Soviet Central Asia
5431778
225973253
2008-07-16T07:43:36Z
Otebig
394758
Removed broken/irrelevant links, created refs section
[[Image:Soviet Union Administrative Divisions 1989 (Cental Asia Crop).jpg|thumb|400px||right|Political map of Soviet Central Asia in 1989]]
[[Image:Central Asia borders4.png|thumb|250px|right|Map of '''Central Asia''' showing three sets of possible [[Eurasia]]n boundaries for the region]]
'''Soviet Central Asia''' refers to the section of [[Central Asia]] formerly controlled by the [[Soviet Union]], as well as the time period of Soviet control (1918-1991). In terms of area, it is nearly synonymous with [[Russian Turkestan]], the name for the region during the [[Russian Empire]]. Soviet Central Asia went through many territorial divisions before the current borders were created in the [[1920s]] and [[1930s]].
==Administrative divisions==
===Former divisions===
====Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic====
{{main|Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[Image:SovietCentralAsia1922.png|right|300px|thumb|Map of Soviet Central Asia in 1922 with the Turkestan ASSR and the Kyrgyz ASSR.]]
The beginning of the 18th century marked the zenith of the Kazakh Khanate. During this period the Little Horde participated in the 1723–1730 war against the Dzungars, following their "Great Disaster" invasion of Kazakh territories. Under the leadership of [[Abul Khair Khan]] the Kazakhs won major victories over the [[Dzungar]] at the [[Bulanty River]] (1726) and at the [[Battle of Anrakay]] in 1729.In the nineteenth century, the [[Russian Empire]] began to expand, and spread into Central Asia.
The Anglo-Russian colonialist "[[Great Game]]" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the [[Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907]]. Following the [[Bolshevik Revolution]] of 1917 a second less intensive phase followed. The [[tsar]]s effectively ruled over most of the territory belonging to what is now the Republic of Kazakhstan and [[Kirgystan]]. [[Russia]] anexed [[Lake Issyk Kul]] in north east [[Kazakhstan]] of off [[China]] in the 1860s.
'Emerging from the Russian Empire following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War of 1918 – 1921, the USSR was a union of several Soviet republics, but the synecdoche Russia — after its largest and dominant constituent state — continued to be commonly used throughout the state's existence. ''Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic''' (initially Turkestan Socialist Federative Republic) ([[April 30]], [[1918]] – [[October 27]], [[1924]]) was created from the [[Turkestan Krai]] of [[Imperial Russia]]. Its capital was [[Tashkent]], population about 5,000,000.
British and Persian forces briefly tried to liberate [[Baku]] in [[Azerbaijan]] and the Turkmen port of [[Krasnovodsk]]. [[Bukhara]], [[Khiva]], [[Samarkand]], [[Kokand]], [[Dushanbe]] and the former [[Trans-Caspian province]] would see various anti-Bolshevik risings over the next few years.
In 1924 it was split into [[Tajik ASSR]] (now [[Tajikistan]]), [[Turkmen SSR]] (now [[Turkmenistan]]), [[Uzbek SSR]] (now [[Uzbekistan]]), [[Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast]] (now [[Kyrgyzstan]]), and [[Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast]] (now [[Karakalpakstan]]).
====Bukharan People's Soviet Republic====
{{main|Bukharan People's Soviet Republic}}
[[Image:Flag of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.svg|thumb|right|200px|Flag of the Bukharan PSR]] In March 1918 activists of the [[Young Bukharan Movement]] informed the [[Bolsheviks]] that the [[Bukhara]]ns were ready for the revolution and that the people were awaiting liberation. The [[Red Army]] marched to the gates of Bukhara and demanded that the [[emir]] surrender the city to the Young Bukharans. As Russian sources report, the emir responded by murdering the Bolshevik delegation, along with several hundred Russian inhabitants of Bukhara and the surrounding territories. The majority of Bukharans did not support an invasion and the ill-equipped and ill-disciplined Bolshevik army fled back to the Soviet stronghold at Tashkent.
