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Turan

(Encyclopedia)Turan to͞oränˈ [key], desert lowland, shared by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, S and E of the Aral Sea. The Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers divide it into the Kara Kum desert in the south...

Caspian Sea

(Encyclopedia)Caspian Sea kăsˈpēən [key], Lat. Mare Caspium or Mare Hyrcanium, salt lake, c.144,000 sq mi (373,000 sq km), between Europe and Asia; the largest lake in the world. It is bordered on the northeast...

Berdymukhamedov, Kurbanguly

(Encyclopedia)Berdymukhamedov, Kurbanguly kho͞orbängo͞olēˈ bârdāˌmo͞okämĕdˈôf [key], 1957–, Turkmen government official, president of Turkmenistan (2007–). A dentist (grad. Turkmen State Medical I...

Merv

(Encyclopedia)Merv myĕrf [key], ancient city, in Turkmenistan, in a large oasis of the Kara Kum desert, on the Murgab River. The city, known in antiquity as Margiana, or Antiochia Margiana, was founded in the 3d c...

Altaic

(Encyclopedia)Altaic ăltāˈĭk [key], subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages). Some scholars still consider Altaic an independent linguistic family. Spoken by over 130 m...

Commonwealth of Independent States

(Encyclopedia)Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), community of independent nations established by a treaty signed at Minsk, Belarus, on Dec. 8, 1991, by the heads of state of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Bet...

Herat

(Encyclopedia)Herat hĕrätˈ [key], city (1984 est. pop. 161,000), capital of Herat prov., NW Afghanistan, on the Hari Rud. The fertile river valley is renowned for its fruits, especially grapes. Herat has textile...

Bukhara, emirate of

(Encyclopedia)Bukhara, emirate of, former state, central Asia, in Turkistan, in the Amu Darya River basin. Part of ancient Sogdiana, it was ruled (a.d. 709–874) by the Umayyad Arabs and played an important role u...

Mashhad

(Encyclopedia)Mashhad mäsh-hädˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 1,759,155), capital of Razavi Khorasan prov., NE Iran. It is an industrial and trade center and a transportation hub. Manufactures include carpets, textiles...

Turkic

(Encyclopedia)Turkic tûrˈkĭk [key], group of languages forming a subdivision of the Altaic subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages). The Turkic group of languages has a ...

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