1. Identify the key environmental differences among Central Asia’s physical environments and explain how these differences influence human settlement and economic development.

2. Describe the main reasons for the disappearance of the Aral Sea and outline the economic and environmental consequences of this loss.

3. Summarize the reasons why water resources are of such great importance in Central Asia and describe the ways in which people are responding to water shortages.

4. Explain why Central Asia’s population is so unevenly distributed, with some areas densely settled and others essentially uninhabited.

5. Describe the differences between Central Asia’s historical cities and those that have been established within the past 100 years.

6. Outline the ways in which religion divides Central Asia and describe how religious diversity has influenced the history of the region.

7. Identify how cultural globalization has affected different parts of Central Asia in distinct ways and explain why cultural globalization is controversial in much of the region.

8. Describe the geopolitical roles played in Central Asia by Russia, China, and the United States.

9. Describe how ethnic conflict has contributed to instability in Afghanistan and assess the potential of ethnic tension to destabilize the rest of the region.

10. Explain the role of oil and natural gas production in generating extremely uneven levels of economic and social development across Central Asia.