ABSTRACT
Central Asia and Azerbaijan’s 60 million population differs from previous postcolonial populations, and it differs remarkably from other post-colonial Islamic populations. Whereas other states have boasted highly educated elites at the moment of independence, Central Asia differs in that such a large percentage of its population, and not just select elites, was homogeneously educated, modem, and integrated into the state. At the moment of independence, Central Asia boasted per capita rates of university education on a par with the West, comparable per capita numbers of scientists and engineers, and life expectancies nearing developed country levels. However, the post-Soviet period has witnessed declines in most of the region’s human capital assets. The people of the region are substantially less healthy and less educated than even a decade ago, and this lack of health and education will frustrate attainment of sustainable development.
