The city of Almaty began in the 1800's as the Russian fort town of Verney. It was renamed Alma Ata around the turn of the century and was the capitol of the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. Since the late 1990's Astana in the north has been given the role of capital.
Azerbaijan is a land of high mountain ranges and low river valleys, bordering Russia in the north and Iran in the south. The traditional religion of the Azeris is Shiite Islam, which has experienced a revival in recent years.
Centuries later the Balkar homeland was finally annexed to Russia. The Russians used the name of “Mountain Tartars” or “Mountain Turks” for all of the Turko-Tatar people groups of the Caucasus.
Kazakhstan is the size of most of Western Europe, with 16 million inhabitants. Of those, 9 million traditionally share the religion of folk Islam. Whereas there were hardly any Kazak believers in 1990, they are estimated to number over 10,000 today!
Following the Mongol rule in the 13th century, Kyrgyzstan came under Russian rule in the 1800s and after 1937 was called the Kyrgyz Soviet Republic. Agriculture was increasingly collectivised under Stalin, despite strong resistance from the nomadic Kyrgyz.
The Tajiks are descendants from the Persians and are closely linked with the neighbouring Uzbeks. Tajikistan is a landlocked, mountainous country with more than half of the land area above 3,000 metres with frequent strong earthquakes.
In the last 15 years there has been a significant surge of Islam in Tatarstan, though the majority of the Tatar population remains nominally or culturally Muslim. In 1990 there were about 100 mosques in the entire Republic, and by 2004 there were over 1000.
A Turkmen national, after visiting a nation which is influenced by Christian values, has said, “Now I know what freedom really is”. Let us continue to pray that the Spirit of Christ will set more people free in Turkmenistan. The government of Turkmenistan is one of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world.
Uzbekistan has been under the grip of darkness for centuries. Folk Islam, drug use, alcoholism and a growing problem with HIV/Aids pervade society. The economy is struggling, with a very high rate of unemployment.
Georgia has been conquered by Muslim empires several times. Tbilisi (the capital) was conquered by Arabs in the 8th century and a Muslim community remained. From the 16th century, Ottoman Turks and Iranian Safavids (Persians) controlled much of Georgia. Migrants, later known as Tatars, also decided to make the region their home.
