Central Asian region. Central and East Asia

The subcontinent Central Asia is located in the center of the Eurasian continent. Determining the boundaries of this region has some difficulties. The concept of "Central Asia" was first introduced by A. Humboldt in the middle of the 19th century. In his three-volume monograph, which bears this name (1843), he refers to the region all Asian territories with desert landscapes, remote from the oceans and protected from their influence by mountains. According to A. Humboldt, the entire Central Asia and Tibet are included in the subcontinent.

V. A. Obruchev called the desert plateaus north of Kunlun Central Asia. The author of the monograph “Central Asia” (1959), V. M. Sinitsyn, considers the inland position with mountain barriers along the margins, the aridity of the climate and the absence of peripheral runoff to be specific features of the region. According to these features, all the internal basins of Central and Central Asia, most of Tibet (except for the east) and the Eastern Pamirs should be attributed to the subcontinent.

In the textbook "Foreign Asia" (1956), the author of the relevant section, the well-known researcher and expert on this region, E. M. Murzaev, refers to Central Asia all the internal basins of Asia from the state border former USSR in the north to the southern outskirts of Tibet. In T. V. Vlasova's regionalization, approximately the following boundaries are accepted.

After the collapse of the USSR, the territory of the Central Asian republics and Kazakhstan is considered as part of the Central Asian subcontinent. Thus, Central Asia includes the following physical and geographical countries: Central Kazakhstan, the plains of the Turan Plate and the Balkhash region, the mountains and basins of Northwestern China and Central Asia, the plains and plateaus of Southern Mongolia and Northern China, Northern Mongolia, Pamir - Hindu Kush - Karakoram , Kunlun - Altyntag - Nanshan, Tibetan Plateau. In the north, the subcontinent is bordered by Western Siberia and the mountains of Southern Siberia, in the east with Eastern, in the south - with South Asia, in the west - with the Southern Urals and Mugodzhary, the Caspian Sea, then in the southwest - with the Iranian Highlands.

The general features of the nature of the subcontinent are determined by the position in the central part of the mainland, within the temperate and subtropical zones with a pronounced continental climate.

The main natural features of Central Asia:

- "lattice-honeycomb" structure of the surface. Almost the entire region is a system of basins bounded by more or less high mountains and uplands. The central parts of the basins are hard boulders of different geological age, mountain uplifts are formed by neotectonic movements within mobile belts of different ages. On this basis, all the physical and geographical countries of the subcontinent are similar, except for Central Kazakhstan.

- Large amplitudes of heights. They are associated with the activity of neotectonic movements (the Turfan depression lies at an altitude of 154 m below sea level, the Chogori mountain in the Karakorum has an absolute height of 8611 m). There is evidence that over the past 10 thousand years, the Kunlun, Nanshan and other mountains have risen by 1300-1500 m.

- Aridity of the climate, due to the inland position and the hollow relief. Many features of different components of nature are connected with this.

— Thus, the erosional dissection of mountain slopes occurred only in pluvial epochs; glaciation did not develop, as it was not enough; ancient leveling surfaces have been preserved; modern denudation is slow, mainly due to the processes of weathering, scree and the work of temporary streams; clastic material is not carried away far from the slopes where it was formed (“mountains are drowning in their own debris”); The groundwater usually deep, often mineralized; the rivers are shallow, sometimes they do not flow anywhere; lakes are mostly salty, often with unstable outlines, and in some cases “wander” from one shallow basin to another; dominate, and dry steppes on brown, gray-brown and in some places chestnut soils; solonchaks and solonetzes are widespread; plants and animals have adaptations to live in arid conditions.

- Disorganized runoff (according to V. M. Sinitsyn): areas of internal runoff and endorheic ones predominate. This is due to both the aridity of the climate and the hollow structure of the territory.

- The highest degree of continental climate: annual temperature amplitudes can reach 90 ° C, low winter temperatures are especially characteristic. The features of continentality are most clearly manifested in numerous large and small basins, so characteristic of the relief of the region.

— Central Asia has long been a little-studied region. Mountain barriers, harsh climatic conditions, remoteness from European countries prevented the penetration of scientific expeditions into the Central Asian territory. The political isolation of many parts of the region also played a role. Only in the 19th century the first expeditions took place, and, overcoming natural obstacles and the resistance of the Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese authorities, scientists from many countries explored and mapped this territory.

The contribution of Russian scientists and travelers is great. The expeditions of N. M. Przhevalsky (1870-1885), G. N. Potanin (1876-1899), M. V. Pevtsov (1876-1890), T. E. Grum are connected with the discovery for Europeans, description, study of Central Asia -Grzhimailo (1889-1903), V. I. Roborovsky (1890-1895), V. A. Obruchev (1892-1894), P. K. Kozlov (1893-1909), G. Ts. Tsybikov (1899-1902) ), etc. These were complex expeditions, very difficult and very productive. Research continues today. In the 20-30s. 20th century artist with a historical and philological education, archaeologist, ethnographer N.K. Roerich organized two long expeditions to Central Asia, during which extensive material was collected about the nature and population of the region. Europeans had more ancient contacts with the states of Central Asia.

— Central Asia is populated unevenly. Mainly river valleys and intermountain basins, where there is water, have been developed, as well as some northern regions with a more favorable climate. Vast areas within the region are generally devoid of permanent population. Lack of water hinders use natural resources Central Asia, but due to this, within the subcontinent, large areas are occupied by relatively little changed natural complexes. The environmental conditions that are extreme for organisms and prevail in the region require extremely careful and thoughtful steps in its development. The misuse of scarce water supplies has already led to irreparable consequences in some parts of the subcontinent.

