134-475: Sarukhan (1300/01–1345/46) was a Turkish Bey of Magnesia (present-day Manisa , Turkey ). Sarukhan was a Turkish Bey who is remembered for his conquests in the western Anatolian Peninsula. In 1313, he occupied Thyatira (present-day Akhisar , Manisa Province ), and then left his name "Saruhan" to the region he had occupied, becoming an independent ruler and transmitting the region to his descendants. At one point in 1336, Sarukhan formed an alliance with
268-699: A stringed instrument —in Kyrgyzstan, a three-stringed komuz , and in Kazakhstan, a similar two-stringed instrument, the dombra . Photography in Central Asia began to develop after 1882, when a Russian Mennonite photographer named Wilhelm Penner moved to the Khanate of Khiva during the Mennonite migration to Central Asia led by Claas Epp, Jr. Upon his arrival to Khanate of Khiva , Penner shared his photography skills with
402-450: A Turkish population in many of these countries because the Turkish government wanted to preserve these communities so that the Turkish character of these neighbouring territories could be maintained. One of the last stages of ethnic Turks immigrating to Turkey was between 1940 and 1990 when about 700,000 Turks arrived from Bulgaria. Today, between a third and a quarter of Turkey's population are
536-438: A distinct region of the world was Alexander von Humboldt . The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions. Historically, political geography and culture have been two significant parameters widely used in scholarly definitions of Central Asia. Humboldt's definition comprised every country between 5° North and 5° South of the latitude 44.5°N. Humboldt mentions some geographic features of this region, which include
670-433: A large body of water, temperature fluctuations are often severe, excluding the hot, sunny summer months. In most areas, the climate is dry and continental, with hot summers and cool to cold winters, with occasional snowfall. Outside high-elevation areas, the climate is mostly semi-arid to arid. In lower elevations, summers are hot with blazing sunshine. Winters feature occasional rain or snow from low-pressure systems that cross
804-553: A local student Khudaybergen Divanov, who later became the founder of Uzbek photography . Some also learn to sing the Manas , Kyrgyzstan's epic poem (those who learn the Manas exclusively but do not improvise are called manaschis ). During Soviet rule, akyn performance was co-opted by the authorities and subsequently declined in popularity. With the fall of the Soviet Union , it has enjoyed
938-534: A more heterogeneous region with increasing East Asian ancestry through Turkic and Mongolian groups in the past thousands years, including extensive Turkic and later Mongol migrations out of Mongolia and slow assimilation of local populations. In the 8th century AD, the Islamic expansion reached the region but had no significant demographic impact. In the 13th century AD, the Mongolian invasion of Central Asia brought most of
1072-647: A report by CIA suggests that 200,000 of the residents of Cyprus are Turkish. Ethnic Turks continue to inhabit certain regions of Greece , North Macedonia , Kosovo , Romania , and Bulgaria since they first settled there during the Ottoman period. As of 2019, the Turkish population in the Balkans is over 1 million. Majority of Balkan Turks were killed or deported in the Muslim Persecution during Ottoman Contraction and arrived to Turkey as Muhacirs . The majority of
1206-515: A resurgence, although akyns still do use their art to campaign for political candidates. A 2005 The Washington Post article proposed a similarity between the improvisational art of akyns and modern freestyle rap performed in the West. As a consequence of Russian colonisation, European fine arts – painting, sculpture and graphics – have developed in Central Asia. The first years of the Soviet regime saw
1340-458: A scarcity of research on climate impacts in Central Asia, even though it experiences faster warming than the global average and is generally considered to be one of the more climate-vulnerable regions in the world. Along with West Asia , it has already had greater increases in hot temperature extremes than the other parts of Asia, Rainfall in Central Asia had decreased, unlike elsewhere in Asia, and
1474-554: A wide range of both East Asian and West-Eurasian physical appearances and genetic origins, in part through long-term contact with neighboring peoples such as Iranic , Mongolic , Tocharian , Uralic and Yeniseian peoples. In Central Asia, the earliest surviving Turkic language texts, found on the eighth-century Orkhon inscription monuments , were erected by the Göktürks in the sixth century CE, and include words not common to Turkic but found in unrelated Inner Asian languages. Although
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#17328510773841608-463: Is a region of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea to the southwest, European Russia to the northwest, Western China and Mongolia to the east, Afghanistan and Iran to the south, and Siberia to the north. It includes Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan . The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with
1742-537: Is also mentioned, potentially referring to " Ashina -led Turks" or "Ashinas and Turks". There are several theories regarding the origin of the ethnonym Turk . There is a claim that it may be connected to Herodotus 's ( c. 484 – c. 425 BC ) reference to Targitaos , ( Ταργιτάος ), a king of the Scythians ; however, Manfred Mayrhofer (apud Lincoln) assigned Iranian etymology for Targitaos: from Old Iranian * darga-tavah , meaning "he whose strength
1876-703: Is between the Oxus and Jaxartes, and the Karakum Desert is between the Oxus and Kopet Dagh in Turkmenistan. Khorasan meant approximately northeast Persia and northern Afghanistan. Margiana was the region around Merv. The Ustyurt Plateau is between the Aral and Caspian Seas. To the southwest, across the Kopet Dagh, lies Persia. From here Persian and Islamic civilisation penetrated Central Asia and dominated its high culture until
2010-966: Is long-lasting". During the first century A.D., Pomponius Mela refers to the Turcae in the forests north of the Sea of Azov , and Pliny the Elder lists the Tyrcae among the people of the same area; yet English archaeologist Ellis Minns contended that Tyrcae is "a false correction" for Iurcae / Iurkai ( Ἱύρκαι ), a people who dwelt beyond the Thyssagetae , according to Herodotus ( Histories , IV. 22) There are references to certain groups in antiquity whose names might have been foreign transcriptions of Tür(ü)k such as Togarmah , Turukha / Turuška , Turukku and so on; but according to American historian Peter B. Golden , while any connection of some of these ancient peoples to Turks
2144-469: Is played throughout the Central Asian region, the countries sometimes organise Buzkashi competition amongst each other. The First regional competition among the Central Asian countries, Russia , Chinese Xinjiang and Turkey was held in 2013. The first world title competition was played in 2017 and won by Kazakhstan . Association football is popular across Central Asia. Most countries are members of
2278-449: Is possible, it is rather unlikely. As a word in Turkic languages, Turk may mean "strong, strength, ripe" or "flourishing, in full strength". It may also mean ripe as for a fruit or "in the prime of life, young, and vigorous" for a person. In the 19th century, the word Türk referred to Anatolian peasants. The Ottoman ruling class identified themselves as Ottomans , not as Turks. In
