Page 63 - The Stans of Central Asia: Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan

output, the USSR instituted a series of irrigation projects throughout the country. Little
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environment.

While part of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party was the only legal party recognized in
the Uzbek SSR. On September 1, 1991, the Uzbek SSR was renamed the Republic of Uzbekistan.
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independent nation of Uzbekistan.

The Aral Sea Crisis

The Aral Sea Crisis is currently one of the worst man-made natural disasters in the world.
Over the past several decades, the Aral Sea has shrunk to roughly one-tenth its original size.
What used to be the fourth-largest inland body of water in the world is now only the eighth-
largest. The shores of the Aral Sea gradually began to recede starting in the 1960s when the
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rivers for the purpose of crop irrigation. Today, the Aral Sea has retreated more than 60 miles
from its original boundaries in certain spots. Although the UN and the World Bank have begun
several projects in an attempt to improve the situation, the future of the Aral Sea continues to
be in doubt.

Turkmenistan

Facts & Figures
• Area: 188,456 square miles

• Capital: Ashgabat

• Languages: ?`]VXPY T^ _SP ZʯNTLW WLYR`LRP LW_SZ`RS =`^^TLY LYO @eMPV L]P
also spoken.

• Ethnicities: Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6%

• Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan

• Geography: Turkmenistan has a desert climate, with the great Gara Gum (Karakum)
Desert covering over 80% of the country. Most of the Gara Gum—which translates as
“Black Sands”—lacks a steady supply of water, and therefore is scarcely populated.
Outside of the desert, natural bodies of water include the Amu Darya and Morghab rivers,
plus the Caspian Sea. Fun fact: Turkmenistan is one of the only countries in the world
to have a coastline but still be considered landlocked (because the Caspian Sea does not
have an outlet to the ocean).

• Population: 5,231,422
• Religions: Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

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