Central Asia peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan. There are several places that claim to be the geographic center of Asia, for example Kyzyl, the capital of Tuva in the Russian Federation, and a village north of Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region of China. Central Asia is an extremely large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains (Tian Shan), vast deserts (Kyzyl Kum, Taklamakan), and especially treeless, grassy steppes. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a homogeneous geographical zone known
Interior Plains Interior Plains The Interior Plains is a vast physiographic region that spreads across the Laurentian craton of central North America. The region extends from the Gulf Coast region to the Arctic Ocean along the east flank of the Rocky Mountains. In Canada the region separates the Rocky Mountains from the Canadian Shield. In the United States the plains include the Great Plains of the west and the Tallgrass prairie region to the south of the Great Lakes extending east to the Appalachian Plateau region. This area was originally formed when cratons collided and welded together 1.8–1.9 billion years ago in