2412-464: The Aegean coast, from north to south, stretched the beyliks of Karasi , Saruhan , Aydin , Menteşe , and Teke . Inland from Teke was Hamid and east of Karasi was the beylik of Germiyan . To the northwest of Anatolia, around Söğüt , was the small and, at this stage, insignificant, Ottoman beylik. It was hemmed into the east by other more substantial powers like Karaman on Iconium , which ruled from
2546-842: The Alevis and Bektashis emerged. Furthermore, intermarriage between the Turks and local inhabitants, as well as the conversion of many to Islam, also increased the Turkish-speaking Muslim population in Anatolia. By 1243, at the Battle of Köse Dağ , the Mongols defeated the Seljuk Turks and became the new rulers of Anatolia, and in 1256, the second Mongol invasion of Anatolia caused widespread destruction. Particularly after 1277, political stability within
2680-863: The Armenians during the Armenian genocide and the Greeks during various campaigns of ethnic cleansing and expulsion . In 1918, the Ottoman Government agreed to the Mudros Armistice with the Allies . The Treaty of Sèvres —signed in 1920 by the government of Mehmet VI — dismantled the Ottoman Empire. The Turks, under Mustafa Kemal Pasha, rejected the treaty and fought the Turkish War of Independence , resulting in
2814-537: The Balkans , Caucasus , Crimea , and Mediterranean islands, shifting the center of the Ottoman Empire to Anatolia. In addition to a small number of Jews, the refugees were overwhelmingly Muslim; they were both Turkish and non-Turkish people, such as Circassians and Crimean Tatars . Paul Mojzes has called the Balkan Wars an "unrecognized genocide", where multiple sides were both victims and perpetrators. By 1913,
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#17328510773842948-669: The Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos , and supported him militarily in two sieges against the Genoese , in Mytilene and Phocaea . In 1341 however he attacked Constantinople with a fleet, but was repulsed around the Gallipoli peninsula by a Byzantine fleet in 1341. Turkish people Turkish people or Turks ( Turkish : Türkler ) are the largest Turkic people who speak various dialects of
3082-670: The Central Asian Football Association , a region of the Asian Football Confederation . However, Kazakhstan is a member of the UEFA . Wrestling is popular across Central Asia, with Kazakhstan having claimed 14 Olympic medals, Uzbekistan seven, and Kyrgyzstan three. As former Soviet states, Central Asian countries have been successful in gymnastics . Mixed Martial Arts is one of more common sports in Central Asia, Kyrgyz athlete Valentina Shevchenko holding
3216-753: The Far East . Most countries in Central Asia are still integral to parts of the world economy. From the mid-19th century until near the end of the 20th century, Central Asia was colonised by the Russians , and incorporated into the Russian Empire , and later the Soviet Union , which led to Russians and other Slavs migrating into the area. Modern-day Central Asia is home to a large population of European settlers , who mostly live in Kazakhstan: 7 million Russians, 500,000 Ukrainians , and about 170,000 Germans . During
3350-630: The Fourth Crusade , established a Latin Empire (1204–1261), divided the former Byzantine territories in the Balkans and the Aegean among themselves, and forced the Byzantine Emperors into exile at Nicaea (present-day Iznik ). From 1261 onwards, the Byzantines were largely preoccupied with regaining their control in the Balkans. Toward the end of the 13th century, as Mongol power began to decline,
3484-514: The Great Seljuq Empire after Sultan Tuğrul Bey 's invasion in 1055. For the next 150 years, the Seljuk Turks placed large Turkmen communities along the most valuable routes of northern Iraq. Yet, the largest wave of Turkish migrations occurred under the four centuries of Ottoman rule (1535–1919). In 1534, Suleiman the Magnificent secured Mosul within the Ottoman Empire and it became
3618-616: The Iron Age . Certain Turkic ethnic groups, specifically the Kazakhs , display even higher East Asian ancestry. This is explained by substantial Mongolian influence on the Kazakh genome, through significant admixture between blue eyes, blonde hair, the medieval Kipchaks of Central Asia and the invading medieval Mongolians. The data suggests that the Mongol invasion of Central Asia had lasting impacts onto
3752-559: The Kashmir Valley of India may also be included. The Tibetans and Ladakhis are also included. Most of the mentioned peoples are considered the "indigenous" peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan . Central Asia is a region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains ( Tian Shan ), vast deserts ( Kyzyl Kum , Taklamakan ), and especially treeless, grassy steppes . The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with
3886-648: The Kopet Dagh near the Persian border. East of the Kopet Dagh is the important oasis of Merv and then a few places in Afghanistan like Herat and Balkh . Two projections of the Tian Shan create three "bays" along the eastern mountains. The largest, in the north, is eastern Kazakhstan, traditionally called Jetysu or Semirechye which contains Lake Balkhash . In the center is the small but densely-populated Ferghana valley . In
4020-545: The Kosovo War of 1998–99. Today, approximately 15–20 million Turks living in Turkey are the descendants of refugees from the Balkans; there are also 1.5 million descendants from Meskheti and over 600,000 descendants from Cyprus . The Republic of Turkey continues to be a land of migration for ethnic Turkish people fleeing persecution and wars. For example, there are approximately 1 million Syrian Turkmen living in Turkey due to
4154-636: The Kızılırmak River to the Mediterranean . Although the Ottomans was only a small principality among the numerous Turkish beyliks, and thus posed the smallest threat to the Byzantine authority, their location in north-western Anatolia, in the former Byzantine province of Bithynia , became a fortunate position for their future conquests. The Latins , who had conquered the city of Constantinople in 1204 during
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4288-706: The Middle East (including Trans-Jordan and Yemen ) North African (such as Algeria and Libya ) and the Soviet Union (especially from Meskheti ). The Turks who remained in the former Ottoman territories continued to face discrimination and persecution thereafter leading many to seek refuge in Turkey, especially Turkish Meskhetians deported by Joseph Stalin in 1944; Turkish minorities in Yugoslavia (i.e., Turkish Bosnians , Turkish Croatians , Turkish Kosovars , Turkish Macedonians , Turkish Montenegrins and Turkish Serbians ) fleeing Josip Broz Tito 's regime in
4422-497: The Muslim conquests , the Turks entered the Muslim world proper as slaves , the booty of Arab raids and conquests. The Turks began converting to Islam after the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana through the efforts of missionaries , Sufis , and merchants. Although initiated by the Arabs , the conversion of the Turks to Islam was filtered through Persian and Central Asian culture. Under
4556-754: The Northern Dobruja region. The only settlement which still has a Turkish majority population is in Dobromir located in the Constanța County . Historically, Turkish Romanians also formed a majority in other regions, such as the island of Ada Kaleh which was destroyed and flooded by the Romanian government for the construction of the Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station . The Turkish Serbians have lived in Serbia since
