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Warm Up

• If you had to guess what kind of culture the countries of Central Asia have, how would you describe it?

Central Asia

Chapter 18

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Why we should know more:

• The region has large oil and gas deposits. The U.S. may want to buy petroleum products from the countries there.

• People in the region are struggling with the shift from communism to more open systems of government.

• Damage from soviet nuclear tests in the area may last far into the future.

• Uzbekistan aided the U.S. military in its attacks against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

• The region is opening to tourism. It offers some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

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Essential Questions

1. What are the major landforms and rivers of Central Asia?

2. What climates, biomes, and natural resources does the region have?

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Central Asia

• The five countries of Central Asia are Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.– They are all landlocked.– The north contains semiarid grasslands.– The east contains plateaus and barren deserts.– Most of the region’s people are clustered in the

southeast , because rivers bring water from the high mountains. (The water is from snowmelt.)

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Landforms

• Central Asia contains elevations from below sea level to high mountain peaks.

• The Altay Shan rise in the far northeast. (Shan means “mountain” in Chinese.)

• The Tian Shan and the Pamirs ranges are located in the southeast.– These ranges were formed by tectonic forces that push the

Indian subcontinent into the rest of Asia.– In 1911, an earthquake in the Pamirs of Tajikistan created Lake

Sares. A huge lake, it is feared that another earthquake could cause the water from the lake to flood over the thousands of people in the nearby villiages.

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Landforms (cont.)

• Earthquakes are common in this area.• All of the countries in this area have mountains that

are more than 10,000 feet high.• Tajikistan contains the region’s tallest peak (24,590

ft.)• Glaciers are common in Central Asia’s mountains.– Tajikistan’s massive Fedchenko Glacier is 44 miles long.

• The Kopet-Dag mountains form the boundary between Turkmenistan and Iran.– These are lower and drier than the ranges in the East

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Landforms (cont.)

• Plateaus and plains are north and west of the mountains.

• The Caspian Sea lies at the region’s western edge.– The world’s largest lake.– 92 feet below sea level, and no outlet to the

ocean– To the east of this lies the landlocked Aral Sea.

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Rivers and Lakes

• Only 2 major rivers flow all the way across Central Asia.– Amu Dar’ya

• Fed by snowmelt from the Pamirs to the Aral Sea• 1,578 miles

– Syr Dar’ya• From the Tian Shan into the Aral Sea• Provides water for densely populated Fergana Valley

Both rivers flow northwest.

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Rivers and Lakes (cont.)

• Irrigation drains most of the water from the rivers.(There is a canal from the Amu Dar’ya across most of southern Turkmeinistan, by the time the river reaches the Aral Sea, it is mostly a trickle of water.)• East of Kazakhstan, the Irtysh River flows northward

into Russia. – It joins the Ob River, which drains into the Arctic Ocean

• Irtysh also provides water for crops, reservoirs, hydropower stations, and industrial cities.

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Rivers and Lakes (cont.)

• Lake Balkhash– Shallow– Freshwater where the Ili River and other streams enter

it, but salty at its eastern end.

• Issyk-Kul– Never freezes even though it lies about a mile above

sea level in the Tian Shan– Warm water moderates the areas otherwise cold

climate.

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Climates, Biomes, and Natural Resources

• Most areas in Central Asia have harsh climates.– Far removed from oceanic influences– High mountains form a barrier to warm, moist

winds from the Indian Ocean and create a rain shadow.• precipitation totals are low, extreme seasonal

temperature ranges– Summer temperatures can reach 115– Winter temperatures can reach -36

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Climates

• Mostly semiarid and arid climates.• 2 large deserts– Kara-Kum• “Black Sand”• One of the world’s largest tracts of drifting sand dunes

– Kyzyl Kum• “Red Sand”• Mostly stony ground

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Kara-Kum Desert “Black Sand”

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Kyzyl Kum “Red Sand”

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Climates

• Southern Turkmenistan has a small area with a Mediterranean climate.– City of Ashgabat was a center of Soviet

filmmaking.

• Foothills of Tian Shan have mild weather– Almaty, Kazakhstan gets about 23 inches of rain• Pleasant Spring and Fall