Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a rugged, arid region, historically coveted for its position between and with the legendary Silk Route, rather than for its resources, although petroleum, natural gas, and mineral reserves have become more important in modern times.
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Photo: Калачев Сергей, CC BY 3.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Kazakhstan and Afghanistan.

Photo: Dmottl, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the largest of the states of the former Soviet Union apart from , and it dwarfs the other countries of Central Asia and stretches into .

Photo: afgmatters, CC BY 2.0.
is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. The country shares borders with , , , , , , and the disputed territory.

Photo: dalbera, CC BY 2.0.
is the most populous country in Central Asia and is rich in history, culture, and diversity. It has been a part of numerous empires and was once a key part of the Silk Road, making it an excellent destination for the history buff.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Photo: Rastapopulous, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is one of the most isolated countries in the world and is dubbed as the "motherland of neutrality". Formerly a part of the Soviet Union, it is situated in Central Asia and is surrounded by , , , and .

Photo: Bruno Rijsman, CC BY-SA 2.0.
, is a Central Asian country. Due to its mountainous terrain, it is often called as the "Switzerland" of Central Asia. The country offers breathtaking landscapes, including the Tien Shan Mountains, crystal-clear lakes such as Issyk-Kul and Song Kol, and beautiful valleys like the Ala-Archa National Park.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a landlocked country on the ancient Silk Road in Central Asia. The nation's majority culture is non-Turkic, unlike its neighbors to the north and west and east.

Photo: Antonov14, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The , what once was the fourth largest inland body of water in the world, and now more aptly dubbed Aralkum, is in Central Asia, divided between and .