However, the emir had won only a temporary respite. As the civil war in Russia wound down, Moscow sent reinforcements to Central Asia. On [[2 September]] [[1920]], an army of well-disciplined and well equipped Red Army troops under the command of Bolshevik general [[Mikhail Frunze]] attacked the city. After four days of fighting, the emir's citadel (Arc) was destroyed, the [[Red flag]] was raised from the top of [[Po-i-Kalyan|Kalyan Minaret]], and the Emir [[Mohammed Alim Khan|Alim Khan]] was forced to flee to his base at [[Dushanbe]] in [[Eastern Bukharan]], and finally to [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]].
A nearby anti-Bolshevik stronghold in the Tadjik/Moslem village of Khangir (qingir) declared its independence shortly afterwards, but soon surrendered after a 14 day siege by Russian and Bokhkori Bolsheviks. It was then quickly re-integrated back into Communist Bokhorah.
The Bukharan People's Republic was proclaimed on [[8 October]] [[1920]] under [[Faizullah Khojaev]]. The overthrow of the Emir was the impetus for the [[Basmachi Revolt]], a conservative anti-communist rebellion. In 1922, most of the territory of the republic was controlled by [[Basmachi]], surrounding the city of Bukhara. [[Joseph Stalin]] would later [[purge]] and [[exile]] many of the local [[Bukhori]] people as well as most of the local [[Jewish]] community from the former [[Bukharan People's Soviet Republic]].
Prior to the establishment of the state of [[Israel]], the [[Bukharian Jews]] were one of the most isolated Jewish communities in the world.
With the establishment of Soviet rule on the territory in 1917, Jewish life seriously deteriorated. Throughout 1920s and 1930s, thousands of Jews, fleeing [[religious oppression]], [[confiscation of property]], [[summary arrest]]s, and [[Political repression|repressions]], fled to [[Palestine]].
====Khorezm People's Soviet Republic and SSR====
{{main|Khorezm People's Soviet Republic}}
[[Image:Flag of Khiva 1920-1923.svg|right|200px|thumb|Flag of the Khorezm PSR]]The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was created as the successor to the [[Khanate of Khiva]] in February 1920 and officially declared on [[26 April]] [[1920]]. On [[20 October]] [[1923]], it was transformed into the Khorezm Socialist Soviet Republic. The [[Khorezm SSR]] only survived until [[17 February]] [[1925]], when it was divided between the [[Uzbek SSR]], [[Turkmen SSR]], and [[Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast]] as part of the reorganization of Central Asia by [[Moscow]] according to nationalities.
====Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast====
{{main|Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast}}
The Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast (Кара-Киргизская АО) was created on [[14 October]] [[1924]] within the [[RSFSR|Russian SFSR]] from the predominantly Kazakh and Kyrgyz parts of the [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]]. On [[15 May]] [[1925]] it was renamed into the Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast. On [[11 February]] [[1926]] it was reorganized into the [[Kyrgyz ASSR]]. On [[5 December]] [[1936]] it became the [[Kyrgyz SSR]], one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union.
====Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast====
{{main|Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast}}
The Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast was created on [[February 19]], [[1925]] by separating lands of the ethnic [[Karakalpaks]] from the [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] and [[Khoresm People's Soviet Republic]].
Initially located within the [[Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]], the [[Karakalpak]] A.O. was transferred to the [[RSFSR]] from [[July 20]], [[1930]] to [[March 20]], [[1932]], at which time it was elevated to the [[Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]]. The Karakalpak ASSR was joined to the [[Uzbek SSR]] on [[December 5]], [[1936]].
====Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic====
{{main|Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic}}
The Kazakh ASSR was an autonomous republic of the [[Soviet Union]]. It became the Kazakh SSR on [[August 26]], [[1920]].
Its original name was the [[Kirgiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]]. This ASSR was established on [[26 August]] [[1920]], and was a part of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR)
In 1925 it was renamed the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1929 the city of [[Almaty]] (Alma-Ata) was designated as the capital of the ASSR.
