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Central Asia is a region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains , vast deserts (Kyzyl Kum, Taklamakan), and especially treeless, grassy steppes. 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.
stan (Persian: ستان stân, [n 1] estân or istân [n 2]) has the meaning of "a place abounding in" [1] or "a place where anything abounds" as a suffix. [2] It is widely used by Iranian languages as well as the common Turkish languages (excluding Siberian Turkic ) and other languages.
The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has designated 19 World Heritage Sites in six countries (also called "state parties") of Central and North Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Asian part of Russia. [1] The European part of Russia is included in Eastern Europe. [2]
The Persian suffix -stan means "place of". The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan is a reference to those same forty tribes and the graphical element in the sun's center depicts the wooden crown, called tunduk, of a yurt—a portable dwelling traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia.
One of the first geographers to mention Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions.
Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans is a four-part travel documentary on Central Asia, part of the Holidays in the Danger Zone series, produced and broadcast by BBC Correspondent (now This World). Written and presented by Simon Reeve, It was first broadcast from 3–6 November 2003, on BBC Two, [1] and internationally during 2004 and 2005.
Turkestan, [a] also spelled Turkistan, [b] is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its borders, and extends directly to the east of the Caspian Sea .
Homo sapiens reached Central Asia by 50,000 to 40,000 years ago. The Tibetan Plateau is thought to have been reached by 38,000 years ago. [7] [8] [9] The currently oldest modern human sample found in northern Central Asia, is a 45,000-year-old remain, which was genetically closest to ancient and modern East Asians, but his lineage died out quite early.