SSC MTS EXAM

Life in central Asia’s former Soviet republics has never been easy. The larger states-Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan-are dominated by tree-less steppes and arid, sprawling deserts. The terrain of the smaller countries, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, consists of little more than mountains. Throw in the fact that the whole region is landlocked, and has no navigable rivers and little decent agricultural land, and it’s no surprise that the five ‘Stans’ are among the most sparsely populated countries on earth. On average, there are only five people for every square mile in the region. Or to put it another way, a population roughly the size of Britain’s is spread out over a region 17 times as large.Yet despite the harsh geography and sparse population, some of the region’s economies are booming. Why? One reason is the demand-fuelled surge in commodity prices over the last decade. The Stans are host to vast amounts of natural resources, many of which were underexploited during the years of Soviet rule. As a result, the last ten years have seen a horde of Russian, Chinese and Western firms pile into central Asia in a dash to secure the best assets.-“How to profit from the scramble for resources in central Asia, “ Money Week, December 2011http://www.moneyweek.com (accessed May 29, 2014)Based on the information in the excerpt, the level of economic development in Central Asia is best described as-