r/AskCentralAsia • u/manduul_chan • 9h ago
r/AskCentralAsia • u/abu_doubleu • Feb 12 '24
Meta r/AskCentralAsia FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Hello everybody!
After many requests, and tons of repeat questions, we are making an official FAQ. Please comment anything else you think should be added. Generally, if a question is answered in the FAQ, new threads with these questions will be locked.
—
Is Afghanistan part of Central Asia?
Yes, no, maybe-so.
Afghanistan is at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia (and the Middle East, to some extent).
Most Afghans self-identify as Central Asian. They feel this fits them more than anything else. They have a good reason for doing so, as prior to the Soviet Union, the culture between present-day Afghanistan and present-day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan was indistinguishable.
Afghans are welcome to answer as Central Asians on this subreddit.
Is Mongolia part of Central Asia?
Yes, no, maybe-so.
Geographically, Mongolia is more Central Asian than anything else. The centre point of Asia is just north of the Russia-Mongolia border.
Historically and culturally, while there is an affinity and shared history, Mongolia is farther away and commonly considered part of East Asia. Some Mongolians may not like that though, and identify as being closest to Central Asians.
Mongolians are welcome to answer as Central Asians on this subreddit.
Are Iran, Pakistan, and/or Turkey part of Central Asia?
No, none of these countries are Central Asian. All of them have a historical and cultural influence on Central Asia, though.
Turks, Iranians, and Pakistanis are still free to answer questions in this subreddit if they want, but they are not Central Asian, and their views do not reflect Central Asia.
How religious is Central Asia? Is Islam growing in Central Asia? How many women wear hijabs in Central Asia?
These questions are asked dozens of times every year. They are often asked in bad faith.
Islam is the majority religion of all of Central Asia (except Mongolia, if we count it, which is Buddhist). The Soviet legacy in core Central Asia has resulted in Islam being practiced differently here. Historically, the region was Muslim, and during the Soviet era, Islam was restricted. Most mosques were closed down, if not destroyed, and secularism was encouraged as state policy. Islam was never banned, though.
In the past two decades, core Central Asian countries have become overall more religious. There is no one reason for this. Many people were curious in exploring religion after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and found meaning in scripture. More recently, Islamic influencers on social media have gained a very strong hold on youth audiences.
Traditionally, women in Central Asia wore headscarves to cover their hair. The "hijab" associated with Arab Muslims is new to the region, and more commonly worn by younger women.
Mongolia is mainly Buddhist, as mentioned, but religion was similarly restricted during the communist era. Unlike core Central Asia, there has not been a large religious revival in Mongolia.
Afghanistan never had the same religious restrictions that the above countries did. Islam has progressively become more influential in the country than before. As education and globalisation rises, the idea of "Islam" becomes more important to Afghans, whereas cultural practices have traditionally been more important.
What do Central Asians think of Turanism?
They don’t know what it is. Almost every single person in Central Asia who knows what Turanism is learnt it from Turkish Internet users.
While greater co-operation with other Turkic states is popular in Central Asia (including in the majority-Iranic countries of Tajikistan and Afghanistan), there is no appetite for Central Asian countries actually unifying together, let alone with countries like Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Do I look Central Asian?
Maybe you do! These kinds of threads will be removed though. Post them on r/phenotypes.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/specialeddonkey31 • 4h ago
How common is it for afghans to look like southern Europeans??
r/AskCentralAsia • u/PangolinQueasy6324 • 5h ago
Society What comes to your mind when you think about Stalin’s imperialistic ethnic cleansing (the so‑called “Soviet” massive deportations)?
galleryr/AskCentralAsia • u/PangolinQueasy6324 • 8h ago
Society What comes to your mind when you think of about Moscow (ulus) imperialistic expansion 1300-1991 ?
galleryr/AskCentralAsia • u/SoloeaDomoea • 7h ago
History List of Central Asian male married famous European or Western celebrity females? How do they compare with other Asians and Wasians?
List of successful Central Asian males married/dated Western female celebrities (actress, singers, world beauty pageants, top ranking politicians/rich/sports people ect).
I will appreciate a list. Do Central Asian males get more girls than East Asian and Southeast Asians? I believe they do. Central Asians are alpha males ( muslims, nomadic, steppe culture) different to East Asians who are sino-sphere and to Southeast Asians ( who are blend of native culture with heavy Indian culture with Muslims/Chinese/Christian)
Central Asian male
The only one I know is Uzbek businessman Parviz Yasinov (a very Asian looking Uzbek) who dated several famous Russian female singers back than
- Julia Volkova (one of T.A.T.U lead singer who was back in the early 2000's a world famous) He married Uzbek businesman Parivz and had a son.
