UPSC Prelims Marathon Quiz

Fergana valley is a very fertile area between the Tien-Shan mountains Chatkal range in the North and the Gissar-Alai mountain ranges in the south in Central Asia, divided between the sovereign post-Soviet states of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

This densely populated area with a length of about 300 km and a width of about 140 km is very diverse between the different ethnic groups, mainly consisting of Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz people with some minorities, that have been mixed with one another.

Since the independence of the old Soviet republics, there have been disputes of land ownership between the countries and people still sometimes feel that they are on the wrong side of the border in relation to their cultural identity.

There are also some known oil reserves in Fergana valley which have increased the stakes in the quarrels of the land control.