. Afghanistan is the second most populous country, with twenty-three million people. From here Persian and Islamic civilization penetrated Central Asia and dominated its high culture until the Russian conquest. You’re welcome to dip your toes in the Paleolithic To better understand the complexities of Pleistocene cultural processes in eastern Eurasia, we study the Paleolithic archaeology of the Russian Altai region, Mongolia, North China, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and ethnic Tibet…the broad region referred to by geographers as Central and Inner Asia. Margiana was the region around Merv. ), Vakulchuk, Roman (2014) Kazakhstan's Emerging Economy: Between State and Market, Peter Lang: Frankfurt/Main. At the time, Vladimir Debabov, Scientific Director of the Genetika State Research Institute for Genetics and the Selection of Industrial Micro-organisms in the Russian Federation, stressed the paramount importance of developing bio-industry. In the south is Bactria, later called Tocharistan, which is bounded on the south by the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Vol. None of the new republics could be considered functional democracies in the early days of independence, although in recent years Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia have made further progress towards more open societies, unlike Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, which have maintained many Soviet-style repressive tactics.[36]. These areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. It is principally practiced in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan by akyns, lyrical improvisationalists. Today all of the countries of Central Asia are majority-Muslim countries. WHAT: UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) will host an online inter-religious conference, “From Faith to Action: Protecting the rights of children affected by migration,” 10-11 December, 2020. There is ongoing strife in Afghanistan. [44], In terms of the economic influence of big powers, China is viewed as one of the key economic players in Central Asia, especially after Beijing launched its grand development strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. The UNESCO History of the Civilizations of Central Asia, published in 1992, defines the region as "Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, northern and central Pakistan, northern India, western China, Mongolia and the former Soviet Central Asian republics. Between 2005 and 2014, Kazakhstan's share of scientific papers from the region grew from 35% to 56%. Many national research institutions established during the Soviet era have since become obsolete with the development of new technologies and changing national priorities. [46], Bolstered by strong economic growth in all but Kyrgyzstan, national development strategies are fostering new high-tech industries, pooling resources and orienting the economy towards export markets. Inner Asian and Altaic Studies focuses on the history and cultures of the peoples in the steppe, mountain, forest, and oasis areas between China, Russia, western Iran, and Pakistan. In lower elevations, summers are hot with blazing sunshine. The tradition arose out of early bardic oral historians. Osh is also the administrative center of, The world's shortest distance between non-frozen. Equestrian sports are traditional in Central Asia, with disciplines like endurance riding, buzkashi, dzhigit and kyz kuu. Svat Soucek is a historian specializing in Central Asian history, or -- as he prefers to call it -- "Inner Asian" history. Today it usually is used to refer to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran. 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