4690-608: The Ottoman conquests in the region . They have traditionally lived in the urban areas of Serbia. In 1830, when the Principality of Serbia was granted autonomy, most Turks emigrated as " muhacirs " (refugees) to Ottoman Turkey , and by 1862 almost all of the remaining Turks left Central Serbia , including 3,000 from Belgrade . Today, the remaining community mostly live in Belgrade and Sandžak . The Turkish Azerbaijanis began to settle in
4824-489: The Persian suffix " -stan " (meaning 'land') in both respective native languages and most other languages. In the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras ( c. 1000 and earlier) Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by Iranian peoples , populated by Eastern Iranian -speaking Bactrians , Sogdians , Chorasmians , and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Dahae . As the result of Turkic migration , Central Asia also became
4958-633: The Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923. As an ethnonym , the etymology of Turk is still unknown. In Chinese sources, Turk appears as Tujue ( Chinese : 突 厥 ; Wade–Giles : T’u-chüe ), which referred to the Göktürks . The earliest mention of Turk ( 𐱅𐰇𐰺𐰜 , türü̲k̲ ; or 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰚 , türk/tẄrk ) in Turkic languages comes from the Second Turkic Khaganate . In Orkhon inscriptions , kök türü̲k̲ ( 𐰚𐰇𐰚 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜 )
5092-640: The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) followed by the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), and then after Georgia was incorporated into the Soviet Union . During this period, some members of the community also relocated to other Soviet borders, and those who remained in Georgia were targeted by the Sovietisation campaigns. Thereafter, during World War II , the Soviet administration initiated a mass deportation of
5226-407: The Targovishte Province (35.80%), and the Shumen Province (30.29%). They were ethnically cleansed during the Muslim Persecution during Ottoman Contraction and subsequently targeted during the Revival Process that aimed to assimilate them into a Bulgarian identity. The Turkish Croatians began to settle in the region during the various Croatian–Ottoman wars . Despite being a small minority,
5360-402: The Turkish Constitution defines a Turk as anyone who is "bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship ." Anatolia was first inhabited by hunter-gatherers during the Paleolithic era, and was inhabited by various civilizations such as Hattians and ancient Anatolian peoples . After Alexander the Great 's conquest in 334 BC, the area was culturally Hellenized , and by
5494-400: The Turkish language and form a majority in Turkey and Northern Cyprus . In addition, centuries-old ethnic Turkish communities still live across other former territories of the Ottoman Empire . Article 66 of the Constitution of Turkey defines a Turk as anyone who is a citizen of Turkey. While the legal use of the term Turkish as it pertains to a citizen of Turkey is different from
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5628-468: The Turkish nationalist ideology. Other Turkish groups include the Rumelian Turks (also referred to as Balkan Turks) historically located in the Balkans ; Turkish Cypriots on the island of Cyprus, Meskhetian Turks originally based in Meskheti , Georgia ; and ethnic Turkish people across the Middle East , where they are also called Turkmen or Turkoman in the Levant (e.g. Iraqi Turkmen , Syrian Turkmen , Lebanese Turkmen , etc.). Consequently,
5762-884: The UFC Flyweight Champion title. Cricket is the most popular sport in Afghanistan . The Afghanistan national cricket team , first formed in 2001, has claimed wins over Bangladesh, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Notable Kazakh competitors include cyclists Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin , boxer Vassiliy Jirov and Gennady Golovkin , runner Olga Shishigina , decathlete Dmitriy Karpov , gymnast Aliya Yussupova , judoka Askhat Zhitkeyev and Maxim Rakov , skier Vladimir Smirnov , weightlifter Ilya Ilyin , and figure skaters Denis Ten and Elizabet Tursynbaeva . Notable Uzbekistani competitors include cyclist Djamolidine Abdoujaparov , boxer Ruslan Chagaev , canoer Michael Kolganov , gymnast Oksana Chusovitina , tennis player Denis Istomin , chess player Rustam Kasimdzhanov , and figure skater Misha Ge . Since gaining independence in
5896-421: The Umayyads , most were domestic servants, whilst under the Abbasid Caliphate , increasing numbers were trained as soldiers. By the ninth century, Turkish commanders were leading the caliphs ’ Turkish troops into battle. As the Abbasid Caliphate declined, Turkish officers assumed more military and political power by taking over or establishing provincial dynasties with their own corps of Turkish troops. During
6030-434: The 11th century, the Seljuk Turks , who were influenced by Persian civilization in many ways, grew in strength and succeeded in taking the eastern province of the Abbasid Empire . By 1055, the Seljuks captured Baghdad and began to make their first incursions into Anatolia . When they won the Battle of Manzikert against the Byzantine Empire in 1071, it opened the gates of Anatolia to them. Although ethnically Turkish,
6164-406: The 18th century as a result of a long struggle with the Dzungars . The Russian Empire conquered the lands of the nomadic Kazakhs, Turkmens, Kyrgyz and Central Asian khanates in the 19th century. A major revolt known as the Dungan Revolt occurred in the 1860s and 1870s in the eastern part of Central Asia, and Qing rule almost collapsed in all of East Turkestan. After the Russian Revolution ,
6298-497: The 18th century was Tibetan Buddhist and would sometimes travel from Beijing to other cities for personal religious worship. Central Asia also has an indigenous form of improvisational oral poetry that is over 1000 years old. It is principally practiced in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan by akyns , lyrical improvisationalists. They engage in lyrical battles , the aytysh or the alym sabak . The tradition arose out of early bardic oral historians . They are usually accompanied by
6432-487: The 1920s and the 1930s, Turks, as well as other Muslims , from the Balkans , the Black Sea , the Aegean islands , the island of Cyprus , the Sanjak of Alexandretta ( Hatay ), the Middle East , and the Soviet Union continued to arrive in Turkey , most of whom settled in urban north-western Anatolia. The bulk of these immigrants, known as " Muhacirs ", were the Balkan Turks who faced harassment and discrimination in their homelands. However, there were still remnants of
6566-414: The 1950s; Turkish Cypriots fleeing the Cypriot intercommunal violence of 1955–74; Turkish Iraqis fleeing discrimination during the rise of Arab nationalism in the 1950s and 1970s followed by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–88; Turkish Bulgarians fleeing the Bulgarisation policies of the so-called " Revival Process " under the communist ruler Todor Zivkov in the 1980s; and Turkish Kosovars fleeing
6700-431: The 19th century, the empire began to decline when ethno-nationalist uprisings occurred across the empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and in the Russian Empire resulted in estimated 5 million deaths, with more than 3 million in Balkans; the casualties included Turks. Five to seven or seven to nine million refugees migrated into modern-day Turkey from
