Central Asia and the Caucasus

Overview

This region is somewhat disjoint consisting of the central Asian countries that are bordered by Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus that is the area located between the Caspian sea and the Black sea.

The region shares a common recent history all of the countries having been former soviet republics.

They have since all become independent, they're political situations are however somewhat varied, Turkmenistan is authoritarian with a single party and leader, allegations of vote rigging is common in others. Some of the countries where on the old silk road and in general the people are nomadic and Islam is the predominate religion. However Orthodox Christianity is also popular, Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion.

Tourism in the area is still in its early days, and there are certain regions that should be avoided. However it is possible to visit this still rarely visited region and see somewhere still untouched by mass tourism.