===Soviet Republics===
====Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic====
{{main|Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[Image:Flag of Kazakh SSR.svg|right|200px|thumb|Flag of the Kazakh SSR]]
The [[Kazakh SSR]] Established on [[December 5]], [[1936]]. It was initially called [[Kyrgyz ASSR]] (Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) and was a part of the Russian SFSR. On April 15-19, 1925, it was renamed Kazakh ASSR and on [[December 5]], [[1936]] it became a Union Republic of the [[USSR]] called Kazakh SSR in the culminating act of the national delimitation in the Soviet Union. During the 1950s and 1960s Soviet citizens were urged to settle in the "[[Virgin Lands]]" of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. The influx of immigrants (mostly [[Russians]] and [[Ukrainians]], but also some forcibly resettled ethnic minorities, such as the [[Volga Germans]] and the [[Chechens]]) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-[[Kazakhs]] to outnumber natives.
In 1924, the borders of political units in Central Asia were changed along ethnic lines determined by [[Lenin]]'s [[Commissar]] for Nationalities, [[Joseph Stalin]]. The [[Turkestan ASSR]], the [[Bukharan People's Republic]], and the [[Khorezm SSR|Khorezm People's Republic]] were abolished and their territories were divided into eventually five separate [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet Socialist Republics]], one of which was the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. The next year the Uzbek SSR became one of the republics of the Soviet Union.
[[Almaty]] is the largest city in [[Kazakhstan]], with a population of 1,226,000 (as of [[1 August]] [[2005]]).<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://www.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=64678 С начала года население Алматы увеличилось на 1,4%] Gazeta.kz</ref> The [[Ethnic group]]s in a 2003 census were: Kazakh 43.6%, Russian 40.2%, Uyghur 5.7%, Tatar 2.1%, Korean 1.8%, Ukrainian 1.7%, German 0.7%.
[[Kzyl Orda|Kyzil Orda]] / [[Kyzylorda]] was founded in 1820 as a Kokand fortress of Ak-Mechet (also spelt Aq Masjid, Aq Mechet, 'white mosque'). The name comes from the Kazakh for 'Red center'.
[[Uralsk]] / [[Oral, Kazakhstan|Oral]] was founded in 1613 by Cossacks, was originally named [[Yaitsk]], after the [[Yaik river]]. The city was put under siege imposed by [[Cossacks]] during the Russian Civil War lead by Mikhail Frunze and other leading Bolsheviks. It has a population of 210,600. It is the capital of the West Kazakhstan Province. Ethnic composition is dominated by Russians (54%), Kazakhs (34%), along with a few Ukrainians and Germans.
====Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic====
{{main|Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[Image:Flag of Kyrgyz SSR.svg|thumb|right|200px|The flag of the Kyrgyz SSR]]
The [[Kyrgyz SSR]], formally known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (sometimes spelled Kirghiz), also known as Kirgizia, was one of [[Republics of the Soviet Union|fifteen constituent republics]] of the Soviet Union. Established on [[14 October]] [[1924]] as the [[Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast]] of the [[Russian SFSR]], it was transformed into the Kyrgyz ASSR ([[Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]]) on [[1 February]] [[1926]], still being a part of the Russian SFSR. Today it is the independent state of [[Kyrgyzstan]] in Central Asia. Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz ASSR) was the both the name of two different national entities within Russian SFSR, in the territories of modern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
On [[5 December]] [[1936]] it became a separate constituent republic of the USSR as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic during the final stages of the [[national delimitation in the Soviet Union]].
[[Bishkek]] was both the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan ant the Kirghiz ASSR, with a population of approximately 900,000 in 2005. In 1862 [[Tsarist Russia]] destroyed the local fort and began to settle the area with Russian migrants. Over the years many fertile black soil farms were developed by the [[Tzar]]ists and, later, the process carried on by the [[USSR]]. In 1926, the city became the capital of the newly established [[Kirghiz ASSR]] and was renamed Frunze after the Bolshevik hero, [[Mikhail Frunze]], who was one of [[Lenin]]'s close associates, who was born in Bishkek until Kirghiz independence in 1991.
====Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic====
{{main|Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[Image:Flag of Tajik SSR.svg|200px|thumb|right|Flag of the Tajik SSR]]
The [[Tajik SSR]] was one of the new states created in Central Asia in 1924 was [[Uzbekistan]], which had the status of a [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet socialist republic]]. In 1929 [[Tajikistan]] was detached from [[Uzbekistan]] and given full status as a Soviet socialist republic. The city of Dushanbe would becom a important regional hub on the border with Afghanistan.
Tajikistan has 3 [[exclaves]], all of them located in the Fergana Valley region where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet. The largest is [[Vorukh]] (with an area between 95 – 130 km²/37 – 50 sq mi, population estimated between 23,000 and 29,000, 95% Tajiks and 5% Kyrgyz, distributed among 17 villages), located 45 kilometres (28 miles) south of [[Isfara]] on the right bank of the [[Karafshin]] river, in Kyrgyz territory. Another exclave in Kyrgyzstan is a small settlement near the Kyrgyz railway station of [[Kairagach]]. The last is the village of [[Sarvan]], which includes a narrow, long strip of land (about 15 km (9 mi) long by 1 km (over ½ mi) wide) alongside the road from [[Angren]] to [[Kokand]]; it is surrounded by Uzbek territory. There are no foreign enclaves within Tajikistan.
In 1929 ''[[Dushanbe]]'' was renamed "Stalinabad", after Joseph Stalin; as part of [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s [[de-Stalinization]] initiative, the city was renamed "Dushanbe" in 1961. The [[Soviets]] transformed the area into a centre for cotton and silk production, and relocated tens of thousands of people to the city from around the Soviet Union. The population also increased with thousands of ethnic Tajiks migrating to [[Tajikistan]] following the transfer of Bukhara and Samarkand to the [[Uzbek SSR]]. [[Dushanbe]] later became the home to a university and the [[Tajik Academy of Sciences]]. Severe Tadjik nationalist rioting occurred in 1990, rumor said that [[Moscow]] had planned to relocate tens of thousands of Armenian refugees to Tajikistan. Dushanbe also had a relatively high military population during the war with [[Afghanistan]].
====Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic====
{{main|Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[Image:Flag of Turkmen SSR.svg|thumb|right|200px|The flag of the Turkmen SSR!]]
The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was one of [[Republics of the Soviet Union|fifteen constituent republics]] of the Soviet Union. It was initially established on [[August 7]] [[1921]] as [[Turkmen Oblast]] of the [[Turkestan ASSR]]. On [[May 13]] [[1925]] it was transformed into Turkmen SSR and became a separate republic of the Soviet Union. Today it is the independent state of [[Turkmenistan]] in Central Asia.
The [[Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR]] was the ruling communist party of the Turkmen SSR, and a part of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]. From 1985 it was led by [[Mr]] [[Saparmurat Niyazov]], who in 1991 renamed the party to the [[Democratic Party of Turkmenistan]], which is no longer a communist party . The current [[Communist Party]] of Turkmenistan is illegal.<ref>[http://www.broadleft.org/tm.htm Leftist Parties of Turkmenistan] Leftist Parties of the World</ref>
[[Ashgabat]] has a population of 695,300 (2001 census estimate) and has a primarily [[Turkmen people|Turkmen]] population, with minorities of ethnic [[Russians]], [[Armenians]], and [[Azerbaijani people|Azeris]]. It is 920 km from the second largest city in [[Iran]], [[Mashhad]]. The principal industries are [[cotton]] textiles and metal working.
[[Merv]] / [[Mary]] is an ancient city with a Its population was 123,000 in 1999. It has interesting Regional Museum and lies near the remains of the ancient city of Merv, which in corrupted form gives its name to the modern town. [[Carpets]] from the region of Merv are sometimes considered superior to the [[Persia]]n ones.
====Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic====
{{main|Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[Image:Flag of Uzbek SSR.svg|200px|right|thumb|Flag of the Uzbek SSR]]
In 1924 the new national boundaries separating the Uzbek and Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republics cut off the eastern end of the Fergana Valley, as well as the slopes surrounding it. This was compounded in 1928 when the [[Tajik ASSR]] became a fully-fledged republic, the [[Tajik SSR]], and the area around [[Khujand|Khodjend]] was made a part of it. This blocked the valley's natural outlet and the routes to Samarkand and Bukhara, but none of these borders was of any great significance so long as Soviet rule lasted.
The Uzbek SSR included the Tajik ASSR until 1929, when the Tajik ASSR was upgraded to an equal status. In 1930, the Uzbek SSR capital was relocated from [[Samarkand]] to [[Tashkent]]. In 1936, the Uzbek SSR was enlarged with the addition of the [[Karakalpak ASSR]] taken from the [[Kazakh SSR]] in the last stages of the [[national delimitation in the Soviet Union]]. Further bits and pieces of territory were transferred several times between the Kazakh SSR and the Uzbek SSR after World War II. During the Great purges of Joseph Stalin, many thousands of Chechens, [[Koreans]] and [[Crimean Tatars]] were exiled to the Uzbeg SSR.
The State Anthem of the Uzbek SSR was the [[national anthem]] of [[Uzbekistan]] when it was a republic of the Soviet Union and known as the [[Uzbek SSR]].
The city of [[Tashkent]] began to industrialize in the 1920s and 1930s, but industry increased tremendously during [[World War II]], with the relocation of factories from western Russia to preserve the Soviet industrial capacity from the hostile invading [[Nazis]]. The [[Russia]]n population increased dramatically as well, with evacuees from the war zones increasing the population to well over a million. (The Russian community would eventually comprise nearly half of the total residents of Tashkent. On [[April 26]], [[1966]], Tashkent was destroyed by a huge earthquake (7.5 on the [[Richter scale]]) and over 300,000 were left homeless. At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tashkent was the fourth largest city in the country and a center of learning in the science and engineering fields.
Tashkent is a fairly prosperous city and the capital of Uzbekistan and has a population of the city in 2006 was 2.1 million. As capital of the nation, it has also been the target of several since [[Uzbekistan]] gained [[independence]], which the government has attributed as well as a couple of minor incidents during the [[Afghan]]-[[Soviet]] war of the 1970s/1980s.
[[Samarkand]] is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, prospering from its location on the trade route between [[China]] and Europe ([[Silk Road]]). In 1370, Timur the Lame, or [[Tamerlane]], decided to make [[Samarkand]] the capital of his empire, which extended from [[India]] to [[Turkey]]. Despite its status as the second city of [[Uzbekistan]], the majority of the city's inhabitants are Persian-speaking [[Tajiks]]. The city is most noted for its central position on the [[Asian Silk]] Road between China and the west.
==Anti-Communist rebellions==
===Kokand Autonomy===
[[Image:Bandera de Kokand.svg|right|200px|thumb|Flag of Kokand Autonomy, 1917-1918]]
Kokand is a city in [[Fergana Province]] in eastern [[Uzbekistan]], at the southwestern edge of the [[Fergana Valley]]. It has a population of 192,500 bu 1999. Kokand is 228 km southeast of [[Tashkent]], 115 km west of [[Andijan]], and 88 km west of [[Fergana]]. It is nicknamed “City of Winds”, or sometimes “Town of the Boar". It is at an altitude of 409 meters.
Kokand is on the crossroads of the ancient trade routes, at the junction of two main routes into the Fergana Valley, one leading northwest over the mountains to Tashkent, and the other west through [[Khujand]]. As a result, [[Kokand]] is the main transportation junction in the Fergana Valley.
[[Russia]]n imperial forces under [[Mikhail Skobelev]] captured the city in 1876 which then became part of [[Russian Turkistan]]. With the fall of the [[Russian Empire]], a [[provisional government]] attempted to maintain control in Tashkent. It was quickly overthrown and local [[Muslim]] opposition crushed. In April 1918, Tashkent became the capital of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ([[Turkestan ASSR]]). It was the capital of the short-lived (1917 – 18) [[anti-Bolshevik Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkistan]] (also known as [[Kokand Autonomy]]).
