Turkestan

Historical area of Central Asia extending from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Gobi desert in the east. It is now divided among Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan (Northeast province), and China (part of Xinjiang Uygur province). It formerly covered an area of some 2,600,000 sq km/1,003,680 sq mi; its principal cities were Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara.

History Successively from the 4th century BC onwards, Turkestan was occupied by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, the Chinese, the Persians, the Mongols, and the Arabs (who introduced Islam to the region in the 9th century). The eastern portion of the region was retaken by China during the 18th century. From the 19th century, Turkestan was administered by Russia as a single colony of smaller extent. After the Russian Revolution, the Turkestanis applied for autonomy, and in 1918 declared a Turkestan Independent Islamic Republic, which was overthrown by force between 1918–24. Stalin subsequently carved up the area into separate republics to prevent a resurgence of separatist sentiment.

Turkestan

Town in Shymkent oblast (region), southern Kazakhstan, 250 km/155 mi northwest of Tashkent; It has cotton-ginning and metalworking industries. In common with many areas in southern Kazakhstan, the population of the town includes many ethnic Uzbeks.