- Masha Weber (A russian band female singerr ) also married Uzbek businessman and had a son when she was 18 years
OTHER EXAMPLES ( like Asians and Wasians, I hope any Central Asian make this list)
For East Asian and Southeast Asian males
Of those that manage to marry some famous western female of higher status. Most are either average social media, and B list, C list western actress,. example: Katy Louise Saunders who married Korean actor.
A+ list ranking. I will say the most prominent I can find. Back than national and international beauty pageants was a super relevant 1950's and 1960's, it was relevant to some degree until 2008 today (until all the woke and transgender came in)
- Armi Kuusela ( Winner of first ever Miss universe Finland 1952) married Filipino businessman Virgilio Hilario and had childrens
- Stella Márquez (First ever winner of Miss International in 1960*)* married Filipino businessman Jorge León Araneta and had childrens
- Olivia Hussey ( Goddess actress from Romeo Juliet, voted one of most beauty of all time) married Japanese singer Akira Fuse and had children
- Natalie Glebova ( Miss Canada, winner of Miss Universe 2005 ) married prominent Thai international tennis player Paradorn Srichapha, no children
For Half Asian/Caucasian males and Wasian males.
Half Asian/Caucasian including Wasians basically represent 0.01% world population yet they married and dated some of the world richest/high fame status/desired females in the world.
- Jennifer Lopez ( Famous world singer) married Cris Judd ( Filipino mother/White male)
- Mariah Carey ( biracial black/white World famous singer, one of highest seller of all time)6 years girlfriend of Bryan Tanaka (Japanese father/White mother)
- Sophia Di Martino (Famous Marvel Hero actress Loki) wife of Will Sharpe (Japanese mother/White male) and have children
- Anna Chlumsky (Famous Child movie actress/ hollywood actress) wife of Shaun So ( Chinese father/White mother)
- Olivia Newton John (No.1 Australian-British superstar female singer, one of highest seller of all time) 9 years girlfriend of Patrick McDermott (Korean mother/White male)
- Yvette Nipar( Robotcop/Detective actress in 1990's) married Patrictk McDermott and have children
- Kate Hudson (Hollywood actress) wife of Danny Fujikawa (Japanese grandfather/white mother) and have childrens
- Brooke Shields ( The prettiest girl in 70's, most desirable female actress ) girlfriend and virginity taken by Dean cain (Japanese grandfather/White mother)
- Lara Dutta (Indian winner Miss universe, world world and currently Bollywood superstar) 9 years girlfriend of Kelly Dorji (Bhutanese father/White mother)
- Jasmin Selberg ( Miss Germany (Estonian) and Winner of miss international of 2022) girlfriend of Younming Park ( Korean father/ Alleged White/Latina great grandmother)
Average Marriage status: I also want to know how does the average male do
In the west most marriages are Asian women/White men They make up 70% where as Asian men/White women 30% ( 294,000, 219,000, 230,000) most marriages are with Chinese men and Filipino men.
Wasians: are grouped "others "in census. Wasian men 80% marry white female 20% other race (including Asian) compared to 95% of Wasian females who marry white males and 5% others (including Asian)
Central Asians: it seems that most are Kazakh men/Russian female and Uzbek men/Russian female marriage in Central Asia historically but I don't know about now.
My dream of course is to marry a high status pretty women. The best girl I ever got was a a hot Estonian doctor (a dentist) , but we broke up and have only been able to hook up with average female types.
Historically Central Asian males mass married females of other races due to their empires. And my Southern Chinese male village, as coolies mass migrated and married and mated with many (black, Mulatta, latina, some white) local females in Caribbeans, South America, with several millions of our mixed race descendants (to some small extend even Australia, UK) with no women marry out. back than my Southern Chinese Taishan Guangdong area, were strict and clannish would beat the crap and disown the women just for marrying out. Now because of this feminism since the 90's, liberate females freedom, or female now talk crap about their fathers and own men. I hope Central Asian women/men are not poison by this modernization feminism crap.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/rickrolledblyat • 1d ago
Overnight at Tashkent Airport ?
