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Blue Mosque, Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan
Photograph by Shashwat Saraf, My Shot
In the heart of the Asian continent, where mighty conquerors and trading caravans once strode the Silk Road, the "seven Stans" weave a carpet of many colors. Prior to 1991 maps showed only Afghanistan and Pakistan. Then came the Soviet Union breakup and the birth of five new nations: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Today, these independent states continue to forge identities amid continuing conflicts.
Here, a woman passes the Hazrat Ali mosque (the "Blue Mosque") in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, where deep ethnic and religious divides are briefly bridged as Sunni and Shiite alike come to pray. -
Swimming Pool, Kabul, Afghanistan
Photograph by Rafal Gerszak, Aurora Photos
Afghan men and boys enjoy a day at the pool in Kabul, Afghanistan's beleaguered capital. Shattered by decades of war, stability remains tenuous in a country where young boys have often helped shoulder the burdens of conflict.
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Band-e-Amir, Afghanistan
Photograph by Dave Crago, My Shot
Travertine peaks rise above one of the mineral-rich, sapphire lakes of central Afghanistan’s Band-e-Amir. Legend has it the lakes were formed by Caliph Ali, who miraculously raised the retaining walls to dam a dangerous river, thereby impressing a local pagan king who converted to Islam.
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Bamian, Afghanistan
Photograph by Heesang Byun, My Shot
A boy sits framed by one of two niches that shelter the remains of giant Buddhas in the remote valley of Bamian, northwest of Kabul. Blasted into dust by the ruling Taliban in 2001, the statues and surrounding monastic caves were carved by Buddhist monks in about the fifth century A.D.
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Muslim Students, Afghanistan
Photograph by Emilio Morenatti, AP
An 11-year-old Afghan boy and his classmates study Islam’s Holy Koran at a mosque. The vast majority of Afghanis are Muslim.
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Astana, Kazakhstan
Photograph by Baigazy Zhax, My Shot
Oases of light, government buildings in Astana stand out against Kazakhstan’s arid steppe. During much of the past decade, the new capital—moved from Almaty in 1997—underwent a transformation as the country benefited from oil wealth under the post-Soviet government of President Nursaltan Nazarbayev.
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Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan
Photograph by Christopher Herwig, Aurora Photos
Young women cover their faces from the sun and wind in the autonomous Gorno-Badakhshan region, which covers the eastern half of Tajikistan. Mountains make up more than 90 percent of the struggling country, which endured a five-year civil war following independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
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Glacial Lake, Kazakhstan
Photograph by Win Initiative, Getty Images
A pristine lake in northern Inylchek Glacier reflects the peaks of the Tian Shan mountain range. The mountains lie in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and China.
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Aral Sea, Kazakhstan
Photograph by Christopher Herwig, Aurora
Once anchored in the Aral Sea, abandoned fishing boats now litter a dry landscape in southern Kazakhstan. The country is trying to preserve the northern part of what was once the world’s fourth largest freshwater lake, depleted by 60 percent in the last 30 years due to diversion and overuse.
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Kok-Boru Game, Kyrgyzstan
Photograph by Vyacheslav Oseledko, AFP/Getty Images
Men on horseback vie for control of a headless goat carcass during a game of kok-boru in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. A tradition throughout Central Asia, the rough-and-tumble sport, also called buzkashi, prompts some players to don protective clothing and helmets.
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Nomad Family, Kyrgyzstan
Photograph by Christopher Herwig, Aurora Photos
A Kyrgyz shepherd and his grandchildren gather outside traditional yurts—round, wood-frame tents covered in felt—on an alpine plateau in central Kyrgyzstan. Raising livestock remains a main agricultural activity for the nomadic Kyrgyz.
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Old Town Lahore, Pakistan
Photograph by Randy Olson
A man looks out from beneath a mosaic dome in Lahore’s Old Town. With nearly 175 million people, Pakistan is the world’s second most populous Muslim country, after Indonesia. Lahore is its second largest city.
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Chitral Woman, Pakistan
Photograph by Murtaza Mankani, My Shot
A woman wears traditional dress in Chitral, a district in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province. Located in a valley of the rugged Hindu Kush, the picturesque area was popular with adventure tourists before conflict along the border with Afghanistan destabilized the region.
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Badshahi Mosque, Pakistan
Photograph by Muhammad Khurram Fayyaz, My Shot
From across Pakistan, the faithful gather at Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. Founded as a Muslim homeland in a 1947 partition from India, Pakistan has undergone decades of turmoil as a meeting place for two conflicting forms of Islam—the fierce fundamentalism of the Afghan frontier and the moderate Islam of the Indian subcontinent.
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Food Street, Lahore, Pakistan
Photograph by Brooke Slezak, Getty Images
Food Street attracts crowds to its outdoor tables and traditional Pakistani offerings in Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province. Dozens of restaurants along the narrow street serve popular specialties like fried fish and chargha, a type of roast chicken. In 2009, authorities shut down the street after traffic complaints from neighboring residents, though parts have since been reopened.
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K2, Pakistan
Photograph by Maria Ly, Skimble.com
The world’s second highest mountain, K2 rises out of Pakistan’s mountainous northern border with China. At 28,250 feet (8,611 meters), K2 is considered one of the world’s deadliest peaks. A team of Italians was the first to summit the mountain in 1954.
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Gas Crater, Turkmenistan
Photograph by Christopher Herwig, Aurora Photos
Brave visitors get a close view of a burning gas crater in Darvaza. Located in Turkmenistan's Karakum desert, the crater has been burning for decades. The country's natural gas reserves rank fifth in the world—but development of gas exports is hampered by a lack of gas pipeline routes outside its landlocked borders.
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Kiz Kala Fortress, Merv, Turkmenistan
Photograph by Christopher Rennie, Photo Library
The sixth-century Kiz Kala fortress is one of the well-preserved remains of ancient Merv, once a major city on the Silk Road. Located on the southern edge of Turkmenistan's Karakum desert, Merv became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999.
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Kalon Mosque, Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Photograph by Christopher Herwig, Aurora Photos
Mosaic tiles create intricate patterns on the facade of the 16th-century Kalon Mosque in Bukhara, an ancient oasis city in southern Uzbekistan. The congregational mosque can hold as many as 12,000 worshippers.
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Food Stalls, Urgut, Uzbekistan
Photograph by Yuri Kozyrev, Noor/Aurora Photos
Smoke and steam rise from food stalls in the market town of Urgut, located south of Samarqand and known for its craftsmen. Like their neighbors the Kazakhs, Uzbeks are a Turkic people who mixed with the conquering Mongols of Genghis Khan.
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Kalon Minaret, Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Photograph by Per-Andre Hoffmann, Aurora Photos
A man sits near the base of the 12th-century Kalon Minaret (far left) in Bukhara. Rising 154 feet (47 meters), the minaret was spared by Genghis Khan and once served as a landmark for Silk Road caravans.
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Fergana Valley, Kyrgyzstan
Photograph by Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Overlooking the Fergana Valley, a man conducts his evening prayers on the Kyrgyz side of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. Located where the two countries meet a northern arm of Tajikistan, the fertile valley is often at the center of regional conflict.
