Uzbekistan, officially the
Republic of Uzbekistan ( ‘zbekiston Respublikasi
or Ўзбекистон Республикаси), is a doubly
landlocked country in Central Asia,
formerly part of the Soviet
Union
. It shares borders with Kazakhstan
to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan
to the east, and Afghanistan
and Turkmenistan
to the south.
Once part of the
Persian Samanid and later
Timurid empires, the region was conquered in
the early 16th century by
Uzbek nomads, who
spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population
today belong to the
Uzbek ethnic group
and speak the
Uzbek language, one of
the family of
Turkic
languages.
Uzbekistan
was incorporated into the Russian Empire
in the 19th century and in 1924 became a
constituent republic of the Soviet Union
, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist
Republic (Uzbek SSR). It has
been an independent republic since December 1991.
Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production,
including
cotton,
gold,
uranium, and
natural
gas. Despite the declared objective of
transition to a
market economy, Uzbekistan continues to
maintain rigid economic controls, which often repel foreign
investors. The policy of gradual, strictly controlled transition
has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of
economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan's domestic policies on
human rights and individual freedoms are often criticised by
international organizations. In Uzbekistan about 45% of the
population live on less than US$1.25 per day.
Geography

Satellite map of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
is approximately the size of California
and New
Jersey
added together and has an area
of . It is the 56th largest country in the world by area and
the 42nd by population. Among the
CIS countries,
it is the 5th largest by area and the 3rd largest by
population.
Uzbekistan stretches from west to east and from north to south.
Bordering
Kazakhstan
and the Aral
Sea
to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan
to the southwest, Tajikistan
to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan
to the northeast, Uzbekistan is not only one of the
larger Central Asian states but also
the only Central Asian state to border all the other four.
Uzbekistan
also shares a short border (less than 150 km) with Afghanistan
to the south.
Uzbekistan
is a dry, landlocked country; it is one
of two doubly landlocked countries
in the world, i.e., a country completely surrounded by landlocked
countries – the other being Liechtenstein
. Less than 10% of its territory is
intensively cultivated irrigated land in river valleys and oases.
The rest is vast desert (
Kyzyl Kum) and
mountains.
The
highest point in Uzbekistan is the Khazret Sultan
, located at above sea level, located in the
southern part of the Gissar Range in
Surkhandarya
Province
, on the border with Tajikistan
, just north-west of Dushanbe
(formerly called Peak of the 22nd Congress of
the Communist Party).
The
climate in the Republic of Uzbekistan is
continental, with little
precipitation expected annually
(100–200 millimeters, or 3.9–7.9 inches). The average summer high
temperature tends to be 40 °C ,
while the average winter low temperature is around −23 °C
.
Major
cities include Bukhara
, Samarqand
, Namangan
and the capital Tashkent
.
History

Female statuette bearing the
kaunakes.
Chlorite and limestone, Bactria, beginning of the 2nd
millennium BC.

Alexander at the Battle of Issos
The first people known to have occupied Central Asia were
Iranian nomads who arrived from the northern
grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan sometime in the first
millennium BC. These nomads, who spoke Iranian dialects, settled in
Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system
along the rivers of the region. At this time, cities such as
Bukhoro (Bukhara) and Samarqand (Samarkand) began to appear as
centers of government and culture. By the
5th century BC, the
Bactrian,
Soghdian, and
Tokharian states dominated the region. As
China began to develop its silk trade with the West, Iranian cities
took advantage of this commerce by becoming centers of trade. Using
an extensive network of cities and settlements in the province of
Mawarannahr (a name given the region after the Arab conquest) in
Uzbekistan and farther east in what is today China's Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region, the Soghdian intermediaries became the
wealthiest of these Iranian merchants. Because of this trade on
what became known as the Silk Route, Bukhoro and Samarqand
eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times
Mawarannahr was one of the most influential and powerful Persian
provinces of antiquity.

