84 Central Asia:
Physical Geography I – Steppe

Step it up! What is steppe? Well, there are many names for this type of landscape or for landscapes that are similar to it. Plains, prairie, savanna, grassland. All of these are at least similar to the steppe landscape.

Because Russia contains a large section of steppe, it is not surprising that the word steppe is derived from the Russian word степь. However, for Central Asia, steppe also is found in Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

This might be a challenge, but this chapter’s acronym will use the Cyrillic word степь. In Cyrillic, the letter is pronounced as the Latin letter s, while the Cyrillic п is the Latin letter p. The printed t and e match their Latin counterparts. The tricky Cyrillic ь has no sound, but softens the letter previous to it. Thus, we will let ь represent silence or quietude.

с = semi-arid
The Kazakh Steppe, also known as the Great Dala (in Turkic languages, dala means plains), is the largest dry steppe in the world. It fits into the cool semi-arid (BSk) classification under the Köppen climate classification system. In eastern Mongolia, the steppe is similar to that of the Kazakh Steppe, cool and semi-arid. This climate classification usually features locations that are in the interior of continents, away from the moderating and hydrating effects of the ocean. Often these locations are adjacent to event drier regions; for instance, both the Kazakh and Mongolian steppes abut drier areas, respectively the Kyzylkum Desert and the Gobi Desert. Temperatures are cool, not extreme, throughout the year. Kazakhstan’s capital city Nur-Sultan, in the steppe zone, averages a July high temperature of 79°F and a January low temperature of -4°F.

t = three or third

The Kazakh Steppe holds about one-third of the area of Kazakhstan. At about 800,000 km2, the steppe is larger than Texas. At nearly 2.7 million km2, the country ranks third in its immediate surroundings, behind neighbors Russia (#1 in the world) and China (#3 in the world). Kazakhstan is ranked 9th (3 times 3 equals nine). Any way that you slice it, the Kazakh Steppe is a vast region, stretching great viewing distances in any direction.

e = ethnic
Kazakhs are linked to the invasions of the Mongol hordes. The grasslands of the steppe provided open passageways for the Mongol khans to lead their forces westward. As horsemen, the hordes swept through the steppe and onward, conquering and holding territory. Indeed, the word Kazakh means free wanderer, often considered to have an additional connotation of gain. So, Kazakhs developed as free wanderers seeking gain. As this identity developed, it evolved less toward the Western style of ethnic identity and more toward an economic way of life. Then during the early days of Soviet communism, Stalin solidified the sense of being Kazakh, making it more culturally ethnic and less an economic lifestyle. Additionally, Stalin continued and greatly spread the Tsarist habit of forcibly sending and deserting troublemakers and perceived problems to Kazakhstan (and to Siberia). Sometimes larger numbers of individual ethnic groups were dumped into Kazakhstan with no means to leave. Furthermore, as part of Russification, the Soviet strategy sent many Russians to Kazakhstan. As a result, modern Kazakhstan has a large number of different ethnic groups.

п = plowed
About half of the original steppe now is plowed, as a result of the Soviet Union’s Virgin Lands program of the 1950s. In 1953, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev initiated a campaign to dramatically increase agricultural output nationally by significantly increasing the country’s acreage of cultivated land. Khrushchev viewed the steppes of northern Kazakhstan and southwestern Siberia as unused space and ideal as the previously unplowed or virgin lands of this new program. In 1954-1955, some 80 million acres of the Siberian and Kazakh steppe lands were plowed and cultivated. Indeed, initial results were dramatic and positive; however, in the 1960s wind erosion of top soil and over-reliance on single-crop cultivation distinctly limited crop yields. In fact, the Soviet record harvest of 1956 was never matched. By the way, ethnic diversity of Kazakhstan continued with the Virgin Lands program, as a variety of young workers migrated there to work in agriculture. Nevertheless, current day agricultural output is good in Kazakhstan, as northern fields yield enough wheat to put the country in the top ten worldwide.

ь = (silent)
Population density in Kazakhstan overall is 17 people per square mile, ranking 11th lowest among countries of the world. Since the country’s population is about 19 million with about 11 million living in urban areas, the rural areas have almost all the land and only about 8 million people. Population density on the steppe could be estimated at about 8 people per square mile. Based on that measure, the steppe would seem to be a quiet place.

Cited and additional bibliography:

Astana Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Kazakhstan) – Weather Spark. https://weatherspark.com/y/107257/Average-Weather-in-Astana-Kazakhstan-Year-Round.

Boonman, Joseph G., and Sergei S. Mikhalev. Grassland of the World. https://www.fao.org/3/y8344e/y8344e0h.htm.

“Kazakh Steppe.” One Earth, https://www.oneearth.org/ecoregions/kazakh-steppe/.

Terpsichores. Ecoregion PA0810: Kazakh steppe. CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecoregion_PA0810.svg.

Walters, Alex. “The Kazakh Steppe: Ancient Culture Informs Modern World.” Edge: Kazakhstan, 16 Apr. 2012, https://www.edgekz.com/kazakh-steppe-ancient-culture-informs-modern-world/.