6834-431: The 2020 and 2019 IWB World Competitiveness rankings. In particular, they have been modernizing the industrial sector and fostering the development of service industries through business-friendly fiscal policies and other measures, to reduce the share of agriculture in GDP. Between 2005 and 2013, the share of agriculture dropped in all but Tajikistan, where it increased while industry decreased. The fastest growth in industry
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#17328510773846968-452: The Balkans, Caucasus , and Crimea ; the immigrants were both Turkish and non-Turkish people, and overwhelmingly Muslim. The empire lasted until the end of the First World War, when it was defeated by the Allies and partitioned . Following the Turkish War of Independence that ended with the Turkish National Movement retaking much of the territory lost to the Allies, the Movement ended the Ottoman Empire on 1 November 1922 and proclaimed
7102-402: The Balkans. Once Albania came under Ottoman rule , Turkish colonization was scarce there; however, some Anatolian Turkish settlers did arrive in 1415–30 and were given timar estates. According to the 2011 census, the Turkish language was the sixth most spoken language in the country (after Albanian , Greek , Macedonian , Romani , and Aromanian ). The Turkish Bosnians have lived in
7236-437: The Caspian Sea in the west, the Altai mountains in the north and the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains in the South. He did not give an eastern border for the region. His legacy is still seen: Humboldt University of Berlin , named after him, offers a course in Central Asian studies . The Russian geographer Nikolaĭ Khanykov questioned the latitudinal definition of Central Asia and preferred a physical one of all countries located in
7370-401: The Magnificent , further expanded the conquests after capturing Belgrade in 1521 and using its territorial base to conquer Hungary , and other Central European territories, after his victory in the Battle of Mohács as well as also pushing the frontiers of the empire to the east. Following Suleiman's death, Ottoman victories continued, albeit less frequently than before. The island of Cyprus
7504-444: The Mongols occupied more lands in Asia Minor, the Turks moved further into western Anatolia and settled in the Seljuk-Byzantine frontier. By the last decades of the 13th century, the Ilkhans and their Seljuk vassals lost control over much of Anatolia to these Turkoman peoples . A number of Turkish lords managed to establish themselves as rulers of various principalities , known as " Beyliks " or emirates . Amongst these beyliks, along
7638-413: The Ottoman capital, that the Ottoman Empire developed considerably. In 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and established a foothold on the Gallipoli Peninsula while at the same time pushing east and taking Ankara . Many Turks from Anatolia began to settle in the region which had been abandoned by the inhabitants who had fled Thrace before the Ottoman invasion. However, the Byzantines were not
7772-420: The Ottoman conquest of Meskheti in Georgia, hundreds of thousands of Turkic invaders had settled in the region from the thirteenth century. At this time, the main town, Akhaltsikhe , was mentioned in sources by the Turkish name "Ak-sika", or "White Fortress". Thus, this accounts for the present day Turkish designation of the region as "Ahıska". Local leaders were given the Turkish title "Atabek" from which came
7906-410: The Rumelian/Balkan Turks are the descendants of Ottoman settlers. However, the first significant wave of Anatolian Turkish settlement to the Balkans dates back to the mass migration of sedentary and nomadic subjects of the Seljuk sultan Kaykaus II (b. 1237 – d. 1279/80) who had fled to the court of Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1262. The Turkish Albanians are one of the smallest Turkish communities in
8040-421: The Russian conquest. In the southeast is the route to India. In early times Buddhism spread north and throughout much of history warrior kings and tribes would move southeast to establish their rule in northern India. Most nomadic conquerors entered from the northeast. After 1800 western civilisation in its Russian and Soviet form penetrated from the northwest. Because Central Asia is landlocked and not buffered by
8174-402: The Russian-Ukrainian steppe and eastward into the steppes and deserts of Dzungaria and Mongolia. Southward the land becomes increasingly dry and the nomadic population increasingly thin. The south supports areas of dense population and cities wherever irrigation is possible. The main irrigated areas are along the eastern mountains, along the Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers and along the north flank of
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#17328510773848308-408: The Seljuk Turks appreciated and became carriers of Persian culture rather than Turkish culture . Nonetheless, the Turkish language and Islam were introduced and gradually spread over the region and the slow transition from a predominantly Christian and Greek -speaking Anatolia to a predominantly Muslim and Turkish-speaking one was underway. In dire straits, the Byzantine Empire turned to
8442-417: The Seljuk territories rapidly disintegrated, leading to the strengthening of Turkoman principalities in the western and southern parts of Anatolia called the " beyliks ". When the Mongols defeated the Seljuk Turks and conquered Anatolia , the Turks became the vassals of the Ilkhans who established their own empire in the vast area which stretched from present-day Afghanistan to present-day Turkey . As
8576-416: The Soviet Central Asian Republics". An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity, and in particular, areas populated by Eastern Turkic , Eastern Iranian , or Mongolian peoples. These areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia , the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan . Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan and
8710-444: The Soviet Union in 1991, the leaders of the four former Soviet Central Asian Republics met in Tashkent and declared that the definition of Central Asia should include Kazakhstan as well as the original four included by the Soviets. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia. In 1978, UNESCO defined the region as "Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran , Pakistan , northern India , western China, Mongolia and
8844-495: The Soviet Union to Central Asia and Siberia . According to Touraj Atabaki and Sanjyot Mehendale, "From 1959 to 1970, about two million people from various parts of the Soviet Union migrated to Central Asia, of which about one million moved to Kazakhstan." With the collapse of the Soviet Union , five countries gained independence, that is, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan . The historian and Turkologist Peter B. Golden explains that without
8978-527: The Soviet Union. Afghanistan remained relatively independent of major influence by the Soviet Union until the Saur Revolution of 1978. The Soviet areas of Central Asia saw much industrialisation and construction of infrastructure , but also the suppression of local cultures, hundreds of thousands of deaths from failed collectivisation programmes, and a lasting legacy of ethnic tensions and environmental problems. Soviet authorities deported millions of people, including entire nationalities, from western areas of
