Chapter Questions
Identify the key environmental differences among Central Asia's desert areas, its mountain and plateau zone, and its steppe belt, and link these differences to human settlement and economic development.
Summarize the reasons why water resources are of such great importance in Central Asia.
Provide reasons for the Aral Sea's disappearance, and outline the economic and environmental consequences of the loss of this once-massive lake.
Explain why Central Asia's population is so unevenly distributed, with some areas densely settled and others essentially uninhabited.
Describe the differences between Central Asia's historical cities and those that have been established within the past 100 years.
Outline the ways in which religion divides Central Asia, and describe how religious diversity has influenced the history of the region.
Identify how cultural globalization affects different parts of Central Asia in distinct ways and explain why cultural globalization is controversial in much of the region.
Summarize the geopolitical roles played in Central Asia by Russia, China, and the United States, and explain why the region has been the site of pronounced geopolitical tension over the past several decades.
Describe how ethnic conflict has contributed to instability in Afghanistan, and assess the potential of ethnic tension to destabilize the rest of the region.
Explain the role of oil and natural gas production and transport, as well as oil price fluctuations, in generating uneven levels of economic and social development across Central Asia.