Providing a key to understanding the present economic, political, and social situation of each of the five main Central Asian states, this exhaustively researched and up-to-date single-volume reference is the only source of its kind currently available in English. With a section for each state--Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan--the handbook draws on empirical data and current research to provide essential information on each state.