9112-409: The Stalinist period, the forced deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union resulted in a population of over 300,000 Koreans in the region. Central Asia has a population of about 72 million, in five countries: Kazakhstan (19 million), Kyrgyzstan (7 million), Tajikistan (10 million), Turkmenistan (6 million), and Uzbekistan (35 million). One of the first geographers to mention Central Asia as
9246-424: The Turkification of Central Asia, while extending its cultural influence. The Tang Chinese were defeated by the Abbasid Caliphate at the Battle of Talas in 751, marking the end of the Tang dynasty's western expansion and the 150 years of Chinese influence. The Tibetan Empire would take the chance to rule portions of Central Asia and South Asia. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols conquered and ruled
9380-450: The Turkish and Greek Cypriots , known as the " Cyprus conflict ", the Greek Cypriot government conducted a census in 1973, albeit without the Turkish Cypriot populace. A year later, in 1974, the Cypriot government's Department of Statistics and Research estimated the Turkish Cypriot population was 118,000 (or 18.4%). A coup d'état in Cyprus on 15 July 1974 by Greeks and Greek Cypriots favoring union with Greece (also known as " Enosis ")
9514-417: The Turkish homeland. The Turkish identity became the unifying force when, in 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed and the newly founded Republic of Turkey was formally established. Atatürk's presidency was marked by a series of radical political and social reforms that transformed Turkey into a secular , modern republic with civil and political equality for sectarian minorities and women. Throughout
9648-658: The Turkish minority's cultural, religious, educational, social, economic, and political freedoms. The Turks of Bulgaria form the largest Turkish community in the Balkans as well as the largest ethnic minority group in Bulgaria . According to the 2011 census, they form a majority in the Kardzhali Province (66.2%) and the Razgrad Province (50.02%), as well as substantial communities in the Silistra Province (36.09%),
9782-512: The Turkmens have a large percentage from populations to the east, their main components are Central Asian. The study further suggests that both migration and linguistic assimilation helped to spread the Turkic languages in Eurasia. The Tang dynasty of China expanded westwards and controlled large parts of Central Asia, directly and indirectly through their Turkic vassals. Tang China actively supported
9916-532: The Turkoman chiefs assumed greater independence. Under its founder, Osman I , the nomadic Ottoman beylik expanded along the Sakarya River and westward towards the Sea of Marmara . Thus, the population of western Asia Minor had largely become Turkish -speaking and Muslim in religion. It was under his son, Orhan I , who had attacked and conquered the important urban center of Bursa in 1326, proclaiming it as
10050-617: The Turks are among the 22 officially recognized national minorities in Croatia. The Turkish Kosovars are the third largest ethnic minority in Kosovo (after the Serbs and Bosniaks ). They form a majority in the town and municipality of Mamuša . The Turkish Montenegrins form the smallest Turkish minority group in the Balkans. They began to settle in the region following the Ottoman rule of Montenegro . A historical event took place in 1707 which involved
10184-785: The Turks form the largest minority group in Bulgaria , the second largest minority group in Iraq , Libya , North Macedonia , and Syria , and the third largest minority group in Kosovo . They also form substantial communities in the Western Thrace region of Greece , the Dobruja region of Romania , the Akkar region in Lebanon , as well as minority groups in other post-Ottoman Balkan and Middle Eastern countries. The mass immigration of Turks also led to them forming
10318-694: The West for help, setting in motion the pleas that led to the First Crusade . Once the Crusaders took Iznik , the Seljuk Turks established the Sultanate of Rum from their new capital, Konya , in 1097. By the 12th century, Europeans had begun to call the Anatolian region Turchia or Turkey , the land of the Turks. The Turkish society in Anatolia was divided into urban, rural and nomadic populations; other Turkoman (Turkmen) tribes who had arrived into Anatolia at
10452-655: The abortion of that text, never ratified, and the abolition of the Sultanate . Thus, the 623-year-old Ottoman Empire ended. Once Mustafa Kemal led the Turkish War of Independence against the Allied forces that occupied the former Ottoman Empire , he united the Turkish Muslim majority and successfully led them from 1919 to 1922 in overthrowing the occupying forces out of what the Turkish National Movement considered
10586-486: The ancient Turks were nomadic , they traded wool, leather, carpets, and horses for grain, silk, wood, and vegetables, and also had large ironworking stations in the south of the Altai Mountains during the 600s CE. Most of the Turkic peoples were followers of Tengrism , sharing the cult of the sky god Tengri , although there were also adherents of Manichaeism , Nestorian Christianity , and Buddhism . However, during
10720-542: The appearance of modernism, which took inspiration from the Russian avant-garde movement. Until the 1980s, Central Asian arts had developed along with general tendencies of Soviet arts. In the 90s, arts of the region underwent some significant changes. Institutionally speaking, some fields of arts were regulated by the birth of the art market, some stayed as representatives of official views, while many were sponsored by international organisations. The years of 1990–2000 were times for
10854-744: The area from the Mediterranean Sea . Average monthly precipitation is very low from July to September, rises in autumn (October and November) and is highest in March or April, followed by swift drying in May and June. Winds can be strong, producing dust storms sometimes, especially toward the end of the summer in September and October. Specific cities that exemplify Central Asian climate patterns include Tashkent and Samarkand , Uzbekistan, Ashgabat , Turkmenistan, and Dushanbe , Tajikistan. The last of these represents one of
10988-680: The capital of the Ottoman Empire in 1365, they opened their way into Bulgaria and Macedonia in 1371 at the Battle of Maritsa . With the conquests of Thrace , Macedonia, and Bulgaria, significant numbers of Turkish emigrants settled in these regions. This form of Ottoman-Turkish colonization became a very effective method to consolidate their position and power in the Balkans . The settlers consisted of soldiers, nomads, farmers, artisans and merchants , dervishes , preachers and other religious functionaries, and administrative personnel. In 1453, Ottoman armies, under Sultan Mehmed II , conquered Constantinople . Mehmed reconstructed and repopulated
11122-527: The chief province ( eyalet ) responsible for administrative districts in the region. The Ottomans encouraged migration from Anatolia and the settlement of Turks along northern Iraq. After 89 years of peace, the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–1639) saw Murad IV recapturing Baghdad and taking permanent control over Iraq which resulted in the influx of continuous Turkish settlers until Ottoman rule came to an end in 1919. Central Asia Central Asia
11256-506: The city, and made it the new Ottoman capital. After the Fall of Constantinople , the Ottoman Empire entered a long period of conquest and expansion with its borders eventually going deep into Europe , the Middle East , and North Africa . Selim I dramatically expanded the empire's eastern and southern frontiers in the Battle of Chaldiran and gained recognition as the guardian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina . His successor, Suleiman