Map of the Sassanide empire

The Russians taking over the city of
Khiva
Alexander the Great conquered
Sogdiana and
Bactria
in 327 BC, marrying
Roxana, daughter of a
local Bactrian chieftain. The conquest was supposedly of little
help to Alexander as popular resistance was fierce, causing
Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the
northern part of Hellenistic
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. For many
centuries the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by Iranian empires,
including the
Parthian and
Sassanid Empires.
The
Mongol conquest under
Genghis Khan during the 13th century, would
bring about a dramatic change to the region. The brutal conquest
and widespread genocide characteristic of the Mongols almost
entirely exterminated the indigenous Indo-Iranian (
Scythian) people of the region. Their culture and
heritage being superseded by that of the Mongolian-Turkic peoples
who settled the region thereafter.
Following the death of Chinggis Khan in 1227, his empire was
divided among his four sons and his family members. Despite the
potential for serious fragmentation, Mongol law of the
Mongol Empire maintained orderly succession
for several more generations, and control of most of Mawarannahr
stayed in the hands of direct descendants of Chaghatai, the second
son of Chinggis. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace
prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole
remained strong and united.
In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began to
break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory also
was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for
influence. One tribal chieftain,
Timur
(Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the
dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of
Chinggis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and
proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor,
and the southern steppe region north of the Aral Sea. He also
invaded Russia before dying during an invasion of China in
1405.
Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in
his capital, Samarqand, numerous artisans and scholars from the
lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his
empire with a very rich culture. During Timur's reign and the
reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and
palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarqand and
other population centres. Timur also patronized scientists and
artists; his grandson
Ulugh Beg was one of
the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid
dynasty that Turkish, in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became
a literary language in its own right in Mawarannahr—although the
Timurids also patronized writing in Persian. Until then only
Persian had been used in the region. The greatest Chaghataid
writer, Ali Shir Nava'i, was active in the city of Herat, now in
northwestern Afghanistan, in the second half of the fifteenth
century.
The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of
Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the
attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north of the
Aral Sea. In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of
Mawarannahr.
In the
nineteenth century, the Russian Empire
began to expand and spread into Central Asia. The "
Great Game" period is generally regarded as
running from approximately 1813 to the
Anglo-Russian Convention of
1907. Following the
Bolshevik
Revolution of 1917, a second, less intensive phase followed.
At the
start of the nineteenth century, there were some 2,000 miles
(3,200 km) separating British
India and the outlying regions of Tsarist Russia
. Much of the land in between was
unmapped.
By the
beginning of the twentieth century, Central Asia was firmly in the
hands of Russia, and despite some early resistance to Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan and the rest of Central
Asia became a part of the Soviet Union
. On 27 October 1924 the
Uzbek Soviet Socialist
Republic was created. On 31 August 1991, Uzbekistan declared
independence, marking 1 September as a national holiday.
The country is now the world's second-largest exporter of
cotton, and it is developing its
mineral and
petroleum
reserves.
Politics
.jpg/180px-Oliy_Majlis_(Parliament_of_Uzbekistan).jpg)
Uzbek parliament
Constitutionally, the Government of Uzbekistan provides for
democracy. The
executive
holds a great deal of power, and the
legislature and
judiciary have little power to shape laws. Under
terms of a December 27, 1995 referendum,
Islam Karimov's first term was extended.
Another national referendum was held 27 January 2002 to extend the
Constitutional Presidential term from 5 years to 7 years.
The referendum passed, and Karimov's term was extended by act of
the parliament to December 2007. Most international observers
refused to participate in the process and did not recognize the
results, dismissing them as not meeting basic standards. The 2002
referendum also included a plan to create a bicameral parliament,
consisting of a lower house (the
Oliy Majlis) and an upper
house (Senate). Members of the lower house are to be "full time"
legislators. Elections for the new bicameral parliament took place
on 26 December, but no truly independent opposition candidates or
parties were able to take part.
The
OSCE
limited observation mission concluded that the elections fell
significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international
standards for democratic elections. Several political parties have
been formed with government approval. Similarly, although multiple
media outlets (radio, TV, newspaper) have been established, these
either remain under government control or rarely broach political
topics. Independent political parties were allowed to organise,
recruit members and hold conventions and press conferences, but
they have been denied registration under restrictive registration
procedures.
