or Turkestan
Historical region, Central Asia.
This somewhat broad geographic region
situated between Siberia to the north and Tibet, 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 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 was annexed by China in the 8th century; it included what is now the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang .