evidence: The Fergana Valley is a transboundary, intermontane, multiethnic region that features conflict over water and borders, while being a uniquely prosperous section of Central Asia. This lowland between the Tien-Shan Mountains and the Pamir-Alay Mountains is watered by the Kara Darya and the Naryn streams as they merge to form the Syr Darya. ("Darya" means "river" in local Turkic languages.) Given that Central Asia features steppe, deserts, and mountains, it is singularly valuable to have lowlands with regular river flow. [...] Moreover, it is not as if the Fergana Valley is home to a few scattered people in a far distant place. True, Americans may view the Fergana Valley as a far distant place, if they even know of it at all. However, for Central Asia the Fergana Valley is a vital piece of territory that is densely populated and agriculturally essential. In 2014, the population of the Fergana Valley was fourteen million people, over 20% of the population of post-Soviet Central Asia. These millions lived in only 5% of the corresponding land area. Population density of Fergana was about 1600 people per square mile, while that of the whole region measures about 40 people per square mile.