=== Basmachi revolt ===
{{main|Basmachi Revolt}}
In 1897 the railway reached [[Tashkent]], and finally in 1906 a direct rail link with European Russia was opened across the [[steppe]] from [[Orenburg]] to [[Tashkent]]. This led to much larger numbers of [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] settlers flowing into [[Turkestan]] than had [[hitherto]] been the case, and their settlement was overseen by a [[specially created]] [[Emigration|Migration]] Department in [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]] (Переселенческое Управление). This caused considerable discontent amongst the local population, [[Kyrgyz]], [[Kazakhs]] and [[Sart]]s, as these settlers took scarce land and water resources away from them. In 1916 discontent boiled over in the [[Basmachi Revolt]], sparked by a decree conscripting the natives into [[Labour battalion]]s (they had previously been [[exempt from military service]]). Thousands of settlers were killed, and this was matched by Russian reprisals, particularly against the [[nomadic]] population. The competition for land and water which ensued between the Kazakhs and the newcomers caused great resentment against colonial rule during the final years of [[Tsarist]] Russia, with the most serious uprising, the [[Central Asian Revolt]], occurring in 1916. The Kazakhs attacked Russian and [[Cossack]] villages, killing indiscriminately. The Russians' [[revenge]] was merciless. A [[military]] force drove 300,000 Kazakhs to flee into the mountains or to [[China]]. When [[approximately]] 80,000 of them returned the next year, many of them were slaughtered by Tsarist forces. Order had not really been restored by the time the [[February Revolution]] took place in 1917. This would usher in a still bloodier chapter in Turkestan's history, as the [[Bolsheviks]] of the [[Tashkent Soviet]] (made up entirely of Russian soldiers and [[railway workers]], with no Muslim members) launched an attack on the autonomous [[Jadid]] government in [[Kokand]] early in 1918, which sadly left 14,000 dead. Resistance to the [[Bolsheviks]] by the [[local population]] (dismissed as '[[Basmachi Revolt|Basmachi]]' or '[[Banditry]]' by [[Soviet historians]]) continued well into the 1920s.
During the 1921-22 famine, another million Kazakhs died from starvation. Today, the estimates suggest that the population of Kazakhstan would be closer to 20 million if there had been no starvation or massacre of Kazakhs.{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
===The Gulags and Kengir Uprising===
{{main|Kengir uprising}}
During the Soviet era, the Gulags once spread over the Kazakhstan steppe like a thick wreath. The city of Dzhezkazgan was the site of a [[Gulag]] [[labour camp]], [[Kengir]], mentioned in [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]'s book, ''[[The Gulag Archipelago]]''. Russian actor [[Oleg Yankovsky]] is the most famous of the city's natives. A notoriouse political prison labour camp of [[Steplag division]] of the [[Gulag]] system of Kazakhstan was set up adjacent to the village of [[Kengir]], near the [[River Kengir]] in central Kazakhstan. There was a prison revolt in 1954, by brutally abused [[political prisoners]], [[criminals]] and other victims of the [[Soviet]] repression.
==Industry==
===Oil and gas===
After [[World War II]] the Soviet Union rapidly industrialized Kazakhstan, and stared prospecting for oil in the whole of Soviet Central Asia. Oil was found in Uzbekistan and both [[oil]] and [[gas]] were found in Turkmenistan. These fuel supplies would prove invaluable to the region over the coming years.
