Turkestan

Turkestan: see Turkistan.

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Turkistan

 or Turkestan

Historical region, Central Asia. This somewhat broad geographic region—situated between Siberia (Russia) to the north and Tibet (China), India, Afghanistan, and Iran to the south—derived its name from its inhabitants, who were predominantly of Turkic ancestry. The total area of more than 1,000,000 sq mi (2,600,000 sq km) was bisected by the Pamir and Tien Shan ranges, forming West and East Turkistan. West Turkistan, which included what is now Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan, came under Russian rule in the 19th century. East Turkistan came to be included in what is now the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang.

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Turkestan, Turkistan

an extensive region of central Asia between Siberia in the north and Tibet, India, Afghanistan, and Iran in the south: formerly divided into West (Russian) Turkestan (also called Soviet Central Asia), comprising present-day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan and the S part of Kazakhstan, and East (Chinese) Turkestan consisting of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region