Mountains and basins of Northwestern China and Central Asia

This physical and geographical country is located between the mountain uplifts of the Kunlun - Altyntag - Nanshan system from the west and south and the Mongolian Altai from the northeast. In the north, the border runs along the foothills of the Tien Shan, Dzungarian Alatau and Tarbagatai, and in the southeast - along the foothills of the Beishan Plateau. The whole territory lies within China and Kyrgyzstan and unites two large basins - Dzungar and Kashgar (Tarim), surrounded by mountains.

In Northwestern China, the features characteristic of all the physical and geographical countries of Central Asia are most clearly manifested.

It combines folded-blocky mountain systems of the Paleozoic geological age, raised by neotectonic movements along faults to a great height, with depressions filled with thick sedimentary strata of different ages.

The ridges of the Eastern Tien Shan are separated from the Dzhungar and Kashgar basins by faults and descend into these basins in gentle steps, forming a system of foothills. In the Tien Shan there are two axial ranges with a strip of depressions between them. Typically alpine relief is inherent only in certain parts of the highest ranges, processed by glaciers. Fragments of ancient leveling surfaces are clearly expressed, which indicates a long and complex history of the development of the mountain system. The surface of the Dzhungar and Kashgar basins is covered with sand and rubble as a result of developed processes of physical weathering and the removal of material from the mountains by temporary streams and a few rivers. Along the foothills on the outskirts of the Kashgar basin stretches a strip of forests. The central parts of the depressions are massifs of loose sands - the Dzosotyn-Elisun and Takla-Makan deserts.

The Eastern Tien Shan is characterized by a sharp differentiation of heights.

On the border of China and Kyrgyzstan, there are the Pobeda peak - 7439 m (the highest point of the Tien Shan) and the Khan-Tengri massif - 6995 m. Among the intermountain basins of the system is the Turfan depression, the dry bottom of which is lowered 154 m below the ocean level.

The entire region has a sharply continental climate.

Even on the slopes of the mountains, up to 300 mm of precipitation falls. In the basins, their number decreases to 100 mm, and in some places even less. Summer showers sometimes do not reach . Summers are hot, with large diurnal temperature ranges. Winters are cold - in Dzungaria (40th latitude), the average January temperatures are up to -16 ° C, in the more southern Kashgaria - 7-10 ° C (36-42 ° N). There is little snow, only high in the mountains during the winter a snow cover accumulates, the melting of which gives water to the rivers.

Almost the entire territory belongs to the internal runoff basins. The main rivers are the Tarim and the Ili.

Along the Ili in the intermountain depression is the largest oasis - Kuldzhinsky. Further, the river flows down to the basin of Lake Balkhash. Tarim wanders around the basin, breaks up into arms, changes direction, leaving oases with settlements without water, which have to be abandoned because of this. The place of the mouth of the river has not been determined either: in different years it flows in different directions. Most of the rivers flowing down from the mountains into the basins are lost in the sands, dismantled for irrigation, or sometimes fill salt lakes with water. The wandering lake Lobmore is widely known, which changes its area, shape and even location depending on which rivers and how much water they carry into it. The sands periodically cover the channels of the Tarim and Konchedarya, which feed the lake, so that at times it disappears altogether.

Some areas of sandy and gravelly deserts are completely devoid of vegetation, in other places they are typical desert communities with wormwood, saltwort, ephedra, camel thorn, tamarisk, sometimes with saxaul on the sands.

Only in the marginal mountains at altitudes of 1800-3000 m do forests of pine, Tien Shan spruce, elm, and aspen appear. Poplar, desert elm, and willows grow along dry riverbeds. There are meadows in mountain valleys and on the slopes of high mountains.

The typical Central Asian fauna with an admixture of Siberian species. Przhevalsky's wild horses, camels and donkeys still live in Dzungaria. In the mountains - deer, mountain goats and rams, wild boars. There are predators - a red wolf, a gobi bear, a leopard, even a tiger in the riverside thickets. Lots of birds.

The relatively rare population of the region is concentrated mainly in oases along mountain slopes and river channels. Agriculture is possible only with artificial irrigation.

The most densely populated valleys and basins and slopes of the Tien Shan, where in some places even rain-fed agriculture is possible. Where people live, systems of canals, reservoirs, wells, gutters, etc. have long existed. Cotton, melons are grown, grapes and fruit trees are grown with special measures to protect against winter frosts. Cattle graze in the mountains. As elsewhere, in an arid climate with hot summers, there is a great danger of desertification. Additional difficulties for life are created by the inconstancy of riverbeds and lake basins, moving sands that fill watercourses and dwellings. Excavations show that the population within the region often had to leave their habitats and move to other places where there is water.

Plains and plateaus of southern Mongolia and northern China

The Gobi and Beishan plateaus, the Ordos plateau, and the Alashan desert have typical Central Asian features. They form a system of plateaus, high plains and blocky mountains, located between the Great Khingan, Yinshan and Loess plateau in the east and southeast, Nanshan - Altyntag - in the southwest, Kashgaria and Dzungaria - in the west, Northern Mongolia - in the north. The territory belongs to Mongolia and China.

The region has a geological basis of different ages and structurally different.

For example, the Beishan Plateau is a socle massif on a Precambrian base raised to a height of more than 2000 m. It is believed that this is one of the oldest land areas within Central Asia with a stable tectonic regime. The Gobi is a system of small hills, ridges, island ranges and between them layered plains (900-1200 meters in height), composed of Meso-Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. The Ordos Plateau is a syneclise filled with Mesozoic sandstones.

Despite this diversity geological structure, a physical-geographical country has some common features nature.