The central part of the Ferghana Valley's [[geological depression]] that forms the valley is characterized by [[block subsidence]], originally to depths estimated at 6-7 km, largely filled with [[sediments]] that range in age as far as the [[Permian-Triassic boundary]]. Some of the sediments are [[marine carbonates]] and [[clays]]. The faults are upthrusts and over thrusts. [[Anticline]]s associated with these [[faults]] form traps for [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]], which has been discovered in 52 small fields.<ref>[http://www.geocities.com/internetgeology/L34.html Petroleum Potential of Fergana Intermontane Depression] Internet Geology Newsletter</ref>
Kazakhstan's [[Mangystau Province]] has an area of 165,600 square kilometers and a population of 316,847. It is a major [[oil]] and gas-producing region. The city of [[Aktau]] was built in Kazakhstan's [[Mangyshlak Peninsula]] a small village to house the region's oil workers in 1961. Over the years an inevitabley large [[influx]] of Russian and Ukranian oil and [[chemical]] workers flowed. Engineers discovered after large amounts of [[crude oil]] and [[petroleum]] in the area in the days of the [[Soviet Union]] and when drilling commenced, much of the area was built up around the industry is country's only seaport on the Caspian Sea.
From 1964 to 1991, the by then city was named Shevchenko to honour the Ukrainian poet [[Taras Shevchenko]], who was once sadly sent away to this remote location because of his political beliefs. The average temperature on January is -3°C, on July +26°C. Average annual rainfall - 150mm. Aktau had a population of 154,500 in 2004.
=== Metallurgy ===
[[Image:Kazakhstan-Dzhezkazgan.jpg|rigt|thumb|200px|Location of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan]]Kazakhstan had started to produce and refine sizable amounts of [[tin]] and [[uranium]] by the early 1970s. [[Vanadium]] and [[cobalt]] were, and still are also mined in the south of the country. Uranium was also first produced in Uzbekistan in the 1970s.
The city of [[Zhezkazgan]] was created in 1938 in connection with the exploitation of the rich local [[copper]] deposits. In 1973 a large mining and metallurgical complex was constructed to the southeast to smelt the copper that until then had been sent elsewhere for processing. Other metal ores mined and processed locally are [[manganese]], [[iron]] and [[gold]].It is on a reservoir of the [[Kara-Kengir River]] andt has a population of 90,000 (1999 census).
Its [[urban area]] includes the neighbouring mining town of [[Satpaev|Satpayev]], total population 148,700. 55% of the population are [[Kazakhs]], 30% [[Russians]], with smaller minorities of [[Ukrainians]], [[Germans]], [[Chechens]] and [[Koreans]]. Dzhezkazgan has an extreme [[continental climate]]. The average temperature ranges from +24°C (75°F) in July to -16°C (3°F) in January.
Today the city is the headquarters of the copper conglomerate [[Kazakhmys]], the city's main employer. The company has subsidiaries in [[China]], [[Russia]], [[France]] and the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and is listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]].
=== Cement ===
Cement was a major product in both the citys of [[Shymkent]] and [[Dushanbe]] in the south of the region.
=== Hydro-electricity ===
By the early 1970s, the Soviets had started to build some of their [[hydroelectric]] power stations in Easter Kazakhstan, Kirgystan and Tadjikistan as part of an overall development strategy. The waters of the [[Ili River]] and of Lake Balkhash are considered to be of a vital economic importance to [[Kazakhstan]]. The Ili river is dammed for hydroelectric power at [[Kaptchagayskoye]], and the river waters are heavily diverted for [[agriculture|agricultural]] [[irrigation]] and for [[industry|industrial]] purposes.
=== Cotton ===
The Soviets began to grow cotton in Uzbekistan after the ''[[Virgin Lands]]'' project and the mass use of the isolated and now shrinking [[Aral Sea]] for desert irrigation in the early 1950s. A massive expansion of irrigation canals during the Soviet period, to irrigate [[cotton]] fields, wrought ecological carnage to the area, with the river drying up long before reaching the Aral Sea which, as a result, has shrunk to a small remnant of its former size. With millions of people now settled in these cotton areas (and [[politically repressive]] [[post-Soviet]] regimes in power in [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Uzbekistan]]), it is not clear how the situation can be rectified..
===The Baikonur Cosmodrome===
The [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] was founded in Kazakhstan on [[June 2]], [[1955]], during the [[Cold War]], as one of many long-range [[nuclear missile]] bases in the region, but diverged into space travel.
