Meet the five “-stans” of Central Asia

Do you know these five neighbours? Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan make up Central Asia in the United Nations’ regional grouping. Find them between the Caspian Sea and China.

New countries? Ancient stories. All five became independent in 1991 as the Soviet Union broke apart. Their peoples, cities and traditions have much older histories. The Persian ending “-stan” means “land” or “place.”

01 / KAZAKHSTAN

Nature builds castles

Layered red and brown rock formations at Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan, with mountains in the distance. — Kazakhstan: the Valley of Castles at Charyn Canyon. Those towers are rock formations, not buildings.
Avustfel / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Display may crop the photograph.

At Charyn Canyon, ridges and rocky towers rise above the valley. Look closely at the layers in the “Valley of Castles”: these walls were shaped by nature, not built by people.

02 / KYRGYZSTAN

A lake among mountains

A boat on blue Lake Issyk-Kul near Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, with the shore and mountains behind it. — Kyrgyzstan: Lake Issyk-Kul near Cholpon-Ata, with mountains rising beyond the shore.
Bgag / Wikimedia Commons · CC0. Display may crop the photograph.

Issyk-Kul shines blue beneath a mountain backdrop. Its lake and nature reserve are recognised by the Ramsar Convention. The boat and shore buildings remind us that people live and work in these landscapes, too.

03 / TAJIKISTAN

Up in the Pamirs

Blue Lake Karakul beyond a dry plain, with snow-covered Pamir mountains in Tajikistan. — Tajikistan: Lake Karakul in the Pamir mountains, photographed from the Pamir Highway.
Ekrem Canli / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0. Display may crop the photograph.

Blue Lake Karakul lies in the Pamir mountains. Beyond the dry plain, snowy peaks fill the horizon. UNESCO describes Tajik National Park as a landscape of high plateaux, glaciers, rivers and lakes.

04 / TURKMENISTAN

Walls with a long memory

Tall, rounded earthen wall columns at Great Kyz Kala in Ancient Merv, Turkmenistan. — Turkmenistan: the earthen walls of Great Kyz Kala at Ancient Merv, photographed in 2011.
Gai Jorayev / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Display may crop the photograph.

The rounded earthen walls of Great Kyz Kala stand at Ancient Merv. This oasis was an important Silk Roads city. Its archaeological remains span thousands of years. What might a building tell us about the people who used it?

05 / UZBEKISTAN

A crossroads of cultures

Visitors cross Registan Square between tiled madrasas in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. — Uzbekistan: Registan Square in Samarkand. The blue domes and patterned walls belong to a city shaped by centuries of cultural exchange.
Shuhrataxmedov / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0. Display may crop the photograph.

At Registan Square in Samarkand, notice the blue domes, tall doorways and repeating patterns. The city’s history reaches back long before 1991. Like other Silk Roads places, it shows how people and ideas travelled across the region.

A QUESTION FOR THE READER

Do they “look Asian” to you?

What picture appeared in your mind? Did “Asian” make you think mostly of East Asia? Central Asia is part of Asia, too.

There is no single Asian look. These five countries are home to many communities and family histories. People within one country can look very different. You cannot reliably tell someone’s nationality, language or identity from their face.

These photos introduce places; they do not represent everyone who lives there. To learn about people, listen to how they introduce themselves.

“What would you like me to know about where you’re from?”

MAKE YOUR MAP A LITTLE BIGGER

The Silk Roads were a network of routes carrying goods, skills and ideas. Find all five countries on a map. Choose one photo: what do you notice, what do you wonder, and what would you ask someone who lives there?

TAKE A QUESTION WITH YOU

What place would you add to your mental picture of Asia—and what would you ask someone who lives there?

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Sources checked October 20, 2026. Publication dates refer to our articles, not when the facts were discovered.