11390-610: The current Syrian civil war . The Turkish Cypriots are the ethnic Turks whose Ottoman Turkish forebears colonized the island of Cyprus in 1571. About 30,000 Turkish soldiers were given land once they settled in Cyprus, which bequeathed a significant Turkish community. In 1960, a census by the new Republic's government revealed that the Turkish Cypriots formed 18.2% of the island's population. However, once inter-communal fighting and ethnic tensions between 1963 and 1974 occurred between
11524-557: The descendants of these immigrants. The ethnic Turks are the largest ethnic group in Turkey and number approximately 60 million to 65 million. Due to differing historical Turkish migrations to the region, dating from the Seljuk conquests in the 11th century to the continuous Turkish migrations which have persisted to the present day (especially Turkish refugees from neighboring countries), there are various accents and customs which can distinguish
11658-505: The diversion of water from rivers that feed them for irrigation and industrial purposes. Water is an extremely valuable resource in arid Central Asia and can lead to rather significant international disputes. Central Asia is bounded on the north by the forests of Siberia. The northern half of Central Asia (Kazakhstan) is the middle part of the Eurasian steppe . Westward the Kazakh steppe merges into
11792-624: The dominant Shia sect in the country). Since the Second World War , the Turkish Azerbaijani community has increased significantly due to the mass wave of Turkish Meskhetian refugees who arrived during the Soviet rule . The Turkish Abkhazians began to live in Abkhazia during the sixteenth century under Ottoman rule. Today, there are still Turks who continue to live in the region. Prior to
11926-401: The early 1990s, the Central Asian republics have gradually been moving from a state-controlled economy to a market economy. However, reform has been deliberately gradual and selective, as governments strive to limit the social cost and ameliorate living standards. All five countries are implementing structural reforms to improve competitiveness. Kazakhstan is the only CIS country to be included in
12060-588: The early 2000s, the Chinese government engaged in a series of human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang . At the crossroads of Asia, shamanistic practices live alongside Buddhism . Thus, Yama , Lord of Death, was revered in Tibet as a spiritual guardian and judge. Mongolian Buddhism , in particular, was influenced by Tibetan Buddhism . The Qianlong Emperor of Qing China in
12194-609: The establishment of contemporary arts. In the region, many important international exhibitions are taking place, Central Asian art is represented in European and American museums, and the Central Asian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale has been organised since 2005. Equestrian sports are traditional in Central Asia, with disciplines like endurance riding , buzkashi , dzhigit and kyz kuu . The traditional game of Buzkashi
12328-562: The ethnic Turks by geographic sub-groups. For example, the most significant are the Anatolian Turks in the central core of Asiatic Turkey whose culture was influential in underlining the roots of the Turkish nationalist ideology. There are also nomadic Turkic tribes who descend directly from Central Asia , such as the Yörüks ; the Black Sea Turks in the north whose "speech largely lacks
12462-670: The fifteenth century name of one of the four kingdoms of what had been Georgia, Samtskhe-Saatabago , "the land of the Atabek called Samtskhe [Meskhetia]". In 1555 the Ottomans gained the western part of Meskheti after the Peace of Amasya treaty, whilst the Safavids took the eastern part. Then in 1578 the Ottomans attacked the Safavid controlled area which initiated the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590) . Meskheti
12596-750: The first century BC it is generally thought that the native Anatolian languages , themselves earlier newcomers to the area, following the Indo-European migrations , became extinct. According to historians and linguists, the Proto-Turkic language originated in Central-East Asia, potentially in Altai-Sayan region , Mongolia or Tuva . Initially, Proto-Turkic speakers were potentially both hunter-gatherers and farmers; they later became nomadic pastoralists . Early and medieval Turkic groups exhibited
12730-458: The frequency and intensity of dust storms had grown (partly due to poor land use practices). Droughts have already become more likely, and their likelihood is expected to continue increasing with greater climate change. By 2050, people in the Amu Darya basin may be faced with severe water scarcity due to both climate and socioeconomic reasons. Although, during the golden age of Orientalism
12864-542: The full genome of Uzbeks and other Central Asian populations found that about ~27-60% of the Uzbek ancestry is derived from East Asian sources, with the remainder ancestry (~40–73%) being made up by European and Middle Eastern components. According to a recent study, the Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Turkmens share more of their gene pool with various East Asian and Siberian populations than with West Asian or European populations, though
12998-607: The genetic makeup of Kazakhs. According to recent genetic genealogy testing, the genetic admixture of the Uzbeks clusters somewhere between the Iranian peoples and the Mongols . Another study shows that the Uzbeks are closely related to other Turkic peoples of Central Asia and rather distant from Iranian people. The study also analysed the maternal and paternal DNA haplogroups and shows that Turkic speaking groups are more homogenous than Iranian speaking groups. Genetic studies analyzing
13132-645: The government of the Committee of Union and Progress started a program of forcible Turkification of non-Turkish minorities. By 1914, the World War I broke out, and the Turks scored some success in Gallipoli during the Battle of the Dardanelles in 1915. During World War I, the government of the Committee of Union and Progress continued to implement its Turkification policies, which affected non-Turkish minorities, such as
13266-707: The great trading cities of Bokhara and Samarkand . The other great commercial city was Tashkent northwest of the mouth of the Ferghana valley. The land immediately north of the Oxus was called Transoxiana and also Sogdia , especially when referring to the Sogdian merchants who dominated the silk road trade. To the east, Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin were united into the Manchu-Chinese province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang; Hsin-kiang) about 1759. Caravans from China usually went along
13400-483: The homeland for the Kazakhs , Kyrgyzs , Tatars , Turkmens , Uyghurs , and Uzbeks ; Turkic languages largely replaced the Iranian languages spoken in the area, with the exception of Tajikistan and areas where Tajik is spoken. The Silk Road trade routes crossed through Central Asia, leading to the rise of prosperous trade cities. acting as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe and
13534-700: The imperial manipulations of the Russian Empire but above all the Soviet Union, the creation of said republics would have been impossible. In nearly all the new states, former Communist Party officials retained power as local strongmen. None of the new republics could be considered functional democracies in the early days of independence, although in recent years Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia have made further progress towards more open societies, unlike Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, which have maintained many Soviet-style repressive tactics. Beginning in
