the.com/central asia
the world's biggest crossroads, land-locked five times over, still finding its own name.
means a vast interior region of steppe, desert, and mountain — usually kazakhstan, uzbekistan, turkmenistan, kyrgyzstan, and tajikistan — connecting china, russia, iran, and south asia.
from the term hardened during the 19th-century great game, when russian and british empires drew lines through what had long been nomadic khanates and silk road oases.
doubly landlockeduzbekistan is one of only two countries worldwide
aral seaonce fourth-largest lake, now mostly desert
silk road hubsamarkand and bukhara outlasted every empire that ruled them
soviet bordersstalin drew ethnic lines to prevent unified nationalism