afghan turkestan afghanistan africa agriculture in central asia alexander von humboldt almaty altaic languages americas amu darya anglo-america antarctica arabian peninsula aral sea arctic arctic ocean asia asia-pacific astana atlantic ocean australasia azerbaijan bbc news bactrian language baku-tbilisi-ceyhan pipeline beijing biome bishkek british empire buddhism bukhara cambridge cambridge university press caribbean caspian sea caucasus central africa central america central asian union central asian studies central europe china chinese language climate confucianism council on foreign relations demography of afghanistan desert deserts and xeric shrublands dharmapala dune dushanbe earth east africa east asia eastern europe economic cooperation organization ecozone english language eurasia eurasian nomads europe far east farkhor air base fergana firearm freestyle rap geostrategy in central asia han chinese himachal pradesh hinduism hindutash history of central asia horses in warfare humid continental climate humid subtropical climate huns india indian air force indian ocean indochina inner mongolia iran iranian languages iranian peoples islam kazakh language kazakhstan khorasan province kipchaks komuz kurdish language kyrgyz language kyrgyzstan kyzyl kum lake balkhash latin america levant lingua franca list of countries maghreb major non-nato ally malay archipelago mashhad melanesia mesopotamia micronesia middle east mongolia mongolian language mongols montane grasslands and shrublands mountain muslim nbm publishing nestorianism new york nomad north africa north america north asia north khorasan province northern america northern areas northern europe ocean oceania oghuz turks oral history oral poetry pacific ocean pakistan pamir mountains pazyryk permafrost persian language petroleum politics physical map pipeline transport polar region polynesia qinghai razavi khorasan province russia russian orthodox church russian language russians samarkand satellite state semi-arid climate shamanism shia islam siberia sichuan silk road singapore sogdian language south america south asia southeast asia southern africa southern cone southern europe southern ocean southwest asia soviet central asia soviet union steppe string instrument subregion survey of india syr darya taiga tajik language tajikistan taliban tarim basin tashkent tatar language the great game tian shan tibet tibetan buddhism tibetan plateau tibetan language timeline of mongol conquests tocharian turkestan turkey turkic turkic languages turkish language turkmen language turkmenistan tuva unesco ukrainians university of central asia uyghur language uzbek language uzbekistan war west africa western europe western regions world ocean wu hu xinjiang