Is the airport open 24 hrs ? And is there an international transfer area where they let you wait 15+ hours ? The advice seems to be to go out into the city and get a hotel, but that's not possible.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/Cheap_You_6420 • 21h ago
What is the the popular opinion on Russia and Ukraine in Central Asia countries?
As you can see from the title, I am interested in hearing more about the opinions of the populace, since the war many opinons in each of these countries has changed
r/AskCentralAsia • u/Cool-Possibility-803 • 1d ago
Culture Кто цензурирует кино в Казахстане?
r/AskCentralAsia • u/darkpain1 • 1d ago
[Partially Lost Media] The high-quality original TV music video for Kazakh "Freestylo" parody by Unlimited (mislabeled as R.Lizer). Does anybody recognize it?
Low quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcBr2LAXHvc
An explanation of the media, and the name:
This is a comedic music video parody of Bomfunk MC’s "Freestyler", created by a Kazakh musical group/project named Unlimited around 2005–2007. On early P2P networks (eMule, Kazaa) and early YouTube, the audio track was widely mislabeled and became a viral hit under the name "R.Lizer - Freestailo". The video features a professionally shot clip that used to air on regional Kazakh music channels like Hit TV and MuzzOne.
How it is lost:
The high-quality digital TV-rips (specifically a well-known, clean 480p upload under the YouTube ID F0obabFqq3c) have been completely scrubbed from YouTube due to automated copyright claims by Sony Music / Content ID blocking the underlying melody. The only versions remaining on YouTube are heavily compressed, pixelated 240p re-uploads or modern remixes.
What research has already been done:
I have analyzed the metadata and confirmed that this video is a distinct studio production by the group Unlimited, and not the famous "Superstar KZ" audition by Ernar Kaldynov, despite popular internet myths. I checked the Wayback Machine for the deleted YouTube URL (F0obabFqq3c), but the video stream was not archived. Queries on mainstream search engines and Western archives yield no high-quality source files.
A conclusion as to the current situation as of posting:
As of mid-2026, the high-quality 480p/HQ original television edit of this viral video is considered partially lost. While low-quality, degraded screen recordings exist, the clean digital master rip that circulated in the late 2000s has disappeared from major Western video platforms.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/KeySignificant2910 • 2d ago
Meta Why do we keep on gettin zi0 posts?
I condemn antisemitism.
The way the zi0nists keep on spamming this sub looking for controversy has gotten out of hand.
Is there a way to pause the "jerusalem news article says xyz" posts for the time being?
This is a CA sub after all.
*I can see the upvote ratio and demographics on this post too. Bots aren't slick lol.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/Friendly_Client16 • 1d ago
History Is there also German community in Central Asia? Thanks!
r/AskCentralAsia • u/M37R_TI • 1d ago
Are there any Koryo-saram here? What do they think about Crimean Tatars, and do you find any historical or emotional connection between them?
r/AskCentralAsia • u/specialeddonkey31 • 2d ago
Personal Do you guys consider native siberians ur kin ?
r/AskCentralAsia • u/PangolinQueasy6324 • 1d ago
Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan) plans to remove Moscow imperial language's equal official status with Qazaq language. Great! still, Will moscow predatory empire try to "denazify" Qazaqstan ?
galleryr/AskCentralAsia • u/Gavkol87 • 1d ago
Travel 23 Days Backpacking Central Asia
Hey everyone,
My buddy and I (both early 20s, from Detroit area) are trying to lock in a backpacking trip** **for 23 days starting in early September 2026 and would love some advice from people who have actually traveled this region.
Our travel style is pretty simple:
Backpacking (40L carry-on + personal item)
Hostels, guesthouses, street food
Budget around US$3,500 each max including flights
We’d rather spend money on great experiences than luxury things
We’re active and are looking for a trip that’s heavy on adventure and culture. We like meeting locals, wandering into random situations, and having those memories that “weren’t apart of the plan.”
Current countries we’re looking at are:
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
We’re also considering a 1-day stopover in Doha if it works with flights, and maybe a 2–3 day stop somewhere in Europe on the way home if it doesn’t blow the budget. We like to get a glimpse and taste of a bunch of different places as we are less interested in spending days sitting in the same city and going to museums or just “hanging around,” we’d rather keep moving, see different landscapes, and experience the local culture.
