Another View of Central Asia
Figure 7.9 displays the Tian Shan, the Hindu Kush, and the Pamirs mountain ranges. The Tian Shan mountain range spans Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and China. The Silk Routes followed various passes through these mountain ranges to connect the populations in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
Today, these mountains provide mineral resources for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. In Figure 7.9, the unlabeled lake in the Tian Shan Mountains is Kyrgyzstan's Lake Issyk-Kul, which is the second-largest mountain lake in the world after Lake Titicaca in the Andes Mountains.
Figure 7.9 Map of Central Asia showing countries, capitals (red stars),
larger cities (black dots), and major geographic features. (U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 2018. Fact Sheet
2017–3089: Rare Earth Element and Rare Metal Inventory of Central Asia.
Public Domain)
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2017/3089/fs20173089.pdf
This work is in the Public Domain.