Central Asia

Latitude of center
45.4° or 45° 24′ north
Longitude of center
67.6° or 67° 36′ east
Population
80,100,000
Wiki­data ID
Q27275
This page is based on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Central Asia from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Achinese to Yue Chinese—“Central Asia” goes by many names.
  • Achinese: “Asia Teungöh”
  • Afrikaans: “Sentraal-Asië”
  • Albanian: “Azia Qendrore”
  • Amharic: “መካከለኛ እስያ”
  • Arabic: “آسيا الوسطى”
  • Aragonese: “Asia Central”
  • Armenian: “Կենտրոնական Ասիա”
  • Arpitan: “Asia centrâla”
  • Asturian: “Asia Central”
  • Azerbaijani: “Mərkəzi Asiya”
  • Azerbaijani: “Orta Asiya”
  • Balinese: “Asia Tengah”
  • Bashkir: “Үҙәк Азия”
  • Basque: “Erdialdeko Asia”
  • Belarusian: “Цэнтральная Азія”
  • Bengali: “মধ্য এশিয়া”
  • Bhojpuri: “सेंट्रल एशिया”
  • Bosnian: “Srednja Azija”
  • Breton: “Azia ar C’hreiz”
  • Bulgarian: “Централна Азия”
  • Burmese: “အလယ်အာရှ”
  • Catalan: “Àsia central”
  • Central Kurdish: “ئاسیای ناوەندی”
  • Chechen: “Йуккъера Ази”
  • Chinese: “Tiong A-chiu”
  • Chinese: “中亚”
  • Chinese: “中亞”
  • Chuvash: “Вăта Ази”
  • Chuvash: “Тĕп Ази”
  • Cornish: “Asi Gres”
  • Crimean Tatar: “Orta Asiya”
  • Croatian: “Srednja Azija”
  • Czech: “Střední Asie”
  • Danish: “Centralasien”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Asya Miyanêne”
  • Dutch: “Centraal-Azië”
  • Dzongkha: “༉ རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ཀྱི་རྒྱ་མཚོ་”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “اسيا الوسطى”
  • Esperanto: “Centra Azio”
  • Estonian: “Kesk-Aasia”
  • Finnish: “Keski-Aasia”
  • French: “Asie centrale”
  • Galician: “Asia Central”
  • Georgian: “ცენტრალური აზია”
  • German: “Mittelasien”
  • German: “Zentralasien”
  • Greek: “Κεντρική Ασία”
  • Guarani: “Mbyte Asia”
  • Guarani: “Mbyte Ásia”
  • Hakka Chinese: “Chûng-”
  • Hausa: “Tsakiyar Asiya”
  • Hebrew: “מרכז אסיה”
  • Hindi: “मध्य एशिया”
  • Hungarian: “Közép-Ázsia”
  • Icelandic: “Mið-Asía”
  • Ido: “Central Azia”
  • Iloko: “Sentral nga Asia”
  • Iloko: “Tengnga nga Asia”
  • Inari Sami: “Koskâ-Aasia”
  • Indonesian: “Asia Tengah”
  • Irish: “Lár na hÁise”
  • Italian: “Asia centrale”
  • Japanese: “中央アジア”
  • Javanese: “Asia Tengah”
  • Kabyle: “Asya talemmast”
  • Kannada: “ಮಧ್ಯ ಏಶಿಯಾ”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Oraylıq Aziya”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Orta Aziya”
  • Kashmiri: “مَرکَزی ایشیا”
  • Kashmiri: “وسط ایشیا”
  • Kazakh: “Ortalıq Azïya”
  • Kazakh: “Орталық Азия”
  • Khmer: “អាស៊ីកណ្ដាល”
  • Kinaray-A: “Asya Natung·an”
  • Kinaray-A: “Natung·an nga Asya”
  • Kirghiz: “Borborduk Aziya”
  • Kirghiz: “Борбордук Азия”
  • Komering: “Asia Tongah”
  • Komering: “Asiya Tongah”
  • Korean: “중앙아세아”
  • Korean: “중앙아시아”
  • Kotava: “Istefa Asia”
  • Kurdish: “Asyaya Navendî”
  • Kurdish: “Asyaya Navîn”
  • Ladino: “Asya Sentrala”
  • Lao: “ອາຊີກາງ”
  • Latin: “Media Asia”
  • Latvian: “Centrālāzija”
  • Lezghian: “Юкьван Азия”
  • Limburgan: “Centraal-Azië”
  • Lingala: “Azía ya Katikáti”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “Asia sentral”
  • Literary Chinese: “中亞”
  • Lithuanian: “Vidurinė Azija”
  • Lombard: “Asia Centrala”
  • Lower Sorbian: “Centralna Azija”
  • Luxembourgish: “Zentralasien”
  • Macedonian: “Средна Азија”
  • Maithili: “मध्य एसिया”
  • Malagasy: “Azia Afovoany”
  • Malay: “Asia Tengah”
  • Malayalam: “മദ്ധ്യേഷ്യ”
  • Maltese: “Asja Ċentrali”
  • Marathi: “मध्य आशिया”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “Dṳ̆ng-ā”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Tiong-a”
  • Minangkabau: “Asia Tangah”
  • Mingrelian: “ცენტრალური აზია”
  • Mongolian: “Дундад Ази”
  • Mongolian: “Төв Ази”
  • Narom: “Âsie du Mitan”
  • Nepali: “मध्य एसिया”
  • Northern Frisian: “Madelaasien”
  • Northern Sami: “Gaska-Ásia”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Sentral-Asia”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “det sentrale Asia”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Sentral-Asia”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “sentrale Asia”
  • Norwegian: “Sentral-Asia”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Asia Centrala”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Middelasia”
  • Oriya: “ମଧ୍ୟ ଏସିଆ”
  • Oromo: “Giddu-galeessa Eeshiyaa”
  • Ossetian: “Централон Ази”
  • Ossetian: “Центрон Ази”
  • Panjabi: “ਕੇਂਦਰੀ ਏਸ਼ੀਆ”
  • Papiamento: “Asia Sentral”
  • Persian: “آسیای مرکزی”
  • Persian: “آسیای میانه”
  • Polish: “Azja Środkowa”
  • Portuguese: “Ásia Central”
  • Pushto: “منځنۍ آسيا”
  • Pushto: “منځنۍ اسیا”
  • Romanian: “Asia Centrală”
  • Russian: “Центральная Азия”
  • Rusyn: “Середня Азия”
  • Rusyn: “Середня Азія”
  • Samogitian: “Vėdorė Azėjė”
  • Santali: “ᱛᱟᱞᱢᱟ ᱮᱥᱤᱭᱟ”
  • Sardinian: “Ásia tzentrale”
  • Serbian: “Средња Азија”
  • Serbian: “Централна Азија”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Srednja Azija”
  • Sicilian: “Asia cintrali”
  • Sindhi: “سينٽرل ايشيا”
  • Sindhi: “مرڪزي ايشيا”
  • Sindhi: “وچ ايشيا”
  • Sindhi: “وچواري ايشيا”
  • Sinhala: “මධ්‍යම ආසියාව”
  • Skolt Sami: “Kõskk-Aasia”
  • Slovak: “Stredná Ázia”
  • Slovenian: “Centralna Azija”
  • Slovenian: “Notranja Azija”
  • Slovenian: “Osrednja Azija”
  • Slovenian: “Srednja Azija”
  • Somali: “Aasiyada Dhexe”
  • South Azerbaijani: “اورتا آسیا”
  • Spanish: “Asia Central”
  • Standard Moroccan Tamazight: “ⵜⴰⵣⵉⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⴰⵎⵎⴰⵙⵜ”
  • Sundanese: “Asia Tengah”
  • Swahili: “Asia ya Kati”
  • Swedish: “Centralasien”
  • Tagalog: “Gitnang Asya”
  • Tajik: “Osijoi Mijona”
  • Tajik: “Осиёи Марказӣ”
  • Tajik: “Осиёи Миёна”
  • Tamil: “நடு ஆசியா”
  • Tatar: “Üzäk Asia”
  • Tatar: “Үзәк Азия”
  • Telugu: “మధ్య ఆసియా”
  • Thai: “เอเชียกลาง”
  • Turkish: “Orta Asya”
  • Turkmen: “Merkezi Aziýa”
  • Udmurt: “Центральной Азия”
  • Uighur: “ئوتتۇرا ئاسىيا”
  • Ukrainian: “Середня Азія”
  • Ukrainian: “Центральна Азія”
  • Upper Sorbian: “Centralna Azija”
  • Upper Sorbian: “Srjedźna Azija”
  • Urdu: “وسط ایشیا”
  • Uzbek: “Markaziy Osiyo”
  • Uzbek: “Oʻrta Osiyo”
  • Venetian: “Àzia Sentrałe”
  • Vietnamese: “Trung Á”
  • Vlaams: “Centroal-Azië”
  • Walloon: “Mîtrinne Azeye”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Butnga nga Asya”
  • Welsh: “Canolbarth Asia”
  • Western Armenian: “Կեդրոնական Ասիա”
  • Western Frisian: “Sintraal-Aazje”
  • Western Panjabi: “وچکارلا ایشیا”
  • Western Panjabi: “وسطی ایشیا”
  • Wolof: “Diggu Asi”
  • Wu Chinese: “中亞”
  • Yakut: “Киин Азия”
  • Yakut: “Орто Азия”
  • Yoruba: “Àrin Ásíà”
  • Yue Chinese: “中亞”
  • “Asia Tengah”
  • “ma Asija insa”
  • “Vėdorė Azėjė”
  • “सेंट्रल एशिया”

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About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Central Asia”. Photo: Калачев Сергей, CC BY 3.0.