The autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh lies within the political geography of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan declared its independence in 1991. Central Asia Kazakhstan Kazakhstan is home to a mainly Russian population to the north and northeast, but the south remains mostly Muslim, descendants of the Turks. Territorially it is larger than all four other countries of Central Asia combined with a topography that is mainly desert and steppe. The population is mainly located around areas of water.
Natural resources are plentiful, with deposits of coal and iron ore.
It also has an oil supply near the Caspian Sea. The agriculture is irrigated with water from the rivers that normally flows to the Aral Sea. Because of this irrigation, local food and water are unsafe to consume, and cancer rates are high. The irrigation also contributes to the shrinkage of the Aral Sea. Uzbekistan's landscape is dry open desert and steppes with the occasional water hole.