A com­bin­a­tion of harsh weather con­di­tions, advance­ment of tech­no­logy and gov­ern­ment sub­sidy has helped con­trib­ute to the extinc­tion of some of the very unique and artis­anal pro­fes­sions of this region of the coun­try, pro­fes­sions that were born out of neces­sity and a mix­ture of cul­tures includ­ing Afric­ans brought as slaves, Nat­ives as well as vari­ous migrants, mainly European.

The Aral Sea, lying between Kaza­kh­stan and Uzbek­istan was once a large salt­water lake that covered some 68,000 square km and was the fourth largest inland body of water in the world.