International disputes: none
Climate: mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east
Terrain: mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya and Sirdaryo; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west lowest point: Saryqamish Kuli -12 m highest point: Adelunga Toghi 4,301 m
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, gold, uranium,
silver, copper, lead and zinc, tungsten, molybdenum
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 47%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 42%
Irrigated land: 41,550 sq km (1990)
Environment:
current issues: drying up of the Aral Sea is resulting in growing
concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these
substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and
contribute to desertification; water pollution from industrial
wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause
of many human health disorders; increasing soil salinization; soil
contamination from agricultural chemicals, including DDT
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Climate Change,
Desertification, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection;
signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity
Geographic note: landlocked
People ———
Population: 23,418,381 (July 1996 est.)