Turkistan is a historical name for a vast region in Asia situated between the Caspian Sea to the west and Siberia to the north. It is bounded by the Gobi Desert in Mongolia to the east, and Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and Tibet to the south.
The region is primarily inhabited by Turkic peoples, along with minorities of Russian and Tajik descent. Historically, the area is subdivided into two distinct sections: West Turkestan, which formerly belonged to the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, and East Turkestan, which currently forms a part of China.