Our "Oddities" Series takes us to Central Asia, at the border between three republics that are formerly part of the Soviet Union: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The Fergana Valley is a high altitude plateau that hosts the headwaters of the Syr Daria River. It is is surrounded by high altitude mountains on three sides. What is striking on this map is the complexity of this border region, where all three nations seem to roll into a spiral in the middle of Fergana Valley. Adding to this is the existence of a dozen exclaves, and the presence of ethnic minorities in all these territories.
The situation has been very tense between all three nations, in particular in and around the city of Osh, in Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic strife between Kyrgyz and Uzbek people led to violence in 2010. Some residents of national exclaves have been cut off from their country for years.
The Fergana Valley
