Central Asia, The Caucasus & Siberian Russia – Life Today

Why it Maters: To live in these regions, people must adjust to a harsh and mountainous landscape.

Questions you should be able to answer when we’re done:

• Who are the peoples of Siberia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus and where do they live?

• How are the cultures of Central Asia and the Caucasus alike and different?

• What challenges lie ahead for the regions?

Vocab:

• Oasis• Homogenous• yurt

From your text:

Trading in Bukhara.

Settlement Patters

• Siberia and Central Asia– A few large cities,

sparsely settled remote areas

• Caucasus– More urban region,

more dense population in urban areas

Siberian Russia

• Most people live in cities near the trans-Siberian railroad

• Novosibirsk (1.5 million) is Siberia’s largest city.

• Some small cities and towns along the major rivers – Ob’, Yenisey and Lena

• Some cities on Siberia’s eastern coast – like Vladivostok

Resettlement Programs

• Programs of the Czars and Soviets have made Siberia’s population mostly Russian

• There are still populations of Mongol and Turkic groups.

Central Asia

Kazakhstan

• Kazakhstan – only central Asian country with a largely urban population. (60 %)

• 2/3 ethnic Kazakhs• ¼ Russian

Turkmenistan

• Turkmenistan – 50/50 urban and rural• ¾ ethnic Turkomans• 10% Russians• Most Turkoman’s live in villages, Most

Russians live in cities – like the capital Ashkabad.

Uzbekistan

• Most people live in the eastern ½ of the country.

• 2/3 Rural• Oases are covered with Orchards, Fields and

irrigation canals.• Most rural people are Uzbeks, Most city

dwellers are Russian and Kazakh

Kyrgyzstan

• The people are Kirghiz – once nomads who were settled onto collectives during the Soviet Era.

• Less than 40 percent urban.• Most city dwellers are Russian and Uzbeks.

Tajikistan

• Mostly rural• Mountainous terrain• Irrigation has created densely populated

oases.• 80% ethnic Tajiks• The rest Uzbeks

Tajikistan

• Contains the Fedchenko Glacier – it is more than 40 miles long and one of the largest Alpine glaciers in the world.

• Language is related to FARSI – the languge of Iran.

The Caucasus

• Armenia – almost ALL ethnic Armenian

• Azerbaijan – mostly ethnic Azeri.• Georgia – large group of ethnic

Georgians, but significant minority groups – mostly Armenian and Azeri

• The Caucasus also has 50 smaller ethnic groups.

The Caucasus

• About 50/50 Urban / Rural• Armenia is more Urban.• Rural population is NOT evenly distributed.

People and Cultures

• Russian Influence– Strong in Central Asia– Only strong is parts of the Caucasus

• Siberia– Russian language, Christianity (Russian

Orthodox)• Buddhist and Muslim minorities.

• Central Asia– Russian Language in addition to the ethnic

majority language. Mix of Muslim and Christians depending on the country.

• Caucasus– Armenians and Georgians – Christian– Azerbaijanis - Muslim

Ethnic Unrest

• Armenians vs. Turks and Azeris– Armenians were massacred in the 1890’s and

during WWI• Armenian Christians vs Islamic Axeris in the

Caucasus and Iran• Modern conflict: Armenians vs. Azeris over a

region with an Armenian majority that is part of Azerbaijan.

Georgia’s unrest

• Armenian minority has sought greater self rule.

• 1992 Abkhaz and Ossentians have revolted for independence.

Tajikistan

• Civil war after Soviet Rule ended.

Daily Life - Stans

• Urban– European Dress

• Rural– Traditional Dress– Yurts– Equestrian sports important to the culture of the

nomadic people

Yurt

Relationships and Challenges

• Since the Soviet era, most Caucasus and Central Asian Countries have struggled to establish stable, democratic governments and free-enterprise economies. Even though most countries adopted new constitutions with democratic governments, it was hard to get them in place

• Russians have been leaving Central Asia gradually since the end of Soviet Rule.– At first “Brain Drain”, but now the new graduates

are filling the gap.

