Central Asia

Central Asia (Russian: ??????? ????/"Srednyaya Azia" for "Middle Asia" or ??????????? ????/"Tsentrallnaya Azia" for "Central Asia"; Mandarin Chinese: ??/ pinyin: "Zh?ngyà"; Arabic: pending/"Asya al Wsta") is a vast landlocked region of Asia. Though various definitions of its exact composition exist, no one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, it does have some important overall characteristics. For one, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. As a result, it has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.

Demographics

By the most inclusive definition, more than 80 million people live in Central Asia, about 2% of Asia's total population. Of the regions of Asia, only North Asia has fewer people. It has a population density of 9 people per km², vastly less than the 80.5 people per km² of the continent as a whole.

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Languages

The languages of the majority of the inhabitants of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics come from the Turkic language group. Turkmen, closely related to Turkish (they are both members of the Oghuz group of Turkic), is mainly spoken in Turkmenistan and into Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tatar are related languages of the Kypchak group of Turkic languages, and are spoken throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and into Afghanistan, Xinjiang and Qinghai. Uzbek and Uighur are spoken in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Xinjiang. Russian, as well as being spoken by the ethnic Russians of Central Asia, is a lingua franca throughout the former Soviet Central Asian Republics. Chinese has an equally dominant presence in Nei Monggol, Qinghai and Xinjiang.

Related Topics:
Soviet - Central Asian Republics - Turkic language group - Turkmen - Turkish - Oghuz - Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Iran - Turkey - Kazakh - Kyrgyz - Tatar - Kypchak - Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - Tajikistan - Xinjiang - Qinghai - Uzbek - Uighur - Uzbekistan - Russian - Russians - Lingua franca - Chinese - Nei Monggol

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The Turkic languages belong to the much larger Altaic language family, which includes Mongolian. Mongolian is spoken throughout the region of Mongolia and into Qinghai and Xinjiang.

Related Topics:
Turkic languages - Altaic - Mongolian - Mongolia - Qinghai - Xinjiang

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Iranian languages were once spoken throughout much of Central Asia, but the once prominent Sogdian, Bactrian and Scythian languages are now extinct. However, various dialects of Persian are still spoken in the region, including Dari and Tajik. Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and western Pakistan.

Related Topics:
Iranian languages - Sogdian - Bactrian - Scythian - Persian - Dari - Tajik - Pashto - Afghanistan - Pakistan

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The Tibetan language is spoken by around six million people across the Tibetan Plateau and into Qinghai.

Related Topics:
Tibetan language - Tibetan Plateau - Qinghai

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