Central Asia: BBC Research

Poverty

Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. It was hit by famine in 2001 and food insecurity remains a major concern.
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan earn less than many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but health indicators are generally better and literacy levels rival those in industrialised countries.
Despite their oil and gas wealth, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan still lag behind some of their poorer neighbours on issues such as hunger and poverty.
Pollution
Soviet nuclear weapons testing and uranium mining have contaminated many sites with radioactivity.
Intense irrigation for cotton production has damaged large swathes of land, especially near the Aral Sea which has shrunk 90% in 40 years.
Salt deposits and agricultural chemical residues form toxic dust which is damaging locals' health.
Obsolete industrial plants, pockets of air pollution, chemical and biological weapons test sites and damage from oil production are additional concerns.

Economy
Soviet leaders developed Central Asia as a major supplier of metals, minerals and agricultural produce, particularly cotton.
The collapse of the USSR plunged the area into decline as subsidies dried up and Soviet markets disappeared.
Recovery has depended on countries' natural resources and commitment to reform.
Kazakhstan has fared best. Reforms have paved the way for foreign investors to develop its copious energy resources, but over-reliance on oil and gas is a concern.
In contrast, Turkmenistan has significant gas reserves but has implemented little change and struggled to exploit and sell the commodity.
Uzbekistan also has oil and gas, and although slow to attract investment, is increasing production.
Tajikstan and Kyrgystan lack energy resources and rely on exports such as cotton, gold, aluminium and, in Kyrgystan's case, hydroelectricity.

Oil and gas

Kazakhstan has the second largest oil and gas reserves in the region, behind Russia. Its oil production has more than doubled since 1999 and the government hopes to triple this by 2015.
The 2001 opening of a pipeline from western Kazakhstan to the Black Sea helped raise export levels. A pipeline to China is now being built.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have substantial gas reserves, but lack of pipeline capacity limits exports.
Major export markets are Russia (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) and the Ukraine and Iran (Turkmenistan).

Politics

Central Asia was incorporated into the Soviet Union in the 1920s and ruled by communists for nearly 70 years.
Since the five countries gained independence in 1991 they have all faced the challenge of building their own political structures.
Turkmenistan
System: Turkmenistan is an autocratic, one party state. The president is head of state and of government, assisted by a People's Council and an elected 50-member legislative body. Although elections have been held, there is no genuine opposition to the president, and in 1999 the legislature voted to make the current presidency a life-long appointment.
Leader: President Saparmyrat Niyazov became Turkmen Communist Party chief in 1985 and was elected leader of newly-independent Turkmenistan in 1991. He has been president ever since, building up a personality cult and crushing dissent ruthlessly.
Media: There are no independent media outlets in Turkmenistan.

Kazakhstan

System: Elected president with extensive powers is head of state, and appoints prime minister and cabinet members. Two elected chambers form the legislature, which can amend the constitution.
Leader: The former communist leader Nursultan Nazarbayev has led Kazakhstan since 1989 - two years before independence. He has concentrated extensive powers in his own hands. His term was extended in a referendum in 1995, and he won a fresh seven-year term in 1999 elections in which his main rival was banned. Western observers criticised 2004 parliamentary elections as flawed. Presidential elections are due in December 2005.
Media: Press freedom is enshrined in Kazakhstan's constitution, but media rights monitors say the privately-owned and opposition media are subject to harassment and censorship. The government controls the printing presses and most radio and TV transmission facilities. Criticising the president is a criminal offence.
Uzbekistan
System: President is head of state and, together with a 150-member legislature, is elected by popular vote. The president appoints the cabinet and high-court justices, and can repeal laws made by local administrative bodies. The legislature can alter the constitution.
Leader: President Islam Karimov became leader of Soviet Uzbekistan in 1990 and remained in post after independence. Referendums held in 1995 and 2002 have extended his term in office until 2007. He has crushed opposition and the country is known for its poor human rights record. Violence in the city of Andijan hit the headlines in May 2005, after troops opened fire on a protest against the jailing of several alleged Islamic extremists.
Media: The state maintains tight control of the media. Although the constitution outlaws censorship and guarantees press freedom, the media rights body Reporters Without Borders said in 2005 that the use of violence against journalists and disinformation by the authorities were commonplace.

Kyrgyzstan

System: President is head of state and - supported by a prime minister - head of government. A 35-member Legislative Assembly is responsible for day-to-day law-making, a 70-member Assembly of Peoples Representatives represents regional and ethnic communities. Both chambers are elected by popular vote.
Current leader: Former Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev won elections in July 2005 after former president Askar Akayev was swept from power by nation-wide protests against alleged fraud in parliamentary elections. Mr Akayev was the communist leader in 1991 when the country gained independence and maintained his position throughout several elections, although these drew accusations of foul play.
Media: Freer press than in other central Asian countries, but subject to increasing pressure in recent years. Informal government censorship and self-censorship said to shape coverage. Most media supported Mr Bakiyev in 2005 elections.

Tajikistan

System: Elected president, with a parliament made up of two chambers - one elected, one part elected and part appointed. Politics was dominated by civil war between the government and Islamists from 1992 - 1997.
Leader: President Emomali Rahmonov has been in power since he was elected in 1994 in a ballot deemed by international observers to be neither free nor fair. He did, however, include Islamist opponents in his government as part of the 1997 peace deal that ended the civil war. As the only central Asian country with an established religious opposition party, the country has been considered more politically open than its neighbours, although Mr Rahmonov has recently moved to increase his grip on power. In a 2003 referendum he secured the right to run for two further consecutive seven year terms and his supporters took most seats in parliamentary elections in 2005. Both votes were heavily criticised.
Media: Some private newspaper, TV and radio media outlets are operating, but media rights organisations report that press freedom is not widely respected in Tajikistan, despite being provided for in the constitution

People

Central Asia's inhabitants are largely descended from nomadic tribes who have lived under powers ranging from Alexander the Great and Mongol leaders to Soviet communists.
Each Central Asian nation has its own indigenous population, although all these speak languages with similar Turkic roots and are mainly sunni Muslim.
Kazakhstan is the most ethnically mixed. Under Soviet rule, natives became outnumbered by an influx of Russians, Ukrainians and Germans, although many of the immigrants have now left.
Turkmenistan is the most ethnically homogeneous - indigenous Turkmen account for 85% of the population.
Uzbeks are most widespread, forming the second largest population group in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.
Central Asia is also home to minorities such as the Karakalpaks in Uzbekistan and Uighurs - Turkic Muslims concentrated mainly in Western China.
The region's inhabitants cluster most densely in the lush valleys of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and populate Soviet-built industrial cities.

Land
Sandwiched between China, Russia and Europe, the five countries usually classed as Central Asia form something of a geographical crossroads.
Mountains tower to the south and east, dominating Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Kazakhstan's vast grasslands stretch north towards Siberia and, to the south, give way to the desert that covers 80% of Turkmenistan.
Landlocked and arid with hot summers and harsh, icy winters, much of central Asia is remote, inhospitable and sparsely populated.

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