13668-503: The killing of the Turks in Montenegro as well as the murder of all Muslims. This early example of ethnic cleaning features in the epic poem The Mountain Wreath (1846). After the Ottoman withdrawal, the majority of the remaining Turks emigrated to Istanbul and İzmir . Today, the remaining Turkish Montenegrins predominantly live in the coastal town of Bar . The Turkish Macedonians form
13802-497: The largest contiguous empire in recorded history. Most of Central Asia fell under the control of the Chagatai Khanate . The dominance of the nomads ended in the 16th century, as firearms allowed settled peoples to gain control of the region. Russia , China , and other powers expanded into the region and had captured the bulk of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century. The Qing dynasty gained control of East Turkestan in
13936-726: The largest ethnic minority group in Austria , Denmark , Germany , and the Netherlands . There are also Turkish communities in other parts of Europe as well as in North America , Australia and the Post-Soviet states . Turks are the 13th largest ethnic group in the world. Turks from Central Asia settled in Anatolia in the 11th century, through the conquests of the Seljuk Turks . This began
14070-510: The largest waves of ethnic Turkish migration came from the Balkans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the Balkan Wars led to most of the region becoming independent from Ottoman control. The largest waves of muhacirs came from the Balkans (especially Bulgaria , Greece , Romania and Yugoslavia ); however, substantial numbers also came from Cyprus, the Sanjak of Alexandretta ,
14204-458: The late 19th century, as the Ottoman upper classes adopted European ideas of nationalism , the term Türk took on a more positive connotation. During Ottoman times, the millet system defined communities on a religious basis. In the early 20th century, the Young Turks abandoned Ottoman nationalism in favor of Turkish nationalism , while adopting the name Turks , which was finally used in
14338-472: The name of the new Turkish Republic. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk defined the Turkish nation as the "people ( halk ) who established the Turkish republic". Further, "the natural and historical facts which effected the establishment ( teessüs ) of the Turkish nation" were "(a) unity in political existence, (b) unity in language, (c) unity in homeland, (d) unity in race and origin ( menşe ), (e) to be historically related and (f) to be morally related". Article 66 of
14472-566: The north or south side of the Tarim basin and joined at Kashgar before crossing the mountains northwest to Ferghana or southwest to Bactria. A minor branch of the silk road went north of the Tian Shan through Dzungaria and Zhetysu before turning southwest near Tashkent. Nomadic migrations usually moved from Mongolia through Dzungaria before turning southwest to conquer the settled lands or continuing west toward Europe. The Kyzyl Kum Desert or semi-desert
14606-547: The northwest to the east at the middle of Iraq with Kirkuk placed as their cultural capital. Historically, Turkic migrations to Iraq date back to the 7th century when Turks were recruited in the Umayyad armies of Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad followed by thousands more Turkmen warriors arriving under the Abbasid rule. However, most of these Turks became assimilated into the local Arab population. The next large scale migration occurred under
14740-543: The only ones to suffer from the Ottoman advance for, in the mid-1330s, Orhan annexed the Turkish beylik of Karasi . This advancement was maintained by Murad I who more than tripled the territories under his direct rule, reaching some 100,000 square miles (260,000 km ), evenly distributed in Europe and Asia Minor . Gains in Anatolia were matched by those in Europe; once the Ottoman forces took Edirne ( Adrianople ), which became
14874-405: The place of Central Asia in the world history was marginalised, contemporary historiography has rediscovered the "centrality" of the Central Asia. The history of Central Asia is defined by the area's climate and geography. The aridness of the region made agriculture difficult, and its distance from the sea cut it off from much trade. Thus, few major cities developed in the region; instead, the area
15008-483: The region during the Ottoman rule, which lasted between 1578 and 1603. By 1615, the Safavid ruler, Shah Abbas I , solidified control of the region and then deported thousands of people from Azerbaijan. In 1998, there was still approximately 19,000 Turks living in Azerbaijan who descended from the original Ottoman settlers; they are distinguishable from the rest of Azeri society because they practice Sunni Islam (rather than
15142-513: The region landlocked from water, including Afghanistan , Khorasan (Northeast Iran), Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Uyghuristan (Xinjiang), Mongolia , and Uzbekistan . Russian culture has two distinct terms: Средняя Азия ( Srednyaya Aziya or "Middle Asia", the narrower definition, which includes only those traditionally non-Slavic, Central Asian lands that were incorporated within those borders of historical Russia) and Центральная Азия ( Tsentralnaya Aziya or "Central Asia",
15276-570: The region since the Ottoman rule of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Thus, the Turks form the oldest ethnic minority in the country. The Turkish Bosnian community decreased dramatically due to mass emigration to Turkey when Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian rule. In 2003 the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the "Law on the Protection of Rights of Members of National Minorities" which officially protected
15410-712: The region under Mongolian influence, which had "enormous demographic success", but did not impact the cultural or linguistic landscape. Once populated by Iranian tribes and other Indo-European speaking people , Central Asia experienced numerous invasions emanating out of Southern Siberia and Mongolia that would drastically affect the region. Genetic data shows that the different Central Asian Turkic-speaking peoples have between ~22% and ~70% East Asian ancestry (represented by "Baikal hunter-gatherer ancestry" shared with other Northeast Asians and Eastern Siberians), in contrast to Iranian-speaking Central Asians, specifically Tajiks , which display genetic continuity to Indo-Iranians of
15544-610: The region's cities. Major rivers of the region include the Amu Darya , the Syr Darya , Irtysh , the Hari River and the Murghab River . Major bodies of water include the Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash , both of which are part of the huge west-central Asian endorheic basin that also includes the Caspian Sea . Both of these bodies of water have shrunk significantly in recent decades due to
15678-525: The remaining 115,000 Turkish Meskhetians in 1944, forcing them to resettle in the Caucasus and the Central Asian Soviet republics. Thus, today hundreds of thousands of Turkish Meskhetians are scattered throughout the Post Soviet states (especially in Kazakhstan , Azerbaijan , Russia , Kyrgyzstan , Uzbekistan and Ukraine ). Moreover, many have settled in Turkey and the United States . Attempts to repatriate them back to Georgia saw Georgian authorities receive applications covering 9,350 individuals within
