Editing Central Asia (section)

== Definitions ==
{{See also|Greater Central Asia}}{{Multiple image
| image1=Caucasus central asia political map 2000.jpg
| caption1=Political map of Central Asia and the [[Caucasus]] (2000)
| image2=Map of Central Asia.png
| caption2=Political map of Central Asia including Afghanistan
}}

One of the first geographers to mention Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was [[Alexander von Humboldt]]. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions. Historically, political geography and culture have been two significant parameters widely used in scholarly definitions of Central Asia. Humboldt's definition comprised every country between 5° North and 5° South of the latitude 44.5°N.{{clarify|date=October 2024}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dani|first1=A. H.|title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Dawn of Civilization: Earliest Times to 700 B.C.|date=1993|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-102719-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lPzhfNRZ9IC&q=Afghanistan+humboldt+central+asia&pg=PA477|language=en|access-date=9 November 2020|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410131049/https://books.google.com/books?id=6lPzhfNRZ9IC&q=Afghanistan+humboldt+central+asia&pg=PA477|url-status=live}}</ref> Humboldt mentions some geographic features of this region, which include the Caspian Sea in the west, the Altai mountains in the north and the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains in the South.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Humboldt|first1=Alexander von|title=Asie centrale|date=1843|publisher=Paris, Gide|page=17|language=fr|url=https://archive.org/details/asiecentralerec03humbgoog}}</ref> He did not give an eastern border for the region. His legacy is still seen: [[Humboldt University of Berlin]], named after him, offers a course in [[Central Asian studies]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Humboldt University of Berlin|title=Central Asian studies – Institute of Asian and African Studies|url=https://www.iaaw.hu-berlin.de/en/region/centralasia/central-asian-seminar-1/about-us/about-us|website=www.iaaw.hu-berlin.de|publisher=Humboldt University of Berlin|language=en|access-date=1 April 2020|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727184251/https://www.iaaw.hu-berlin.de/en/region/centralasia/central-asian-seminar-1/about-us/about-us|url-status=live}}</ref> The Russian geographer Nikolaĭ Khanykov questioned the latitudinal definition of Central Asia and preferred a physical one of all countries located in the region landlocked from water, including [[Afghanistan]], [[Khorasan province|Khorasan]] (Northeast Iran), [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[East Turkestan]] (Xinjiang), [[Mongolia]], and [[Uzbekistan]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cummings|first1=Sally N.|title=Understanding Central Asia: Politics and Contested Transformations|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-43319-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRafuiRUJaMC&q=humboldt+central+asia+definition&pg=PT28|language=en|access-date=9 November 2020|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410131019/https://books.google.com/books?id=SRafuiRUJaMC&q=humboldt+central+asia+definition&pg=PT28|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Saez|first1=Lawrence|title=The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): An emerging collaboration architecture|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-67108-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTzKWI42uR4C&q=humboldt+central+asia+Afghanistan&pg=PA35|language=en|access-date=9 November 2020|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410131049/https://books.google.com/books?id=yTzKWI42uR4C&q=humboldt+central+asia+Afghanistan&pg=PA35|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cornell|first1=Svante E.|title=Modernization and Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: A New Spring?|publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies|url=http://silkroadstudies.org/resources/1811CA-Regional.pdf|access-date=1 April 2020|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108072230/http://silkroadstudies.org/resources/1811CA-Regional.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Central Asia definitions (orthographic).png|thumb|upright=1.2|Expanded definition of Central Asia. Core definition that includes the five post-Soviet states in dark green. [[Afghanistan]], the most commonly added country to Central Asia, in green. Regions that are sometimes considered part of Central Asia in light green.]]
[[File:Central Asia borders4.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Three sets of possible boundaries for the Central Asia region (which overlap with conceptions of South and East Asia).]]

[[Russian culture]] has two distinct terms: ''Средняя Азия'' (''Srednyaya Aziya'' or "Middle Asia", the narrower definition, which includes only those traditionally non-Slavic, Central Asian lands that were incorporated within those borders of historical Russia) and ''Центральная Азия'' (''Tsentralnaya Aziya'' or "Central Asia", the wider definition, which includes Central Asian lands that have never been part of historical Russia). The latter definition includes Afghanistan and '[[East Turkestan]]'.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cornell|first1=Svante E.|title=Modernization and Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: A New Spring?|quote=Russian scholars who used the term 'Middle Asia' synonymously with Turkestan used 'Central Asia' largely to refer to areas outside Russian control, including Afghanistan and 'East Turkestan'.|publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies|url=http://silkroadstudies.org/resources/1811CA-Regional.pdf|access-date=1 April 2020|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108072230/http://silkroadstudies.org/resources/1811CA-Regional.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The most limited definition was the official one of the [[Soviet Union]], which defined Middle Asia as consisting solely of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, omitting [[Kazakhstan]]. Soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the leaders of the four former [[Soviet Central Asia|Soviet Central Asian]] Republics met in [[Tashkent]] and declared that the definition of Central Asia should include Kazakhstan as well as the original four included by the Soviets. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia.

In 1978, [[UNESCO]] defined the region as "Afghanistan, north-eastern [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]], [[northern India]], western China, Mongolia and the Soviet Central Asian Republics".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mayor |first1=Federico |author-link1=Federico Mayor Zaragoza |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=A. H. |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Masson |editor-first2=V. M. |year=1992 |chapter=Preface |title=The Dawn of Civilization, Earliest Times to 700 B.C. |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000094466 |series=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |volume=1 |publication-place=Paris |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |pages=7–9 |isbn=9789231027192 |oclc=28186754 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104104024/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000094466? |archive-date=4 November 2022 |quote=Subsequently, at a UNESCO meeting held in 1978, it was agreed that the study on Central Asia should deal with the civilizations of Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran, Pakistan, northern India, western China, Mongolia and the Soviet Central Asian Republics. |quote-page=8 |access-date=21 October 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity, and in particular, areas populated by Eastern [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], Eastern [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]], or [[Mongolic peoples|Mongolian]] peoples. These areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern [[Siberia]], the five republics, and [[Afghan Turkestan]]. Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan and the [[Kashmir Valley]] of India may also be included. The [[Tibetans]] and [[Ladakh]]is are also included. Most of the mentioned peoples are considered the "indigenous" peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as [[Turkestan]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Polo|first1=Marco|last2=Smethurst|first2=Paul|title=The Travels of Marco Polo|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7607-6589-0|page=676|publisher=Barnes & Noble Books }}</ref><ref>Ferrand, Gabriel (1913), "Ibn Batūtā", Relations de voyages et textes géographiques arabes, persans et turks relatifs à l'Extrème-Orient du 8e au 18e siècles (Volumes 1 and 2) (in French), Paris: Ernest Laroux, pp. 426–458</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Andrea|first1=Bernadette|title=Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia: A Tenth-Century Traveler from Baghdad to the Volga River by Richard N. Frye: Review by Bernadette Andrea|journal=Middle East Studies Association Bulletin|volume=41|issue=2|pages=201–202|doi=10.1017/S0026318400050744|s2cid=164228130}}</ref>