COPYRIGHT
119
PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 62:
Natural Resources and Economy of Central Asia
The natural resources and economy of Central Asia are verymuch related to the physical features
and climate of the region. The dominant land features of Central Asia are made up of steppes,
mountains, and deserts.
Kazakhstan is larger in land area than the other five countries of Central Asia combined.Much of
Kazakhstan is onehuge steppe.Steppes are semi-arid, grassy, treeless plains.They are similar to the
Great Plains of theUnitedStates.
Another large chunk of Central Asia has a desert climate. The southern part of Kazakhstan, two
thirds of Uzbekistan, and 90 percent of Turkmenistan have desert conditions. Afghanistan also is
extremely arid.
The southeastern part of Central Asia is verymountainous.Many areas in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
andAfghanistanarehard to reach.A very lowpercentageof the land is suitable for farming.Thereare
few paved roads in these countries and Afghanistan has no railroads. Let’s take a look at the major
primary and secondary industries of the region.
Agricultural –Primary Industries
So, what kind of agriculture can you have when the land is too dry or too rugged for farming?
Similar to Southwest Asia, nomadic herding of sheep, goats, and cattle is a common way to earn a
living. These animals provide the herders with meat, milk, and clothing materials. The Turkmen are
excellent horse breeders.This region is known for livestock breeding, particularly of horses.
There are a few areas of fertile soil and fast flowing rivers from themountains. However, much of
the land isadesert.Farming ismadepossible through irrigation.Onemajor crop that isgrown isknown
as “white gold.” Can you guesswhat product that is?
Uzbekistan is theworld’s fourth largest producer of cotton.TheKarakumCanal inTurkmenistan is
the world’s longest irrigation canal. Through irrigation, cotton and other crops can be grown in arid
land.
Cotton
is the chief crop inTajikistan, Uzbekistan, andKazakhstan.
Water is a vital natural resource in the area. However, irrigating crops does present an issue.We
can look at this as a “cause and effect” problem. Freshwater is channeled from the Aral Sea and the
rivers that flow into it (
cause
) for irrigation purposes.The flow of freshwater that empties into theAral
Sea is then reduced (
effect
).The result is theAral Seahas shrunk drastically (
effect
).The lake is now
only one half of its original size.
This region produces another crop that is white, but this crop is a very unusual one. How can you
get a valuable crop from worms? These worms produce a textile fiber. From this raw material, an
expensive product ismade. From silkworm cocoons, we get
silk
.
Mineral Resources –Primary Industries
Central Asia has been blessed with large
deposits of metallic resources. A metallic
resource is a substance found in the earth that
has ametal ore in it, such as iron ore.You can
see from the chart on the next page on Major
Metallic Resources in Central Asia that
Kazakhstan has the greatest variety of metallic
resources. In fact, mining is themost important
industry in Kazakhstan.That country has huge
reservesof ironore.Uzbekistanhas theworld’s
largest goldmine.
Conduct research on the
Internet. Log in the words
silkworm+cocoons. Find
out how this worm
producessilkandhow it is
processed. You can also
learn how to grow your
own silkworm cocoons.
Click
&
Learn
Central Asia
