Central and Western Asia are regions largely united by centuries-old culture, customs, and religion. In addition, the regions have similarities in terms of income inequality, as well as economic, and demographic characteristics. Notably, Uzbekistan is one of two double-landlocked countries in the world, which is an incomparable detriment to the country’s economic performance since the absence of access to the sea means the lack of trade routes on water.
In Central Asia working women earn about 60% of what men earn in Tajikistan, 61% in Uzbekistan, 75% in the Kyrgyz Republic, and 78% in Kazakhstan. Income inequality for the 5 countries was recovered according to the Gini coefficient. The average income inequality in Central Asia is 33% points. Moreover, the 4 countries had high income inequality in 2000 and 2003, with an average of 57%, excluding Kyrgyzstan. However, this county also had the lowest levels of inequality, with 49% points in 2003.
Western Asian countries such as Syria, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, and Lebanon had an average of 54% between the years 2003 and 2009, additionally, the country with the highest points in 2004 was 65% Syria, this was due to wars, military conflicts and other issues that are still present to this day. Additionally, the average for all the countries was 34%, almost the same as Central Asian countries.
Demographic state
In both regions, youth aged 20 to 34 years are the central part of the population and have the subsequent indicators: 1) In Central Asia, this percentage is on average 47.85% in total, 24.4% of which are men, and 23.45% are women; 2) Meanwhile, in Western Asia the average is 47.5% in total, 24.6% of which are men, 22.9% women, which has an incomparably remarkable result on the economies of the countries of these subregions.
Due to globalization, many professions have been abolished and replaced by more modern and demanding jobs. Since young people are a privileged part of the population, the level of education will tend to increase to the requirements for new professions, and, accordingly, the unemployment and poverty levels will tend to decrease.
Economic state
Central and Western Asian economies primarily depend on agriculture, with 20–50% of the labour force and 10–45% of the GDP employed in Central Asia. World Bank (2023) reported that the average production of cereals in Western Asia is 4 mn metric tons, compared to Central Asia's average annual output of 5.81 mn metric tons of grain. Turkey and Uzbekistan are 2 of the top 10 cotton producers in the world.
Uzbekistan’s cotton output has decreased due to the extraction of irrigation water, which has worsened environmental problems near the Aral Sea. The agriculture sector has a considerable impact on both regions regarding GDP, job possibilities, boosting the economies of rural areas, earnings for farmers, and funding for related enterprises, including food distribution and manufacturing.
Almost 420 mn Muslims live in the 13 nations comprising the Western Asia subregion, accounting for more than 90 % of each nation’s population. While this occurs, between 70 and 89% of the population in Central Asian nations such as Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are Muslim.
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