Arid sharply continental climate is typical for the entire region. The amount of precipitation does not exceed 300 mm, and in the interior and western regions - 200 mm, in some places even less than 100 mm per year. Summer precipitation.

Despite modern arid conditions, erosional landforms are widespread in the region. This is evidence that in the past there was a humid climate. It is believed that during the Ice Age there were many rivers and lakes in this area. The pluvial epoch was replaced by an arid one, even drier than at present, during which aeolian processes developed.

Large temperature amplitudes are characteristic of modern climatic conditions.

Summers are hot (at average monthly temperatures of 22-24°C, it can warm up to 45°C, and the soil - up to 70°C). Winters with frosts, little snow. The daily temperature fluctuations are great, especially in transitional seasons, when they can reach 2-3 tens of degrees.

There are almost no rivers (the Huang He River is a transit watercourse that has no tributaries here). The lakes, as in other regions of Central Asia, are salty, endorheic, with variable levels and outlines. At the foot of the mountains there are exits ground water, which are used by the population along with shallow wells. These are the main sources of water.

The vegetation is desert: on the sands - thickets of saxaul, caragana, dzhuzgun, there are ephemeroids, on gravelly areas and solonchaks - wormwood, saltwort, gobi feather grass. Desert elm, poplar and tamarix sometimes grow along dry riverbeds. The altitudinal zonality is not expressed: the slopes are often entirely occupied by desert formations or dry steppes. Only in some places (in Alashan and Yinshan) there are small areas forests. In the north of the Gobi, cereal steppe groups are developed - good pasture lands.

The population is rare. The main occupation is cattle breeding, sheep, camels, horses are bred. Agriculture exists in the rare river valleys. The main problems are related to the lack of water. There is evidence that people had to leave their habitable places due to the depletion of water sources.

Hindu Kush - Karakoram - Pamir

Some physical and geographical countries are included in Central Asia, in which, on the one hand, the features of nature that are common to the entire continent are definitely manifested, but on the other hand, they are distinguished by features associated with the fact that these are high-mountainous regions. The Pamirs, the Hindu Kush and the Karakorum, the Kunlun-Altyntaga-Nanshan systems and the Tibetan Plateau are areas that have very specific features of nature, since these are high and highest mountain systems. According to some zoning schemes, they are distinguished into a special subcontinent - High Asia (Vlasova T.V. . M., 1976). However, these regions have natural features that are typical for the whole of Central Asia: aridity and extreme continental climate, disorganized runoff, the predominance of desert landscapes, the species composition of flora and fauna, etc.

In the north, the Pamir mountain junction is separated from the Southern Tien Shan (Pamir-Alai) by the Alai valley and the river. Panj, in the west of Kopet-Dag - the tectonic valley of the river. Herirud. In the south, the border runs along the foothills of the Hindu Kush, in the east - along the depressions between the Karakorum and the Kunlun ranges.

The Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Pamirs are included in the mountain junction, which was apparently formed as a result of the powerful pressure of the Hindustan block, which, when the Tethys Ocean closed, came into contact with rigid Paleozoic structures in this area, which caused the manifestation of active tectonic movements and the formation of the highest folded and blocky-folded mountain systems. The structure and features of the nature of the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush are not well known, since these are hard-to-reach and sparsely populated regions. The Pamirs are better studied. It is clear that the main natural features of all three mountainous countries are associated with high mountain relief and position in the center of the continent in the outlying parts of the high uplands - Iranian and Tibetan. Internal differences in these mountain systems are determined by the altitudinal zonality and, to a large extent, by the exposure of the slopes.

All three mountainous countries are based on folded structures formed during the epoch of the Alpine orogeny. Paleozoic crystalline rocks emerge in the axial zones, while Mesozoic sedimentary complexes crumpled into folds predominate over most of the territory. Within the Pamirs (especially in the northwest), dislocated Paleozoic limestones and sandstones are widely represented. The Pamirs are distinguished by the predominance of red-colored rocks of different ages (even on satellite images it stands out as a red rectangle).

The mountains have been raised to their present height by the latest movements along the faults. Young tectonic ascending movements have created a high-altitude relief. Within mountainous countries, systems of leveling surfaces and steep slopes, dissected by faults and erosion, are combined. The heights of the mountains and passes in the Hindu Kush increase from west to east from 5000 m in the western ranges to 6000-7000 m in the east. The passes in the western Hindu Kush lie at an altitude of 3000 meters (Trans-Hindukush highway crosses the mountains along the Shibar pass - 2987 meters), in the east - even higher. Karakoram has an average height of almost 6000 m, three peaks of this system exceed 8000 meters (Chogori - 8611 m - the second highest in the world), and passes with heights of about 5000 meters are difficult to access throughout the year. The ridge is processed by glaciers and erosion and has a typical alpine relief.

In the Pamirs, blocky and folded-blocky morphostructures predominate: highlands - on the Cenozoic basement in the west, on the Paleozoic basement in the center and east, middle mountains - on the Mesozoic and Paleozoic structures in the west and northwest.

In general, the highly dissected relief of the Western Pamirs is similar to the Hindu Kush, here in the ridge of the Academy of Sciences is the highest point of the system - the city of Samani (7495 meters). The relief of the Eastern Pamirs is rather flat-mountainous: at altitudes of 4000-6000 meters the relative excesses are small, the valleys are wide and filled with loose deposits, and only individual ridges on the ridges have a high-altitude appearance.

Until now, the region is characterized by a high degree of seismicity. For example, in the Pamirs every day in different points earthquakes of 4-5 points are recorded, there are often strong shocks (more than 7 points).