Human rights
The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan asserts that
"democracy in the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be based upon common
human principles, according to which the highest value shall be the
human being, his life, freedom, honour, dignity and other
inalienable rights."
However,
non-governmental human
rights watchdogs, such as IHF,
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as
United
States Department of State
and Council of the European Union
define Uzbekistan as "an authoritarian state with limited civil
rights" and express profound concern about "wide-scale violation of
virtually all basic human rights".According to the reports,
the most widespread violations are
torture,
arbitrary
arrests,and various restrictions of
freedoms: of religion, of speech and press, of free association and
assembly.The reports maintain that the violations are most often
committed against members of religious organizations, independent
journalists, human rights activists and political activists,
including members of the banned opposition parties.In 2005,
Uzbekistan was included into
Freedom
House's "The Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive
Societies."
The official position is summarised in a memorandum "The measures
taken by the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field
of providing and encouraging human rights" and amounts to the
following: the government does everything that is in its power to
protect and to guarantee the human rights of Uzbekistan's citizens.
Uzbekistan continuously improves its laws and institutions in order
to create a more humane society. Over 300 laws regulating the
rights and basic freedoms of the people have been passed by the
parliament. For instance, an office of
Ombudsman was established in 1996. On 2 August
2005, President Islam Karimov signed a decree that was to abolish
capital punishment in Uzbekistan on 1 January 2008.
The
2005 civil unrest in
Uzbekistan, which resulted in several hundred people being
killed, is viewed by many as a landmark event in the history of
human rights abuse in Uzbekistan,A concern has been expressed and a
request for an independent investigation of the events has been
made by the United States, European Union, the
UN, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the OSCE Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.The government of
Uzbekistan is accused of unlawful termination of human life and of
denying its citizens freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.
The government vehemently rebuffs the accusations, maintaining that
it merely conducted an anti-terrorist operation, exercising only
necessary force. In addition, some officials claim that "an
information war on Uzbekistan has been declared" and the human
rights violations in Andijan are invented by the enemies of
Uzbekistan as a convenient pretext for intervention into the
country's internal affairs.
Uzbekistan also does not allow Tajiks to teach in their youth in
their native language. There have been cases of destroying great
Tajiki (Farsi) literary works.
(http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=70402)
Provinces and districts
Uzbekistan is divided into twelve
provinces
(
viloyatlar, singular
viloyat, compound noun
viloyati e.g.,
Toshkent
viloyati, Samarqand
viloyati, etc.), one
autonomous republic
(
respublika, compound noun
respublikasi e.g.
Qaraqalpaqstan Avtonom
Respublikasi, Karakalpakistan
Autonomous Republic, etc.), and one
independent city (
shahar. compound noun
shahri, e.g.,
Toshkent
shahri). Names are given below in the
Uzbek language, although numerous variations
of the transliterations of each name exist.
Division |
Capital City |
Area
(km²) |
Population (2008) |
Key |
Buxoro Viloyati |
Buxoro (Bukhara ) |
39,400 |
1,576,800 |
3 |
Jizzax Viloyati |
Jizzax |
20,500 |
1,090,900 |
5 |
Navoiy Viloyati |
Navoiy |
110,800 |
834,100 |
7 |
Qashqadaryo Viloyati |
Qarshi |
28,400 |
2,537,600 |
8 |
Samarqand Viloyati |
Samarqand |
16,400 |
3,032,000 |
9 |
Sirdaryo Viloyati |
Guliston |
5,100 |
698,100 |
10 |
Surxondaryo Viloyati |
Termez |
20,800 |
2,012,600 |
11 |
Toshkent Viloyati |
Toshkent (Tashkent ) |
15,300 |
2,537,500 |
12 |
Toshkent
Shahri |
Toshkent (Tashkent) |
??? |
2,192,700 |
1 |
Fergana Valley Region |
|
|
|
|
Farg'ona Viloyati |
Farg'ona (Fergana ) |
6,800 |
2,997,400 |
4 |
Andijon Viloyati |
Andijon |
4,200 |
2,477,900 |
2 |
Namangan Viloyati |
Namangan |
7,900 |
2,196,200 |
6 |
Karakalpakstan Region |
|
|
|
|
Xorazm Viloyati |
Urganch |
6,300 |
1,517,600 |
13 |
Qaraqalpaqstan Respublikasi |
Nukus |
160,000 |
1,612,300 |
14 |
The statistics for Toshkent Viloyati also include the statistics
for Toshkent Shahri.
