The borders between countries are curved and straight, and the forms are different. In terms of complexity, the border division is probably the most convincing of the three Central Asian countries - Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan - the junction of the border, every time you see it, you feel breathtaking! In the long history of administration for thousands of years, our ancestors summed up the experience of demarcating the boundary of "mountains and rivers are convenient, and dogs and teeth are intertwined", which may not be so complicated.
The demarcation of the three countries in the map above revolves around the most important basin in Central Asia, the Ferghana Basin: the most fertile land in the basin, most of which belongs to Uzbekistan, but:
1. Most of the land area of Uzbekistan is in the west, far from the basin;
2. The exit of the basin - the main transportation route belongs to Tajikistan, and the basin is not only far from the rest of Uzbekistan, but also connects the two over the mountains.
3. The mountains at the edge of the basin and around it belong to Kyrgyzstan, and the mountains not only have a condescending geographical position that can suppress the basin, but also control almost all the water sources.
▲On the satellite map, an important reservoir in Uzbekistan, the water source of the basin, and the bank of the reservoir is the border
These are not enough, the three countries still have many enclaves within each other, not connected to the mainland. The small ones on the map cannot be drawn, and the three enclaves drawn are in Kyrgyzstan, but belong to Uzbekistan.
What the hell is this going on? Why is the demarcation of Central Asia so complicated? In other places, the boundary lines are actually very simple, and many are even straight lines.
Because this place is important, there has been a lot of ethnic competition throughout history. Central Asia covers a very large area, with the Tien Shan Mountains and the Pamir Plateau to the east, and the altitude is very high; To the west is a vast plain with a very low altitude. Central Asia is deep inland, drought and lack of water, the plains are desertified, and where there are mountains, there is water.
To the west of Xinjiang on the mainland, there are valleys and basins at the foot of the mountains, there is water and land, and it is the most elite land in Central Asia, and the water sources that supply them include the Irtysh River, Ili River, Chu River, Syr Darya, Amu Darya, etc., and the capitals and big cities of Central Asian countries are mostly in these valleys and basins. The Ferghana Basin is the largest of these basins and is densely populated.
The Ferghana Basin is an intermountain basin of the Tien Shan Mountains and the Gisar-Alai Mountains, with a maximum length of 300 kilometers from east to west and a maximum width of 170 kilometers from north to south, with an area of about 22,000 square kilometers and an altitude of 330 to 1,000 meters. The basin opens to the west, and the Atlantic water vapor can come in, which is lifted by the mountains in the east and rainfall, and the surrounding mountain rivers flow into the basin, and the towns, farmlands, and pastures on the alluvial fan grow densely.
▲In the Ferghana Basin, the alluvial fan is a specimen of this terrain.
The longest of the rivers is the Syr Darya, which reaches a length of about 3,000 kilometers (there are several versions of data) and is the second longest inland river in the world, after the Volga, the mother of Russia. The Syr Darya is one of the two rivers in Central Asia, the other being the Amu Darya River, which is more than 2,000 kilometers long. With an average annual volume of 14 billion cubic meters, the Syr Darya River is quite impressive in water-scarce Central Asia, irrigating and nourishing the Fergana Basin and the riverine regions of Uzbekistan.
The mountains in the northern part of the Fergana Basin also block cold snaps, so the interior of the basin is much warmer in winter than in the northern steppes. In terms of location, the basin is located on an important thoroughfare between East and West, and has a long history of development. Such a good land has naturally become a place of fierce competition among ethnic groups since ancient times, and now it is the most densely populated area in Central Asia, where everyone is counting on the land and water sources, as well as the underground mineral life.
The ethnic groups in Central Asia are diverse and complex, and there are 56 ethnic groups on the mainland that were thought to be too many. Later, it was discovered that a small country in Central Asia has seventy or eighty nationalities, or even more than a hundred. There are many ethnic groups, and fierce competition for resources for survival and development will form a dividing line that is often changing. I think this is a phenomenon in the period when the level of civilization development is relatively low, and the mainland has experienced it more than 2,000 years ago, for example, the "three divisions" in the early Warring States period - the demarcation of the three countries of Han, Zhao and Wei, and the demarcation of Central Asia above.
Due to the dense population, large number of ethnic groups and geographical pattern, the Ferghana Basin, which was originally a treasure land, is now a relatively poor economic region in Central Asia.
▲ The Syr Darya, farmland and dwellings in the Ferghana Basin, in the interior of the continent far from the ocean (Uzbekistan is one of the only two double landlocked countries in the world), the green here is thriving, and it can be seen that the water source conditions are really good.
On the contrary, in the western part of Central Asia, around the Caspian Sea, it turned out to be a desert where birds do not, the population is very small, and the border line is drawn casually, and even a straight line is hastily drawn...... Later, oil and gas were discovered, and it became a relatively wealthy place. I have to sigh, feng shui takes turns!