Modern glaciation plays an important role in shaping the nature of the region. The snow line lies at altitudes of 4000-5000 meters.

It rises highest (up to 6200-6400 meters) in the extreme northeast of the Karakoram, since there is little precipitation due to the distance from their main sources - the western transfer of moisture from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian monsoon. Highly great importance slopes have an exposure: on the western and southern slopes there is more precipitation and the snow line is lower, on the northern and especially eastern slopes the amount of precipitation is much less, and the snow line rises to a considerable height. Only in the western Hindu Kush do the northern slopes receive slightly more moisture than the southern ones, so the glaciers there descend lower.

A significant role is played by local orographic conditions - the ratio of shady and sunny slopes, the presence of areas for the accumulation of snow and ice, etc. total area glaciation in the Karakorum is about 15,400 km 2 (according to measurements in photographs from space), 5 glaciers exceed 50 km in length. Glaciers, predominantly of the dendritic and valley type, stretch almost in a continuous strip along the mountain ridges, leaving only some passes free.

The area of ​​the Hindu Kush glaciers is estimated at approximately 6000 km 2 (according to aerial photography). Basin and valley glaciers predominate, some of them reach a length of 15-30 km. Avalanches play an important role in feeding the glaciers of both mountainous countries. In the Pamirs, glaciers occupy about 8400 km2. The largest glacier - Fedchenko in the ridge of the Academy of Sciences has a length of 77 km. This is one of the longest mountain glaciers on Earth. The Pamir glaciers are characterized by rapid periodic shifts of several meters in a short time.

Many rivers of the Indus basin and endorheic regions of Central and Central Asia originate from the slopes of the mountains. Their importance is very great for irrigation of agricultural land in the foothills and intermountain valleys. Rivers have huge reserves of hydropower. The Vakhsh hydroelectric complex is known with a cascade of hydroelectric power stations and a system of reservoirs, the waters of which irrigate the lands of the Vakhsh valley. Lakes are either dammed (for example, Sarez in the Pamirs), or saline, drainless in tectonic depressions (the largest is Karakul).

The mountains are distinguished by a high degree of continental climate. a huge role slope exposure plays a role in the distribution of precipitation. In general, the western and northwestern slopes receive many times more moisture than the eastern ones. The climate of the highlands is especially harsh.

In the Eastern Pamirs, the average monthly temperatures in July reach only 5°C with daily amplitudes up to tens of degrees. In winter, frosty weather prevails here (-25 ... -30 ° С). Registered -63°С. From a depth of 1.5 m permafrost is observed. The southern slopes of the mountains are better moistened only within the Karakorum, where the Indian monsoon reaches.

Most of The mountains are deserted, on their rocky slopes there are rare bushes of wormwood, teresken, and some cereals. There are forests only on the southern slopes of the Karakorum up to a height of 3500 m (sparse growth of oaks, pines, Himalayan cedars), higher - shrub thickets and rich subalpine meadows, as well as in the north-west of the Hindu Kush (areas of pistachio and juniper sparse forests among dry steppes and woody thickets along the rivers). There are tree and shrub formations along the river valleys of the Pamirs. Formations of upland xerophytes and mountain steppes are also common.

The fauna is well preserved in the mountains. Both in flora and in fauna there are many species characteristic of all mountainous Asia, including the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Mountain goats, argali, snow leopards, Himalayan bears live in the Hindu Kush and the Pamirs, orongo and adda antelopes, wild yaks, etc. live in the Karakorum.

The bowels of the region are rich in minerals. Deposits are known here hard coal, various ores, including iron, molybdenum, beryllium, polymetallic ores, gold, graphite, sulfur, precious stones, etc. So far, these riches are used relatively little.

The population is concentrated in river valleys, along the shores of lakes, in oases at the foot of the mountains. Cattle breeding and irrigated agriculture predominate. The Pamirs are known as a region of mountain agriculture: here, at an altitude of 3-3.5 thousand meters, they grow grain, potatoes, which give high yields, some horticultural crops and winter-hardy fruits.

The main part of the Hindu Kush is located in Afghanistan. There were fighting which negatively affected the state of nature and the economy of the region. Karakorum lies on the border of India and China. The mountains of the southeastern part of the system are most populated. Most of the Pamirs belong to Tajikistan, only in the north and northwest the territories of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan enter the mountain system. Unfortunately, the southern border of Tajikistan has been a “hot spot” for a long time. To natural disasters, from which the population of the region suffers (earthquakes, mudflows, landslides and talus in the mountains), the damage from military conflicts is added.

Kunlun - Altyntag - Nanshan

The mountains of these systems close the Tibetan Plateau from the north and have much in common with it. However, there are also significant differences. Most of all, they relate to the geological structure and topography of this territory. Kunlun in the west adjoins the Pamir mountain junction and stretches 2700 km to the east, first along the Karakoram, then along the northern outskirts of the Tibetan highlands, bordering the Tarim and Tsaidam basins from the south. The northern outskirts of the Tsaidam basin are the Altyntag and Nanshan ranges. At 85° E. e. they connect with Kunlun. The region is entirely within the territory of the People's Republic of China.

Kunlun is one of the greatest mountain systems of the Earth. Active tectonic movements raised the Paleozoic folded structures to a height of 6000-6500 m, and some peaks exceed 7500 m.

