What is the geographic significance of the Ferghana Valley?

The Fergana Valley is one of the most densely populated areas of Central Asia and is a major producer of cotton, fruit, and raw silk. Among the mineral deposits that are exploited are coal, oil, mercury, antimony, and ozocerite.

Is Fergana Valley Safe?

Is Fergana Valley safe? Today, yes, it is. The last clash was in 2010 and, actually, it mainly happened on the Kyrgyzstan side. Whereas it’s completely true that relationships between countries are still tense, the region has been enjoying a certain stability in the last couple of years.

What is the Fergana Valley known for?

Located on the Northern Silk Road, the Fergana played a significant part in the flowering of medieval Central Asian Islam. Its most famous son is Babur, heir to Timur and famous conqueror and founder of the Mughal dynasty in Medieval India.

Who invaded Ferghana?

general Qutayba ibn Muslim
It was invaded by the Umayyad Arab general Qutayba ibn Muslim during the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana. Farghana, along with Khujand, was shortly raided after Qutayba’s victory over Gurak. In 715, Qutayba completely subdued Farghana, and made it a vassal state of the Umayyad Caliphate.

What is the meaning of Ferghana?

Fergana in British English or Ferghana (fəˈɡɑːnə ) 1. a region of W central Asia, surrounded by high mountains and accessible only from the west; mainly in Uzbekistan and partly in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. 2.

Who was responsible for the Fergana Valley oil spill?

The combined efforts of the Uzbekistan government and the U.S. eventually led to the end of oil spilling from well #5.

What three countries share the Fergana Valley?

The Fergana Valley’s population consists mainly of Uzbeks, Kyrgyz and Tajiks. Correspondingly, the valley is split among Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. However, each of the three countries in the Fergana Valley contains significant minorities of the other two ethnic groups.

What is the fastest growing religion in Asia?

Sikhism. Sikhism is the fifth largest organized religion in the world, with approximately 30 million adherents. And one of the most steadily growing.

Which language is widely spoken throughout Central Asia today?

Russian
The long presence of Russian influence has led its language to become and continue to be the lingua franca of Central Asia and is consequently the main common language of trade, diplomacy and literature across the region.

What are the dangers of the Ferghana Valley?

Nevertheless, all three parts of the Ferghana Valley pose clear dangers for their respective states. Each is poor, has a dangerous current of antigovernment sentiment, is susceptible to radical Islamic movements, and — as part of the drug-trafficking route from Afghanistan — has a significant organized crime presence.

How is the Fergana Valley different from Uzbekistan?

In the Fergana valley, the towns still have a network of traditional mahallah’s with tight knit communities. When walking through the mahallah’s, I also felt that the Fergana Valley has its own unique culture that is quite different from the rest of Uzbekistan. More conservative, more religious, but also more curious and more welcoming.

Which is the best city to visit in Fergana Valley?

Because Fergana City is a transportation hub, the most modern of all the cities and has the best accommodation in the region. A relatively new town, only founded in 1876, Fergana City is the capital of the Fergana region, home to a large Russian population and a regional center for oil extraction.

Why was the Fergana Valley important to the Soviet Union?

Among all the partition complexities, the Fergana Valley was the most dramatic one, as the Soviet Union didn’t care about the fact that, in the valley, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek people, were all sharing the same piece of land.