evidence: - Contested territories - Disputed by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan - Population 10.000.000 - Area 22,000 km² The Fergana Valley is divided among three republics of the former Soviet Union: eastern Uzbekistan, northern Tajikistan and southern Kyrgyzstan. Various ethnicities used to live side by side in the valley but since the Soviet Union collapsed, new independent republics have been stressing their own national identity rather than respecting the multi-ethnic population that lives in the enclaves. As a result many smaller inter-ethnic disputes in border regions often turn into national border disputes. This makes the Fergana Valley one of the most violent regions in the area.