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Country Hopping: Uzbekistan
Official name: Republic of Uzbekistan
Area: 447,400 sq km
Population: 23,574,000
Capital: Tashkent
Currency: Som
Language: Uzbek
Major cities: Samarkand, Bukhara, Namangan, Andizhan
Independence Day: August 31, 1991
Major exports: Cotton fibre, textiles, machinery, food and energy products, gold.
Uzbekistan is a country in central Asia, with Kazakhstan and the Arak sea towards the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan towards the east, Afghanistan towards the south, and Turkmenistan towards the west.
Physical features
Uzbekistan’s terrain is composed of sandy desert plains such as the Turan Lowland; plains occupy about four-fifths of the republic’s territory. Branches of the Tian Shan and Pamirs rise in the east and northeast, with the country’s highest elevation reaching 15,233 feet.
The Kyzylkum Desert is located in the north central part of Uzbekistan; it is the second largest desert in the former USSR and one of the largest deserts in the world. The two largest rivers, the Amu Darya and Syrdarya, flow into the Aral Sea.
Climate
The climate of Uzbekistan is desert continental. Temperatures fluctuate greatly over the course of a year. The average daily temperature in January ranges from -6° to 2°C and in July from 26° to 32°C. There is little rainfall.
People
Uzbekistan has the third largest population of any former republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Uzbeks, a Turkic-speaking people with an Islamic heritage, make up 71 per cent of the population. Russians are the largest minority, accounting for 8.3 per cent. Tajiks (4.7 per cent) and Kazaks (4.1 per cent) are the next largest minorities, followed by Tatars, Karakalpaks, Koreans, Kyrgyz, Ukrainians, Turkmens, and Turks.
Uzbek and Russian are the commonly spoken languages here.
Government
The constitution provides for a directly elected president, serving not more than two consecutive five-year terms, and a 250-member supreme assembly, the Oli Majlis, to which deputies are elected by a majority system.
A prime minister and cabinet are drawn from the legislature but are subordinate to the president, who may, with the approval of the Constitutional Court, dissolve the Oli Majlis. For administrative purposes, the country is divided into 12 regions.
Places to visit
Over 4,000 historical monuments, largely associated with the ancient “Silk Route”; many historical sites and cities, including Samarkand (Tamerlane’s capital), Bukhara, and Khiva attract the tourists to Uzbekistan.
Economy
Uzbekistan is among the world’s leading cotton producers. The country also produces and exports a large volume of natural gas. Known for its orchards and vineyards, Uzbekistan is also an important region for raising Karakul sheep and silkworms.
Wildlife
The animals found in this country are brown bear, tiger, bactrian camel, markhor, red deer, raccoon, Levant viper, Eurasian badger, grey wolf, Saiga, snow leopard, red fox, wild boar, dromedary, Eurasian otter and green toad.
The birds found here are whooper swan, peregrine falcon, hoopoe, golden oriole, bearded vulture and great bustard.
History
6th century BC: Part of Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great.
4th century BC: Part of empire of Alexander the Great of Macedonia.
1st century BC: Samarkand (Maracanda) developed as transit point on strategic Silk Road, trading route between China and Europe.
7th century: City of Tashkent founded; spread of Islam.
12th century: Tashkent taken by Turks; Khorezem (Khiva), in northwest, became the centre of large Central Asian polity, stretching from the Caspian Sea to Samarkand in the east.
13th-14th centuries: Conquered by Genghis Khan and became part of the Mongol Empire, with Samarkand serving as capital for Tamerlane.
18th-19th centuries: Dominated by independent emirates and khanates (chiefdoms) of Bukhara in the southwest, Kokand in the east, and Samarkand in the centre.
1865-67: Tashkent was taken by Russia and made the capital of Governor-Generalship of Turkestan.
1868-76: Tsarist Russia annexed emirate of Bukhara (1868); and khanates of Samarkand (1868), Khiva (1873), and Kokand (1876).
1917: Following Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Tashkent soviet (people’s council) was established, which deposed the emir of Bukhara and other Khans in 1920.
1918-22: Mosques were closed and Muslim clergy persecuted as part of the secularization drive by new communist rulers, despite nationalist guerrilla (basmachi) resistance.
1921: Party of Turkestan Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic formed.
1925: Became constituent republic of USSR.
1930s: Skilled ethnic Russians immigrated into urban centres as industries developed.
1944: About 160,000 Meskhetian Turks forcibly transported from their native Georgia to Uzbekistan by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
1950s-80s: Major irrigation projects stimulated cotton production, but led to desiccation of the Aral Sea.
Late 1980s: Upsurge in Islamic consciousness stimulated by glasnost initiative of Soviet Union’s reformist leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
1989: Birlik (‘Unity’), nationalist movement, formed. Violent attacks on Meskhetian and other minority communities in Ferghana Valley.
1990: Economic and political sovereignty declared by increasingly nationalist UCP, led by Islam Karimov, who became the president.
1991: Attempted anti-Gorbachev coup by conservatives in Moscow initially supported by President Karimov. Independence declared. Uzbekistan joined new Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Karimov elected president.
1992: Violent food riots in Tashkent. Joined Economic Cooperation Organization and United Nations. New constitution adopted.
1993: Crackdown on Islamic fundamentalists as economy deteriorated.
1994: Economic, military, and social union formed with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Economic integration treaty signed with Russia. Links with Turkey strengthened and foreign inward investment encouraged.
1995: Ruling PDP (formerly UCP) won general elections, from which opposition was banned from participating. Karimov’s tenure extended for a further five-year term by national plebiscite.
1996: Agreement with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to create single economic market.
1998: A treaty of eternal friendship and a treaty of deepening economic cooperation were signed with Kazakhstan.
1999: Uzbekistan threatened to end participation in a regional security treaty, accusing Russia of seeking to integrate the former Soviet republics into a superstate.
2000: Karimov was reelected to the presidency, again by a lopsided majority. In August there were clashes with Uzbek Islamic guerrillas who had crossed into Uzbekistan from bases in Tajikistan.
2001: Uzbekistan allowed US forces to use bases there in its campaign against Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan’s Taliban.
2002: After a referendum that was criticized by Western nations, Karimov’s term was extended to December 2007.
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