Ruscism ..
The
Fergana Valley is a
valley in Central Asia spread across eastern
Uzbekistan, southern
Kyrgyzstan and northern
Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former
Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the early 21st century was the scene of
ethnic conflict. A large triangular valley in what is an often dry part of Central Asia, the Fergana owes its fertility to two rivers, the
Naryn and the
Kara Darya, which run from the east, joining near
Namangan, forming the
Syr Darya river. The valley's history stretches back over
2,300 years, when
Alexander the Great founded
Alexandria Eschate at its southwestern end.
Mass
cotton cultivation, introduced by the Soviets, remains central to the economy, along with a wide range of
grains, fruits and vegetables. There is a long history of
stock breeding, leatherwork and a
growing mining sector, including deposits of
coal, iron, sulfur, gypsum, rock-salt, naphtha and some
small known oil reserves.
The
Fergana Valley is an intermountain depression in Central Asia, between the mountain systems of the Tien-Shan in the north and the Gissar-Alai in the south. The valley is approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) long and up to 70 kilometres (43 mi) wide, forming an area covering 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi). Its position makes it a separate geographic zone. The valley owes its fertility to
two rivers, the Naryn and the Kara Darya, which
unite in the valley, near
Namangan, to form the
Syr Darya. Numerous other
tributaries of these rivers exist in the valley including the
Sokh River. The streams, and their numerous mountain effluents, not only supply
water for irrigation, but also bring down vast quantities of
sand, which is deposited alongside their courses, more especially alongside the Syr Darya where it cuts its way through the
Khujand-
Ajar ridge and forms the valley. This
expanse of quicksand, covering an area of 1,900 km2 (750 sq mi), under the influence of south-west winds, encroaches upon the agricultural districts.
The central part of the
geological depression that forms the valley is characterized by
block subsidence, originally to depths estimated at 6 to 7 kilometres (3.7 to 4.3 mi), largely filled with
sediments that range in age as far back as the
Permian-Triassic boundary. Some of the sediments are marine carbonates and
clays. The
faults are upthrusts and overthrusts.
Anticlines associated with these faults form traps for
petroleum and
natural gas, which has been discovered in 52 small
fields.
Chinese chroniclers date its towns to more than
2,100 years ago, as a path between Greek, Chinese,
Bactrian and
Parthian civilisations. It was home to
Babur, founder of the
Mughal Dynasty, tying the region to modern
Afghanistan and South Asia. The
Russian Empire conquered the valley at the end of the
19th century, and it became part of the
Soviet Union in the 1920s. Its three Soviet republics gained
independence in 1991. The area largely remains
Muslim, populated by ethnic
Uzbek,
Tajik and
Kyrgyz people, often intermixed and not matching modern borders. Historically there have also been substantial numbers of
Russian,
Kashgarians,
Kipchaks,
Bukharan Jews and
Romani minorities.
The
most complicated border negotiations in the Central Asia region involve the Fergana Valley where
multiple enclaves struggle to exist. Three countries share in the
tangled border region;
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan all have
historic and economic claims to the region's
transport routes and
natural resources. Negotiations between the three countries are often tense and are prone to
conflict.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, border negotiations left substantial Uzbek populations stranded outside of Uzbekistan. In south-western Kyrgyzstan, a
conflict over land between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks exploded in 1990 into
large-scale ethnic violence; the violence
reoccurring in 2010. By
establishing political units on a mono-ethnic basis in a region where
various peoples have historically lived side by side, the
Soviet process of national delimitation sowed the seeds of
today's inter-ethnic tensions.
Conflicts over water have contributed to
border disputes. For instance, the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in
Jalal-Abad Region is kept open in a limited way to help irrigation, however
inter-ethnic disputes in border regions often turn into
national border disputes. Even during the summer there are border conflicts over
water, as there is
not enough to share.
The
Aral Sea was an
endorheic lake lying between
Kazakhstan (
Aktobe and
Kyzylorda Regions) in the north and
Uzbekistan (
Karakalpakstan autonomous region) in the south which
began shrinking in the 1960s and had
largely dried up by the 2010s. The name roughly translates as "Sea of Islands", referring to over 1,100 islands that had dotted its waters. In the
Mongolic and
Turkic languages aral means "island, archipelago". The Aral Sea
drainage basin encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan,
Afghanistan, and
Iran.
Formerly the fourth
largest lake in the world with an area of 68,000 km2 (26,300 sq mi), the
Aral Sea began shrinking in the 1960s after the
rivers that fed it were
diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By
1997, it had declined to
10% of its original size, splitting into
four lakes: the
North Aral Sea, the eastern and western basins of the once far larger
South Aral Sea, and the smaller intermediate
Barsakelmes Lake.
By
2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the western edge of the former southern sea. In subsequent years occasional water flows have led to the southeastern lake sometimes being replenished to a small degree. Satellite images by
NASA in August 2014 revealed that for the first time in modern history the eastern basin of the Aral Sea had completely dried up. The eastern basin is now called the
Aralkum Desert.
In an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, the
Dike Kokaral dam was completed in 2005. By 2008, the water level had risen 12 m (39 ft) above that of 2003. Salinity has dropped, and fish are again present in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable. The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea was 42 m (138 ft) (as of 2008).
The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called
"one of the planet's worst environmental disasters". The region's once-prosperous fishing industry has been devastated, bringing unemployment and economic hardship. The
water from the diverted Syr Darya river is used to irrigate about two million hectares (5,000,000 acres) of farmland in the
Ferghana Valley. The
Aral Sea region is heavily polluted, with consequent serious
public health problems.
UNESCO has added historical documents concerning the Aral Sea to its
Memory of the World Register as a resource to study the environmental tragedy.
