Introduction

The label and definition of Eurasia has long been used by a wide variety of scholars in the humanities and social sciences. It is generally defined as the expanse of territory that extends from western Russia eastward to the Pacific Ocean and south to include most of China and what is today considered Central Asia and also the Caucasus. Excluded from this broad definition are the Indian subcontinent, Iran and countries in southwest Asia. While there is general agreement on the Eurasian label and territorial definition, there is much less agreement on what is considered Central Eurasia, the regional definition used for this atlas. During the time of the Soviet Union, that label would and could easily have been used to define the five Central Asian Soviet republics or “stans.” In a post-Soviet world, the territorial extent of what is considered Central Eurasia is somewhat a matter of individual scholarly tastes and also sensitivity to using a Soviet territorial label, namely Central Asia. The controversy extends to discussions among scholars about exactly how far “west” a region called Central Eurasia would reach, and also how far “east,” especially with the awakening of China in the global marketplace, global entrepreneurial space and global geopolitical dialogues. Questions about the eastern extent need to weigh which, if any, provinces of western China might legitimately be included in Central Eurasia and also whether Mongolia should. Questions also arise about the western extent of a Central Eurasian region. The inclusion of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia within Europe has posed a dilemma to more than one European geographer and historian; the same dilemmas arise for the Asian scholar.