The ridges are highest in the west, where the crystalline axial zone is traced, and in the central segment - in the Przhevalsky (Arkatage) ridge. The highest peaks of the system are located within the Western Kunlun, which consists of three parallel chains, and the Przhevalsky Range in the Eastern Kunlun. The highest points are Ulugmuztag (7723 m) and Kongur (7719 m). The Eastern Kunlun goes around the Qaidam Basin from the south, and Altyntag and Nanshan, which are a branch of the Eastern Kunlun, from the north. These ridges are somewhat lower - 5000-6000 m. The mountain system has poorly dissected watersheds with extensive areas of peneplain, separated by high graben-like intermountain valleys. There are many screes in the mountains, often mobile. To the Tarim Basin, the ridges break off with a giant ledge (up to 4500 m), and rise above the Tibetan Plateau by only 1000-1500 m. The Tsaidam Basin (tectonic depression filled with Meso-Cenozoic sediments) lies at an altitude of 2700-3000 meters. Sandy and clayey surface deposits are processed by eolian processes. Large areas are occupied by solonchaks in place of dried lakes. Tsaidam is called "a stepping stone to Tibet", the landscapes of the basin are very similar to those of Tibet. Altyntag and Nanshan are high mountain systems (some peaks are higher than 6 km).

The climate of the entire region is arid sharply continental, typical for the whole of Central Asia. Especially little precipitation (no more than 150 mm, and in some places less than 50 mm per year) is received by the Middle Kunlun and the Tsaidam Basin. Summer precipitation. Winters are snowless.

The amount of precipitation somewhat increases to the west, as the influence of the western transfer of air masses affects, and to the east, where it falls up to 500 mm per year (80% in summer due to the action of the summer monsoon). Annual temperature amplitudes reach 30-40°C. January averages are everywhere negative, and although the region lies between 35° and 40° N. sh., its climate cannot be called subtropical. There are special high-mountain climatic conditions.

Due to the aridity, the glaciation of these highest mountains is relatively small. However, there are several glaciation sites with large glaciers, mostly of the Turkestan type.

The crest of the Przhevalsky Ridge is almost 1000 meters vertically covered with eternal snow. There are large glacial formations on all the highest mountain ranges. The snow line lies in the east and west at altitudes of 5000-5200 meters, in some places (for example, in the east of Nanshan) and lower, and in the center it rises to 5400-5900 m. Glaciers and snows give rise to rivers flowing mainly into the Tarim Basin and (in the east) into the river system. Huanghe. A few short streams flow towards the Tibetan Plateau. There are a number of rivers that originate on the slopes of the Karakorum and cut through the Western Kunlun in several places. 60-80% of the runoff occurs in the summer, when snow and ice melt in the mountains; in winter, many rivers dry up or freeze.

The lack of heat and moisture leads to the fact that formations of deserts and dry steppes dominate in the region. In the central regions, they occupy all the slopes and hollows. Only along watercourses and in places with a close occurrence of groundwater there are meadows and wetlands. In the west and east, at altitudes of 3500-4000 m, forest vegetation (Tian Shan spruce, tree-like juniper) and meadows appear.

The population is only along the banks of large rivers. The main occupations are nomadic cattle breeding (sheep, goats, yaks are bred) and agriculture (wheat is grown and barley is grown higher in the mountains).

central Asia, a natural country in Asia, including desert and semi-desert plains, plateaus and highlands. It is limited in the east by the southern part of the Greater Khingan and the Taihanshan ridge, in the south by the longitudinal tectonic depression of the upper Indus and the Brahmaputra (Tsangpo). In the west and north, the border of Central Asia corresponds to the mountain ranges of East Kazakhstan, Altai, Western and Eastern Sayan, approximately coinciding with the state border between Russia, on the one hand, China and the MPR, on the other. The area of ​​Central Asia, according to various estimates, is from 5 to 6 million km². Most of China and the Mongolian People's Republic are located on the territory of Central Asia. The population of Central Asia is made up of Mongolian peoples (Khalkha, etc.), Chinese, Uighurs, Tibetans, etc.

Relief of Central Asia

Central Asia is characterized by high altitudes, and 2 main tiers of relief are clearly distinguished. The lower tier is formed by the Gobi, Alashan, Ordos, Dzhungar and Tarim plains, the prevailing heights of which are 500-1500 m. The upper tier is the Tibetan Plateau, within which the average heights increase to 4-4.5 thousand m. other linearly elongated mountain systems of the Eastern Tien Shan, Kunlun, Nanshan, Mongolian Altai, Karakoram, Gandishishan, etc., which have a predominantly latitudinal and sublatitudinal strike. The highest peaks of the Tien Shan, Karakorum, Kunlun reach 6-7 thousand meters; the highest point of Central Asia - t. Chogori, in Karakorum (8611 m).

Geological structure and minerals

The axial geological structure of Central Asia is the western extension of the Chinese-Korean platform, which is divided by zones of tectonic activation into relatively stable massifs: Tarim, Dzhungar, Alashan, Ordos; from the north, this group of massifs is framed by the Mongolian-Kazakhstan, and from the south - by the Kunlun belts of Paleozoic folded structures. In the north of the Tibetan Plateau, within the Changtang, Mesozoic folding appeared. At the end of the Mesozoic, denudation plains dominated on the site of Central Asia, sharply uplifted and dissected as a result of subsequent Cenozoic movements. In the modern relief, there is a complex combination of gravel and sandy plains (with areas of low hills), mountain ranges and massifs, the highest of which bear alpine landforms. Mineral resources of Central Asia are still poorly studied. There are large deposits of oil (Karamay, Urgo, Tushandzy, Yuimyn) and coal (Turfan, Khami) in Northwestern China; -Gol, Tamryn-Gol, etc.). Central Asia is rich in rare and non-ferrous metals, table salt and other minerals.

