CENTRAL ASIA CHAPTER 16, SECTION 3 HISTORICAL CROSSROADS THE SILK ROAD, WHICH STRETCHED FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA TO CHINA, BROUGHT TRADE THROUGH THIS REGION. LOOK AT PAGE 375. LIST THE 13 ITEMS TRADED ON THE SILK ROAD. RELIGIOUS IDEAS AND ANDLANGUAGES WERE ALSO EXCHANGED. IN THE 19 TH CENTURY, A STRUGGLE BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND RUSSIA BEGAN OVER CONTROL FOR CENTRAL ASIA. THIS WAS CALLED THE GREAT GAME, BECAUSE THESE WERE TIMES OF SPYING AND UNDERCOVER RIVALRY. AFTER THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, THE SOVIET UNION TOOK CONTROL. RUSSIA GREAT BRITAIN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES NUCLEAR TESTING NUCLEAR TESTING HAS LED TO RADIATION POLLUTION POPULATION HAS MEDICAL PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM THE RADIOACTIVITY PROSPERITY DISCOVERY OF OIL NEAR THE CASPIAN SEA HAS STARTED A NEW STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OVER PIPELINES AND RESOURCES. ETHNIC GROUPS WHEN THE SOVIETS TOOK CONTROL, THE DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS MAINTAINED THEIR IDENTITIES: Kazakhs Kyrgyz Turkmen Tajiks Uzbeks When the U.S.S.R. broke up in 1991. THE CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES ALONG THEIR TRADITIONAL BOUNDARIES. THEIR LANGUAGES INCLUDE RUSSIAN (THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE SOVIETS) AND THE OTHER ASIAN LANGUAGES RELATED TO TURKISH. NOMADIC HISTORY NOMADIC HERDERS HERDERS IN CENTRAL ASIA LIVE ON THE PLAINS AND LEAD A NOMADIC LIFE. THEIR HOMES ARE PORTABLE YURTS, MADE OF WOOD AND ANIMAL SKINS OR CLOTH. KYRGYZ AND KAZAKH MEN DEMONSTRATE THEIR HORSEMANSHIP