On [[June 8]], [[2005]] the [[Russian Federation Council]] ratified an agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan extending Russia's rent term of the spaceport until 2050.
==Culture, creed and ethnicity==
[[Image:Central Asia Ethnic.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Ethnic and linguistic patchwork of Soviet Central Asia]]
Most of the inhabitants were either nomadic [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] speakers like the Kazakhs or settled Turkic speakers like the Uzbeks. There were also some settled [[farming]] and urban [[Iranian peoples|Iranic]] communities like the [[Tadjiks]] and Bohkori in the south, and [[nomadic]] [[Mongol]]lic Kyrgiz on the order with [[China]]. The Slavic community was would grow very rapidly under communism and Russians would eventuly become a major ethnic group in the region. The [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] population followed Orthodox [[Christianity]], while the rest were mostly [[Sunni]] Muslims. Various nationality, such as the Meskhetian [[Turkish people|Turks]] and [[Volga Germans]] would get banished to the region.
The Bolsheviks would quickly set about closing mosques and churches through out the former USSR. This became particularly bad in the 1930s, but had been fully abandoned by the 1980s. Neither Christianity or [[Islam]] would give in to the intolerant [[Communist]] [[ideology]]. [[Uralsk]] / [[Oral, Kazakhstan|Oral]] is now Russians (54%) and Kazakhs (34%), while it's Kazakh 43.6% and Russian 40.2% in [[Almaty]].
In Kazakh [qɑzɑqtɑr]; Russian: Казахи; the English name 'Kazakh' is transliterated from Russian) are a [[Turkic people]] of the northern parts of Central Asia (largely [[Kazakhstan]], but also found in parts of [[Uzbekistan]], China, [[Russia]], and [[Mongolia]]).
According to Robert G. Gordon, Jr., editor of the Ethnologue: Languages of the World, classifies [[Kalmyk]]-[[Oirat]] under the Oirat-Khalkha group, since he contends that Kalmyk-Oirat is related to Khalkha Mongolian – the national language of Mongolia. The descent of the [[Kyrgyz]] from the [[autochthonous Siberian population]] is confirmed on the other hand by recent genetic studies.[1] Remarkably, 63% of modern Kyrgyz men share [[Haplogroup R1a1]] ([[Y-DNA]]) with [[Tajiks]] (64%), [[Ukrainians]] (54%[citation needed]), [[Poles]] and [[Hungarians]] (~60%), and even [[Icelanders]] (25%). Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) is believed to be a marker of the [[Proto-Indo-European language]] speakers.
== Multi-media ==
{{multi-listen start}}
{{multi-listen item|filename=Hymne Soviétique.ogg|title=Vocal (1944 lyrics)|description=By the Red Army Ensemble|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{multi-listen item|filename=Ussrgymn.ogg|title=Vocal (1977 Soviet national anthem's lyrics)|description=By the choir and orchestra of Bolshoi Theater|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{multi-listen item|filename=USSR Russia Anthem instr.ogg|title=Instrumental|description=By the United States Navy Band|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{multi-listen end}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{loc}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1404/Rupert/Rupert.html The Strange State of Soviet Central Asia] Alicia Patterson Foundation Reporter
* Keller, Bill (1989). "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2DD1231F936A35752C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Afghan Cadets Reportedly Riot in a Capital in Soviet Central Asia]", The New York Times.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0_U44QBbz8 Kazakh SSR Anthem] YouTube
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVRL_MxdvMw Uzbek SSR Anthem] YouTube
{{portal|Kazakhstan}}
{{Soviet Republics}}
{{Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union}}
{{Autonomous Oblasts of the Soviet Union}}
[[Category:Post-Russian Empire states]]
[[Category:History of Central Asia]]
[[Category:History of the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia]]
[[Category:Science and technology in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:History of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Turkestan]]
[[Category:History of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:History of Tajikistan]]
[[Category:History of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:History of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Soviet Union| ]]
[[Category:Communist states]]
[[Category:Early Soviet Republics]]
[[Category:Former empires]]
[[ko:소비에트 중앙아시아]]