Fifteen years after freeing themselves from Soviet rule, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are struggling for identity.
Central Asia is of strategic importance for the US, China, India and Russia - and alarm over Islamic fundamentalism, the influx of drugs from Afghanistan, and environmental insecurity means that these societies are moving from the periphery to the centre of world events.
Firdevs Robinson, editor of the BBC's Central Asia service, explores the political, economic and ethnic challenges faced by a region which, until recently, has been largely ignored by the rest of the world.
Part One: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Despite their common history as part of the Soviet empire, the states of Central Asia are careering down different paths.
Kazakhstan, blessed with huge oil and gas reserves, is the undisputed regional leader, and a major player in the international energy markets.
Kyrgyzstan does not have the wealth, but it does have beauty; known as the Switzerland of Asia, more then 90 percent of its land is mountainous.
But despite its charms, Kyrgyzstan is threatened by political insecurity and petty corruption.
In part one of this two-part series, Firdevs Robinson starts her journey at the top of the Biterech Tower overlooking Kazakhstan's flashy new capital, Astana. What is Central Asia? And why should the rest of the world care about it?