Climate of Central Asia

In winter, the Asian anticyclone is located over Central Asia, and in summer it is an area of ​​low atmospheric pressure with a predominance of water-depleted air masses of oceanic origin. The climate is sharply continental, dry, with significant seasonal and daily temperature fluctuations. Average temperatures in January on the plains are from -10 to -25 °С, in July from 20 to 25 °С (on the Tibetan Plateau about 10 °С). The annual amount of precipitation on the plains usually does not exceed 200 mm, and such areas as the Takla Makan, Gashun Gobi, Tsaidam, and Changtang plateaus receive less than 50 mm, which is ten times less evaporation. The largest number precipitation falls in summer. In the mountain ranges, precipitation is 300-500 mm, and in the southeast, where the influence of the summer monsoon is felt, up to 1000 mm per year. Central Asia is characterized by strong winds and an abundance of sunny days (240-270 per year). The dry climate of Central Asia is reflected in the significant height of the snow line, reaching 5-5.5 thousand meters in Kunlun and Nanshan, and 6-7 thousand meters in the Tibetan Plateau, in Changtang (its highest position on the globe). Therefore, despite the enormous height of the mountains, there is little snow in them, and intermountain valleys and plains are usually snowless in winter. The scale of modern glaciation is insignificant (the area of ​​glaciation in Central Asia is estimated at 50-60 thousand km²). The main centers of glaciation are located in the highest mountain junctions of the Karakoram, Kunlun, as well as the Eastern Tien Shan and the Mongolian Altai. Cirque, hanging and small valley glaciers predominate.

Surface waters of Central Asia

Due to the dry climate of Central Asia, it is characterized by low watering. Most of the territory belongs to the area of ​​internal runoff, forming a number of closed basins (Tarim, Dzhungar, Tsaidam, the Great Lakes Basin, etc.). The main rivers of Central Asia - Tarim, Khotan, Aksu, Konchedarya, Urungu, Manas, Kobdo, Dzabkhan - originate in high peripheral mountain ranges, and upon reaching the plains, a significant part of their flow seeps into loose deposits of foothill plumes, evaporates and is spent on irrigation fields; therefore, downstream, the water content of rivers usually decreases, many of them dry up or carry water only during the summer flood, mainly due to the melting of snow and ice in the mountains of Central Asia. The most arid regions of Central Asia (Alashan, Beishan, Gashun and Trans-Altai Gobi, the central part of the Takla-Makan Desert) are practically devoid of surface watercourses. Their surface is covered with dry channels, in which water appears only after episodic downpours. Only the outskirts of Central Asia have flow into the oceans, in the mountains of which the large rivers of Asia originate: the Huang He, the Yangtze, the Mekong, the Salween, the Brahmaputra, the Indus, the Irtysh, the Selenga, and the Amur. There are many lakes in Central Asia, the largest of them is Lake Kukunor, and the deepest is Khubsugul. Largest number lakes - in the Tibetan Plateau and in the north of the Mongolian People's Republic. Many of them are the final floods of rivers (for example, Lop Nor), due to which their outlines and sizes often change depending on fluctuations in the flow of rivers. Salt lakes predominate; of the fresh waters, the largest are Khara-Us-Nur, Bagrashköl, Khubsugul. Many lakes on the plains are in the process of shrinking.

Soils of Central Asia

The predominant types of soils in the north are chestnut, in the deserts of Northwest China - gray-brown, desert, in the Tibetan Plateau - frozen soils of cold high-mountain deserts. In depressions of the relief there are solonchaks and takyrs. In the upper belt of mountains there are mountain-meadow and (in the north) mountain-forest soils. The soils of the plains of Central Asia are usually thin, almost devoid of humus, often contain a large number of carbonates and gypsum; significant areas of sandy and rocky deserts are generally devoid of soil cover. In the mountains - gravel and coarse skeletal soils.

Vegetation of Central Asia

On most of the plains of Central Asia, the vegetation cover is sparse, the vegetation is desert and semi-desert, its species composition is poor. Shrub vegetation predominates (nitrate, reamuria, teresken, karagana, boyalych, potashnik, dzhuzgun, ephedra). Significant areas of takyrs, solonchaks. loose sands are devoid of vegetation cover. In the Tibetan Highlands, vegetation is often represented by creeping teresken shrubs, and in hollows sheltered from cold winds, by sedges, cobresia, reamuria, bluegrass, and fescue. In the north, semi-deserts and deserts are replaced by steppes, the vegetation of which is dominated by feather grass, chi, vostrets, wheatgrass. On the sowing mountain slopes - areas of coniferous forests of spruce, fir, larch. Along the valleys of many transit rivers (Tarim, Khotan, Aksu, Konchedarya), in deserts and in foothill oases, there are strips of tugai forests with a predominance of various-leaved poplar, oleaster and sea buckthorn. Along the banks of the reservoirs there are reed and reed thickets.

Fauna of Central Asia

Of the large animals in Central Asia, ungulates and rodents are the most common. Wild camel, wild ass, Przewalski's horse, gazelles - gazelle and gazelle, hare, marmots, jerboas, pikas, gerbils, mole voles, etc. are found in the deserts of Northwestern China and the Mongolian People's Republic. In the Tibetan Highlands there are wild yak, kulan, orongo and hell antelopes , mountain goats and sheep, pikas, marmots, voles, etc. Of the predators, the wolf, fox, corsac, etc. are ubiquitous.

Murzaev E. M., Mongolian People's Republic, 2nd ed., M., 1952; his, Nature of Xinjiang and the formation of the deserts of Central Asia, M., 1966; Foreign Asia. Physical geography, M., 1956; Sinitsyn V. M., Central Asia, M., 1959; Physical geography of China, M., 1964; Petrov M.P., Deserts of Central Asia, vol. 1-2, M. - L., 1966-1967.

Central Asia is a vast region without access to the ocean. All sources include countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Many include here Mongolia, part of China, Punjab, Kashmir and the north. A specific feature of the Central Asian region is its inland position with mountains along the outskirts protecting it along the perimeter.

Central Asia includes desert and semi-desert plains, highlands and plateaus. Limited:

• in the East, the southern part of the Greater Khingan and the Taihanshan ridge,
• in the South - a longitudinal tectonic depression of the upper Indus and Brahmaputra (Tsangpo),
• in the West and North, the border of Central Asia corresponds to the mountain ranges of East Kazakhstan, Altai, Western and Eastern Sayan.

The area of ​​Central Asia, according to various estimates, is from 5 to 6 million square kilometers. The population of Central Asia is made up of Mongolian peoples, Chinese, Uighurs, Tibetans, and others. The relief of Central Asia is distinguished by significant elevations, and there are two main tiers. On the lower tier (500-1500 m above sea level ) Gobi desert, Alashan, Ordos, Dzungarian and Tarim plains are located . The upper tier is the Tibetan Plateau, the average heights on which increase to 4-4.5 thousand meters . And the highest points of the Tien Shan, Karakorum, Kunlun mountains reach 6-7 thousand meters.

Central Asia is populated unevenly. Mainly river valleys and intermountain gorges, where there is water, are mastered by people. In the north, areas with a favorable climate have large area, there the area of ​​habitable lands is larger (Kazakh virgin lands). But in general within the region large territories generally do not have a permanent population. The reason for this is the lack of water.

Scientists believe that the Scythians created the first nomadic state in this region. Although who these Scythians were is still arguing. According to scientists, the Scythian tribes lived in a state of fragmentation. They created a state called the Xiongnu (209 BC - 93 AD), which was the first empire of the nomadic peoples of the world.

Central Asia. Climate

In winter, anticyclones prevail in Central Asia, and in summer, low atmospheric pressure with a predominance of dry air masses that came from the ocean, but lost moisture along such a long path. The climate is sharply continental, dry, temperature fluctuations are significant both during the season and during the day. The average January temperatures on the plains are -10 to -25 °С, in July from 20 to 25 °С). The annual amount of precipitation on the plains in some places is sometimes less than evaporation. The greatest amount of precipitation falls in summer. There is more precipitation in the mountain ranges than in the plains. Central Asia is characterized by strong winds and sunny days (240-270 per year).

Vegetation

Most of the plains of Central Asia have a sparse vegetation cover, desert and semi-desert vegetation, its species composition is poor. Shrubs predominate. Significant areas of takyrs, solonchaks, loose sands are completely or almost devoid of vegetation.

In the Tibetan Highlands, vegetation is often represented by creeping teresken shrubs, and in hollows that are sheltered from cold winds - by sedges, cobresia, reamuria, bluegrass, and fescue.

In the North, semi-deserts and deserts turn into steppes. On the northern slopes of the mountains there are areas of coniferous forests of spruce, fir, larch. Along the valleys of many transit rivers (Tarim, Khotan, Aksu, Konchedarya), in deserts and in foothill oases, there are strips of tugai forests with a predominance of various-leaved poplar, sucker and sea buckthorn. Along the banks of the reservoirs there are reed and reed thickets.

(Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, western Sichuan and northern Gansu), regions of Asian Russia south of the taiga zone, Kazakhstan and four (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan) former Soviet republics Central Asia.

For the first time, Central Asia was singled out as a separate region of the world by the geographer Alexander Humboldt ().

Central Asia has historically been associated with the nomadic peoples inhabiting its expanses and the Great Silk Road. Central Asia acted as a region where people, goods and ideas converged from different parts of the Eurasian continent - Europe, the Middle East, South and East Asia.

In the USSR, there was a division into economic regions. Two economic regions (Central Asia and Kazakhstan) were usually mentioned together: "Central Asia and Kazakhstan".

From the point of view of physical geography and climatology, the concept of "Central Asia" covers not only the four indicated republics, but also central and southern Kazakhstan.

“The rejection of Chinese culture common to all the peoples of Central Asia is noteworthy. Thus, the Turks had their own ideological system, which they distinctly opposed to the Chinese one. After the fall of the Uighur Khaganate, the Uyghurs adopted Manichaeism, the Karluks adopted Islam, the Basmals and Onguts adopted Nestorianism, the Tibetans adopted Buddhism in its Indian form, while the Chinese ideology never crossed the Great Wall”… "Returning to more early era and summing up some of the above, we note that, although the Huns, Turks and Mongols were very different from each other, all of them at one time turned out to be a barrier that kept the onslaught of China on the border of the steppes"