15812-400: The same time as the Seljuks kept their nomadic ways. These tribes were more numerous than the Seljuks, and rejecting the sedentary lifestyle, adhered to an Islam impregnated with animism and shamanism from their Central Asian steppeland origins, which then mixed with new Christian influences. From this popular and syncretist Islam, with its mystical and revolutionary aspects, sects such as
15946-454: The second largest Turkish community in the Balkans as well as the second largest minority ethnic group in North Macedonia . They form a majority in the Centar Župa Municipality and the Plasnica Municipality as well as substantial communities in the Mavrovo and Rostuša Municipality , the Studeničani Municipality , the Dolneni Municipality , the Karbinci Municipality , and the Vasilevo Municipality . The Turkish Romanians are centered in
16080-466: The south is Bactria , later called Tocharistan, which is bounded on the south by the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. The Syr Darya (Jaxartes) rises in the Ferghana valley and the Amu Darya (Oxus) rises in Bactria. Both flow northwest into the Aral Sea . Where the Oxus meets the Aral Sea it forms a large delta called Khwarazm and later the Khanate of Khiva . North of the Oxus is the less-famous but equally important Zarafshan River which waters
16214-453: The steppes of Eastern Europe as a homogeneous geographical zone known as the Eurasian Steppe . Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming. The Gobi Desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs , 77° E, to the Great Khingan (Da Hinggan) Mountains, 116°–118° E. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes: A majority of the people earn a living by herding livestock. Industrial activity centers in
16348-443: The term's ethnic definition, the majority of the Turkish population (an estimated 70 to 75 percent) are of Turkish ethnicity. The vast majority of Turks are Muslims and follow the Sunni faith. The ethnic Turks can therefore be distinguished by a number of cultural and regional variants, but do not function as separate ethnic groups. In particular, the culture of the Anatolian Turks in Asia Minor has underlain and influenced
16482-487: The transformation of the region, which had been a largely Greek-speaking region after previously being Hellenized , into a Turkish Muslim one. The Ottoman Empire expanded into parts of West Asia , Southeast Europe , and North Africa over the course of several centuries. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and in the Russian Empire resulted in large-scale loss of life and mass migration into modern-day Turkey from
16616-436: The two-year application period (up until 1 January 2010). Commonly referred to as the Iraqi Turkmens , the Turks are the second largest ethnic minority group in Iraq (i.e. after the Kurds ). The majority are the descendants of Ottoman settlers (e.g. soldiers, traders and civil servants) who were brought into Iraq from Anatolia . Today, most Iraqi Turkmen live in a region they refer to as " Turkmeneli " which stretches from
16750-530: The vowel harmony valued elsewhere"; the descendants of muhacirs (Turkish refugees) who fled persecution from former Ottoman territories in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; and more recent refugees who have continued to flee discrimination and persecution since the mid-1900s. Initially, muhacirs who arrived in Eastern Thrace and Anatolia came fleeing from former Ottoman territories which had been annexed by European colonial powers (such as France in Algeria or Russia in Crimea ); however,
16884-405: The western Central Asian regions were incorporated into the Soviet Union . The eastern part of Central Asia, known as Xinjiang , was incorporated into the People's Republic of China , having been previously ruled by the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China . Mongolia gained its independence from China and has remained independent but became a Soviet satellite state until the dissolution of
17018-447: The wettest climates in Central Asia, with an average annual precipitation of over 560 mm (22 inches). Biogeographically, Central Asia is part of the Palearctic realm . The largest biome in Central Asia is the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. Central Asia also contains the montane grasslands and shrublands , deserts and xeric shrublands and temperate coniferous forests biomes. As of 2022, there has been
17152-404: The wider definition, which includes Central Asian lands that have never been part of historical Russia). The latter definition includes Afghanistan and ' East Turkestan '. The most limited definition was the official one of the Soviet Union , which defined Middle Asia as consisting solely of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, omitting Kazakhstan . Soon after the dissolution of
17286-452: Was achieved was most probably due to the influence of the Silk Road , which traveled along Central Asia. Periodically, great leaders or changing conditions would organise several tribes into one force and create an almost unstoppable power. These included the Hun invasion of Europe, the Five Barbarians rebellions in China and most notably the Mongol conquest of much of Eurasia . During pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia
17420-420: Was conquered, in 1571, bolstering Ottoman dominance over the sea routes of the eastern Mediterranean . However, after its defeat at the Battle of Vienna , in 1683, the Ottoman army was met by ambushes and further defeats; the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz , which granted Austria the provinces of Hungary and Transylvania , marked the first time in history that the Ottoman Empire actually relinquished territory. By
17554-403: Was followed by military intervention by Turkey whose troops established Turkish Cypriot control over the northern part of the island. Hence, census's conducted by the Republic of Cyprus have excluded the Turkish Cypriot population that had settled in the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus . Between 1975 and 1981, Turkey encouraged its own citizens to settle in Northern Cyprus;
17688-408: Was for millennia dominated by the nomadic horse peoples of the steppe . Relations between the steppe nomads and the settled people in and around Central Asia were long marked by conflict. The nomadic lifestyle was well suited to warfare , and the steppe horse riders became some of the most militarily potent people in the world, limited only by their lack of internal unity. Any internal unity that
17822-402: Was fully secured into the Ottoman Empire in 1639 after a treaty signed with Iran brought an end to Iranian attempts to take the region. With the arrival of more Turkish colonizers, the Turkish Meskhetian community increased significantly. However, once the Ottomans lost control of the region in 1883, many Turkish Meskhetians migrated from Georgia to Turkey. Migrations to Turkey continued after
17956-546: Was inhabited predominantly by speakers of Iranian languages . Among the ancient sedentary Iranian peoples , the Sogdians and Chorasmians played an important role, while Iranian peoples such as Scythians and the later on Alans lived a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. The main migration of Turkic peoples occurred between the 6th and 11th centuries, when they spread across most of Central Asia. The Eurasian Steppe slowly transitioned from Indo European and Iranian -speaking groups with dominant West-Eurasian ancestry to
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