Soviet Legacy

Pollution and Environmental disregard – also leading to health issues.

Territorial Issues• Border issues with most countries since the

Soviet Union did not create borders that paid attention to ethnic boundaries

• Territory disputes over land that has resources – ex: seabed of the Caspian Sea

• Russia vs Japan regarding the Kuril Islands south of Siberia’s Kamchatka

Some Charts to help……

Where do people live?

• Siberia• Kazakhstan• Turkmenistan• Uzbekistan• Kyrgyzstan• Tajikistan• Caucasus

• Near the Rail• 60% Urban 40% Rural• 505 urban 50% Rural• 66% Rural• 60% Rural• Mostly Rural• Up to 70% Urban

Ethnicity

• Turkmenistan• Kazakhstan• Uzbekistan• Kyrgyzstan

• Tajikistan

• 75% Turkoman 10% Russian• 66% Kazakh 25% Russian• Uzbeks, Russians, Kazakhs• 66 % Kirghiz, the rest Uzbek &

Russian• 80% Tajik, the rest Uzbek

Religion

• Siberia

• Kazakhstan

• Armenia• Azerbaijan• Georgia• The Rest

of Central Asia

• Russian Orthodox Christian (Buddhist & Muslim minorities.)

• 50% Christian 50% Muslim• Mostly Christian • Mostly Muslim• Mostly Christian (sig. Muslim

Minority)• 75 – 95% Muslim (Christian

minority)

Question 1

True or False:Turkmenistan is the only Central Asian country

that is mostly urban.

Question 2

True or False:Two-thirds of Kyrgyzstan's people are ethnic

Russians

Question 3

True or False:

Russian is widely spoken throughout Central Asia

Question 4

True or False:

The countries of the Caucasus made a smooth transition to democracy.

Question 5

True or False:

Russia and Japan both claim ownership of parts of the Kuril Islands

Question 6

How do settlement patterns in the Caucasus differ from those in Siberia and most of Central Asia?

A) The Caucasus is a more urban region than Siberia or Central Asia.

B) Unlike in Siberia and Central Asia, most people in the Caucasus live on farms.

C) The rural areas of Siberia and Central Asia are more densely populated than those of the Caucasus.

D) Unlike Siberia and Central Asia, the Caucasus has no large cities.

Question 7

Most cities and towns in Siberia are located along or near which feature?

A) Siberia’s eastern coastB) The Yenisey RiverC) The route of the Trans-Siberian RailroadD) The Ob’ and Lena rivers.

Question 8

Where is Azerbaijan’s most densely populated area?

A) In the extreme southeast between the Caspian Sea and the Iranian border.

B) On the Ararat plain, near the Turkish borderC) Around its capital city, BakuD) In the area along the Black Sea Coast.

Question 9

Which of the following has been a source of unrest in Georgia?

A) Christians in Georgia have demanded the right to practice their religion freely.

B) Ethnic minority groups in Georgia have south independence and self rule.

C) Income inequality be3tween rural Muslims and Urban Christians has led to rioting

D) Georgian Communists backed by Russian troops, have fought Islamic groups.

Question 10

Which of the following activities is important in most Central Asian cultures?

A) raising and racing horsesB) BreakdancingC) Growing flowersD) Sculpting statues from ice

Question 11

Why is there such a mix of ethnicities in Siberian Russia?

Question 12

How did Islam come to the countries of the Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan?

Question 13

What is a yurt?

Question 14

Why were the Caucasus and Central Asia slow to establish democratic governments when the Soviet Union collapsed?

Vocab:

• Oasis• Homogenous• yurt

So…….

• Who are the peoples of Siberia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus and where do they live?

• How are the cultures of Central Asia and the Caucasus alike and different?

• What challenges lie ahead for the regions?

The End

…”Borat from Kazakhstan”