In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. the Steppe Way began to function, stretching from the Black Sea region to the banks of the Don, then to the lands of the Savromats in the Southern Urals, to the Irtysh and, further, to the Altai, to the country of the Agripei, who inhabited the Upper Irtysh region and about. Zaisan. Silk, furs and skins, Iranian carpets, products made of precious metals were distributed along this route. The nomadic tribes of the Saks and Scythians participated in the distribution of precious silks, through which the goods, outlandish for that time, got to Central Asia and the Mediterranean. In the middle of the II century. BC e. The Silk Road begins to function as a regular diplomatic and trade artery. In II-V centuries. The Silk Road, if followed from the east, began in Chang'an - the ancient capital of China and went to the crossing of the Yellow River in the Lanzhou region, further along the northern spurs of Nan Shan to the western outskirts of the Great Chinese wall, to Jasper Gate Outpost. Here a single road forked, bordering the Takla-Makan desert from the north and south. The northern one went through the oases of Khami, Turfan, Beshbalyk, Shikho to the valley of the river. Or; the middle one from Chaochan to Karashar, Aksu and through the Bedel pass to the southern coast of Issyk-Kul - through Dunhuan, Khotan, Yarkand to Bactria, India and the Mediterranean - this is the so-called " southern way". The "Northern Route" went from Kashgar to Fergana and further through Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv and Hamadan to Syria. In the VI-VII centuries. the busiest is the route that runs from China to the west through Semirechye and Sogdiana. The Sogdian language became the most widespread in trade transactions. Moving the track north can be explained by several reasons. Firstly, in the Semirechye were the headquarters of the Turkic Khagans, who controlled the trade routes through Central Asia. Secondly, the road through Ferghana in the 7th century. became dangerous due to civil strife. Thirdly, the wealthy Turkic kagans and their entourage became major consumers of overseas goods, especially those from the Hellenistic states. The main number of embassy and trade caravans went through the Silk Road in the 7th-14th centuries. Over the centuries, it has undergone changes: some areas have acquired special significance, others, on the contrary, have died off, and the cities and trading stations on them have fallen into decay. So, in the VI-VIII centuries. the main route was Syria - Iran - Central Asia - South Kazakhstan - Talas Valley - Chui Valley - Issyk-Kul Basin - East Turkestan. An offshoot of this path, more precisely, another route went to the route from Byzantium through Derbent to the Caspian steppes - Mangyshlak - Aral Sea - South Kazakhstan. It was bypassing Sassanian Iran when, in opposition to it, a trade and diplomatic union of the Western Turkic Khaganate was concluded in Byzantium. In the IX-XII centuries. this route was used with less intensity than the one that went through Central Asia and the Middle East, Asia Minor to Syria, Egypt and Byzantium, and in the XIII-XIV centuries. revives again. The political situation on the continent determined the choice of routes by diplomats, merchants and other travelers."

Sciences and Arts

As the American historian Steven Starr points out, in Central Asia in the Middle Ages, that is, many centuries before the era of the same name in France, there was one of the centers of the Enlightenment. The sciences were developed, first of all, astronomy and medicine, as well as various arts. Due to frequent wars and political instability, there was a phenomenon of itinerant scholars. Unlike medieval Europe, where scientists usually lived permanently at monasteries or in major cities, in Central Asia, scientists had to constantly move from place to place in search of the safest place to live and work.

Researchers

Russian empire

19th century

• Iakinf Bichurin, whale. trad. 乙阿欽特, ex. 乙阿钦特, pinyin: Yǐāqīnte, pall.: Iacinte; in the world Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin (1777-1853) - archimandrite of the Orthodox Russian church(1802-1823); polyglot scientist, orientalist traveler, connoisseur of the Chinese language, history, geography and culture of China, the first professional Russian sinologist who gained pan-European fame. Author of the most valuable works on geography, history and culture of the peoples of Central Asia.
• Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky(January 2 (14) - February 26 (March 11) - Russian geographer, botanist, statistician, statesman and public figure. Explored the Tien Shan and the area of ​​Lake Issyk-Kul .1

Austria-Hungary

19th century

• Arminium Vambury, aka German Bamberger (1832-1913) - Hungarian orientalist, traveler, polyglot; corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He came from a poor Jewish family. In 1861, taking the fictitious name of Reshid Efendi, under the guise of a dervish - a mendicant preacher, he made a research trip to Central Asia. In 1864 he returned to Hungary. The journey of Arminius Vamberi was one of the first European penetrations into the unexplored regions of the Pamirs. In 1864 he published a book about his journey.

• Vladimir Myasnikov, born in 1931, Soviet historian, orientalist, sinologist, specialist in Russian-Chinese relations, history foreign policy, historical biography. Academician Russian Academy Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor. Lecturer at the Military Diplomatic Academy in Moscow. Author of about 500 published scientific papers, books, monographs in Russian and English.
• Alexey Postnikov, born in 1939, - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, specialist in the history of geography, cartography and geopolitics in Asia. Author of about 300 published scientific papers, books, monographs in Russian and English.
• Okmir Agakhanyants- geographer, geobotanist, historian of science, political scientist and specialist in the field of geopolitical problems of Asia. Doctor of Geography, Professor of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University in Minsk. Author of about 400 published fiction, scientific and popular science works, books, monographs in a number of languages ​​of Europe and Asia. ENG

"Big game"

At the end of the XIX century. a struggle broke out between Britain and the Russian Empire for influence in Central Asia and India, which the British explorer and writer Arthur Conolly called "The Great Game". According to observers, at the end of the XX century. a new round of "great game" began, with numerous countries joining - the United States, Turkey, Iran and, later, China. Among the "players" are the former Central Asian republics of the USSR, balancing between the opposing forces in an effort to maintain independence.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Description of Zhungaria and East Turkestan in ancient and current state. Translated from Chinese by the monk Iakinf. Parts I and II. - St. Petersburg: 1829.
• Historical review of the Oirats or Kalmyks from the 15th century to the present. Composed by the monk Iakinf. - St. Petersburg: 1834. 2nd ed. / Foreword. V. P. Sanchirova. - Elista, 1991.
• China, its inhabitants, manners, customs, education. The work of the monk Iacinth. - St. Petersburg, 1840.
• Statistical description of the Chinese empire. Composition of the monk Iakinf. Volumes I and II. - St. Petersburg: 1842. 2nd ed. Sub-scientific ed. K. M. Tertitsky,  A. N. Khokhlova . - M., 2002.
• China in a civil and moral state. Composition of the monk Iakinf in four parts. St. Petersburg: 1848. 2nd ed. - Beijing, 1911-1912.