This text provides a key to understanding the economic, political and social situation of the five main Central Asian states. Divided into sections on each of the states, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kirghizstan, the handbook draws on empirical data and research to provide information and analysis on: geo-political factors; socio-economic and domestic political life since 1990; the ethnic/religious/linguistic make-up of the states; and historical background. In-depth analysis is also given to issues of longer-term impact - the geographic significance of oil-pipelines, the impact of instability in Afghanistan, and the consequences of ecological devastation and the drying up of the Aral Sea.