Some things we’d love to do:
A legit 2–4 day mountain trek (not just a day hike)
Horse trekking with a yurt stay
Renting a 4x4 or jeep for a few days if there’s an area where it’s actually worth it (if this is recommended and good value)
Popular tourist spots are totally fine if they’re genuinely worth seeing, we don’t avoid them just because they’re popular
A few questions:
If you had about 3 weeks, would you do all 4 of the “-stans” or just focus on 3 and bounce out elsewhere? Even add in Afghanistan (super interested if realistic) and north Pakistan/India (this would replace the layovers/stopovers)
What order would you travel them in to make transportation as easy and cheap as possible?
Are there any amazing places that start closing or become difficult in mid/late September (mountain passes, yurt camps, trekking routes, etc.)? Should we plan to start in a certain country because of the season?
If you had to pick ONE unforgettable multi-day trek, which would it be?
For horse trekking/yurt experiences where did you do it and would you recommend it?
Is renting a car or 4x4 worth it anywhere, or are shared taxis/marshrutkas just the better experience?
Any hidden gems or “don’t miss this” experiences that don’t always show up on reddits/blogs?
If you had one thing you’d change about your Central Asia trip after the fact, what would it be?
Finally, if you were planning this trip from scratch today with our budget and timeframe, what itinerary would you build?
We genuinely appreciate any advice. We’ve done a lot of backpacking around Europe and South America, but this will be our first time in Central Asia and we want to build the best route possible while we have the chance and maximize our limited time!
(Please don’t hesitate to direct message me for a conversation).
Thanks!
r/AskCentralAsia • u/Material-Bank-2452 • 3d ago
Society How common this sentiment is among ordinary Central Asians ? (I am genuinely curious)
Please answer civilly really.
UPDATE: Thanks for everyone who contributed. I was only curious to know how common is this sentiment among other central Asians, as I was born and spent my childhood in Afghanistan. From the comments here, now I know what are the majority sentiments, at least from those who are chronically online.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/specialeddonkey31 • 1d ago
Personal Does this Ukrainian nationalist look central asian?
r/AskCentralAsia • u/JeremyMeetsWorld • 2d ago
Travel I spent 12 days traveling across Uzbekistan. It's an amazing country! I made a short video of my trip there.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/Turkish_Teacher • 2d ago
Culture Central Asian Architecture
What are some examples of your country's historical/traditional architecture?
I realize due to being nomadic and some devastating occupations (Russian/Mongol) and other factors many of the cities in Central Asia were destroyed. That is really unfortunate.
I would have loved to see what cities like Merv or Serai looked like at their peaks.
From what I can see, Uzbek cities are the best preserved. Multiple cities with old mosques, citadels, madrasas and palaces.
r/AskCentralAsia • u/Conscious_Spectator • 2d ago
Work Nearly 160,000 Citizens of Tajikistan Listed in Russia’s Controlled Persons Register - The Times Of Central Asia
Is it getting worse to be a central Asian worker in Russia?
r/AskCentralAsia • u/lardayn • 2d ago
A folkloric metal tribute to Central Asian legends
First of all, it’s Suno (ai). I like literature and writing, but I’m no artist or musician. I just like to produce songs on Suno based on Central Asian history and legends with my own lyrics (again based on legends). This one is my fifth work, in English and Kazakh, metal with Turkic instruments such as dombra and mouth harp,
I like progressive leas guitars, intros and solos before bridges, so more or less they have these.
This “album” based on Koblandy Batyr, Alpamish, Banu Chichek, Ay Churek, Oghuz Khan, Manas, Korkut Ata, and Iron Cradle (an extra song that I wrote).
https://open.spotify.com/album/5Sny0VJhHSJ3tJiM1OAv9L?si=THXr_j86SvaDwoAY3lGGsQ&utm_source=copy-link
You may also find me on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@huan-sena?si=xLBQ0rz5SrWVKA_5
r/AskCentralAsia • u/No_Idea_479 • 1d ago
Society Why has this stereotype of "Central Asian femininity" formed in Turkey?
r/AskCentralAsia • u/FeistyAlbatross4636 • 2d ago
Why do Kazakhs tarnish their images themselves?
I've seen news Kazakhs from Western Mongolia attacked Israeli tourists with an axes. Seems ret**ded as f***. Reminded me of angry Dagestanis looking for Israelis in plane engine. I hope it's not true.
Also some Kazakhs confront and provoke Mongolians claiming Genghis Khan was Kazakh 😅 on social medias — Facebook, Threads.
Those folks shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion and have an internet access to typw such things.
Really ashamed of my nation/ethnicity 🫣. Pathetic