The internet came to Central Asia in the late 1990s. Decades on, some countries have the lowest levels of internet penetration in the world due to factors including geographical isolation, barriers to infrastructure and political restrictions.
According to the World Bank’s 2015 statistics (the most recent available), Kazakhstan is the most-connected of any country in the region, with nearly three-quarters (73%) of the population online – compared to 43% in Uzbekistan, 30% in Kyrgyzstan, and 20% in Tajikistan. In Turkmenistan, just 15% of the 5.6 million population use the internet.
But across Central Asia the number of internet users has grown as smartphones and data have become cheaper and more accessible. Social media use is also on the rise, particularly since Facebook introduced capacity for local languages.
To those outside the Stans, social media offers a glimpse into these once secret cities, while those who live in them have a means of sharing their homes with the world.
Guardian Cities is exploring in depth the oft-ignored – and exceedingly difficult to report from – cities of the five Central Asian “Stans”: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, a quarter of a century after they became independent from the former Soviet Union.
From the bizarre architecture of the “trophy cities” to the joys and struggles of everyday urban life in some very unequal societies, our goal is to engage with the people who actually live in the Stans cities by publishing some of our reporting in the languages spoken there: not just Russian, often considered the language of the elite, but Turkmen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Tajik.
Last year photographer Hassan Kurbanbaev documented Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan where he was born and still lives, in a project that was widely featured by arts and culture magazines on Instagram.
“It seems to me, for different reasons, Tashkent is not displayed well in the broadest sense of contemporary documentary, and lately I have depressing feeling about that,” he says of the motivation for his tashkent.DOC series. “I decided just to go out and start to document my city.”
Kurbanbaev told Guardian Cities that social media use was becoming increasingly widespread in Tashkent. (A spokeswoman for Instagram said it was available in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajkistan, though there were sometimes “temporary disruptions”, and unavailable in Turkmenistan.)
“Some politics websites that cover our region are blocked here – but they can’t block social media and Instagram,” he says. “Though the mobile internet is quite expensive, in my opinion, Instagram has a huge influence on young people, and the popularity is rising very fast.”
Guardian Cities brings together the best in urban photography on Instagram at @guardiancities. This week we are focusing on the cities of the Stans. Share your shots with us on Instagram with the hashtag #SecretStans
Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, rebuilt since the 1966 earthquake
Mary, an oasis city in Turkmenistan and once an ancient metropolis
Almaty, Kazakhstan’s former capital and largest city
Ashgabat, the showpiece capital of Turkmenistan
Oskemen, Kazakhstan – the site of the UN’s newest uranium bank
Samarkand in Uzbekistan, one of the oldest cities in Central Asia
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan and a planned city
Bukhara, Uzbekistan, a former trading hub on the Great Silk Road
Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, named for its old Monday market
Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan and its largest city
Khiva, Uzbekistan, known for the Islamic architecture of its historic centre
Osh, the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, and its cultural capital
Do you live in one of the Stans cities, or have you spent time there? We’re eager to hear your thoughts and experiences. Follow us on Facebook and share stories and pictures using #SecretStans on Twitter and Instagram