The provinces are further divided into
districts (
tuman).
Economy
Along with many
Commonwealth of Independent
States economies, Uzbekistan's economy declined during the
first years of transition and then recovered after 1995, as the
cumulative effect of policy reforms began to be felt. It has shown
robust growth, rising by 4% per year between 1998 and 2003 and
accelerating thereafter to 7%-8% per year. According to IMF
estimates, the GDP in 2008 will be almost double its value in 1995
(in constant prices). Since 2003 annual inflation rates averaged
less than 10%.
Uzbekistan has a very low
GNI
per capita (US$610 in current dollars in 2006, giving a
PPP equivalent of US$2,250). By GNI
per capita in PPP equivalents Uzbekistan ranks 169 among 209
countries; among the 12
CIS countries, only
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had lower GNI per capita in 2006.
Economic production is concentrated in commodities: Uzbekistan is
now the world's sixth-largest producer and second-largest exporter
of cotton, as well as the seventh largest world producer of gold.
It is also a regionally significant producer of natural gas, coal,
copper, oil, silver and uranium.
Agriculture employs 28% of
Uzbekistan's labour force and contributes 24% of its GDP (2006
data). While official unemployment is very low, underemployment –
especially in rural areas – is estimated to be at least 20%. Still,
at cotton-harvest time, all students and teachers are mobilized as
unpaid labour to help in the fields. The use of child labour in
Uzbekistan has led several companies, including Tesco, C&A,
Marks & Spencer, Gap, and H&M, to boycott Uzbek
cotton.
Facing a multitude of economic challenges upon acquiring
independence, the government adopted an evolutionary reform
strategy, with an emphasis on state control, reduction of imports
and self-sufficiency in energy. Since 1994, the state-controlled
media have repeatedly proclaimed the success of this "Uzbekistan
Economic Model" and suggested that it is a unique example of a
smooth transition to the market economy while avoiding shock,
pauperism and stagnation.
The gradualist reform strategy has involved postponing significant
macroeconomic and structural reforms. The state in the hands of the
bureaucracy has remained a dominant
influence in the economy. Corruption permeates the society and
grows more rampant over time: Uzbekistan's 2005
Corruption Perception Index was
137 out of 159 countries, whereas in 2007 Uzbekistan is at the very
bottom of the ranking, 175 out of 179. A February 2006 report on
the country by the
International Crisis Group
suggests that revenues earned from key exports, especially cotton,
gold, corn and increasingly gas, are distributed among a very small
circle of the ruling elite, with little or no benefit for the
populace at large.
According to the
Economist
Intelligence Unit, "the government is hostile to allowing the
development of an independent private sector, over which it would
have no control". Thus, the national
bourgeoisie in general, and the
middle class in particular, are marginalised
economically and, consequently, politically.
The economic policies have repelled foreign investment, which is
the lowest per capita in the
CIS. For years, the
largest barrier to foreign companies entering the Uzbekistan market
has been the difficulty of converting currency.
In 2003, the
government accepted the obligations of Article VIII under the
International Monetary Fund
. providing for full currency convertibility.
However, strict currency controls and the tightening of borders
have lessened the effect of this measure.
Uzbekistan experienced rampant
inflation
of around 1000% per year immediately after independence
(1992–1994).
Stabilisation efforts implemented with
guidance from the IMF
paid
off. The inflation rates were brought down to 50% in 1997
and then to 22% in 2002. Since 2003 annual inflation rates averaged
less than 10%. Tight economic policies in 2004 resulted in a
drastic reduction of inflation to 3.8% (although alternative
estimates based on the price of a true
market basket, put it at 15%). The inflation
rates moved up to 6.9% in 2006 and 7.6% in 2007 but have remained
in the single-digit range.
The government of Uzbekistan restricts foreign imports in many
ways, including high import duties. Excise taxes are applied in a
highly discriminatory manner to protect locally produced goods.
Official tariffs are combined with unofficial, discriminatory
charges resulting in total charges amounting to as much as 100 to
150% of the actual value of the product, making imported products
virtually unaffordable. Import substitution is an officially
declared policy and the government proudly reports a reduction by a
factor of two in the volume of consumer goods imported. A number of
CIS countries are officially exempt from Uzbekistan import
duties.
The Republican Stock Exchange (RSE) 'Tashkent' opened in 1994. It
houses a securities exchange, real estate traders, the national
investment fund and the national securities depositary. It does not
trade all joint-stock companies each month, and therefore market
capitalisation varies widely.
Uzbekistan's external position has been strong since 2003. Thanks
in part to the recovery of world market prices of gold and cotton
(the country's key export commodities), expanded natural gas and
some manufacturing exports, and increasing labour migrant
transfers, the current account turned into a large surplus (between
9% and 11% of GDP from 2003 to 2005) and foreign exchange reserves,
including gold, more than doubled to around US$3 billion.
Demographics

Uzbek children.

Shakh-i Zindeh mosque,
Samarkand.
Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Its 27.7
million people (July 2007 estimate) comprise nearly half the
region's total population.
The population of Uzbekistan is very young: 34.1% of its people are
younger than 14 (2008 estimate). According to official sources,
Uzbeks comprise a majority (80%) of the total
population. Other ethnic groups include
Russians 5.5%,
Tajiks 5%(official estimate and disputed),
Kazakhs 3%,
Karakalpaks 2.5% and
Tatars 1.5% (1996 estimates).
There is some controversy about the percentage of the Tajik
population. While official state numbers from Uzbekistan put the
number at 5%, the number is said to be an understatement and some
Western scholars put the number up to 20%-30%..
Uzbekistan has an ethnic
Korean population
that was
forcibly
relocated to the region by Stalin from the
Soviet Far East in 1937–1938. There are
also small groups of
Armenians
in Uzbekistan, mostly in Tashkent and Samarkand. The nation is
88% Muslim (mostly
Sunni, with a 5%
Shi'a minority), 9%
Eastern Orthodox and 3% other faiths. The
U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004
reports that 0.2% of the population are
Buddhist (these being ethnic Koreans). The
Bukharian Jews have lived in Central Asia,
mostly in Uzbekistan, for thousands of years.
There were 94,900
Jews in Uzbekistan in 1989 (about 0.5% of the
population according to the 1989 census), but
now, since the collapse of the USSR, most Central Asian Jews left
the region for the United
States
or Israel
.
Fewer than 5,000 Jews remained in Uzbekistan in 2007. After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, significant emigration of ethnic
Russians has taken place, mostly for
economic reasons.
In the 1940s, the Crimean Tatars, along with the Germans, Chechens,
Greeks, Turks, Kurds and many other nationalities were
deported to Central
Asia. Approximately 100,000
Crimean
Tatars continue to live in Uzbekistan. In 1974, there were
35,000
Greeks in Tashkent.
Today, 12,000 remain. The majority of
Meskhetian Turks left Uzbekistan after
1989.
At least
10% of Uzbekistan's labour force works abroad (mostly in Russia
and
Kazakhstan
).
Uzbekistan has a 99.3% literacy rate among adults older than 15
(2003 estimate), which is attributable to the free and universal
education system of the Soviet Union.

Mosque of Bukhara
Religion
Islam is by far the dominant
religion in
Uzbekistan. In the early 1990s, many of the
Russians remaining in the
republic (about 8% of the population) were
Orthodox Christians. An estimated 93,000
Jews also were present.
Despite its predominance, the practice of
Islam is far from monolithic. Many versions of the
faith have been practiced in Uzbekistan. The conflict of Islamic
tradition with various agendas of
reform or
secularisation throughout the 20th century
has left the outside world with a confused notion of Islamic
practices in
Central Asia.
In
Uzbekistan the end of Soviet
power did
not bring an upsurge of Islamic
fundamentalism, as many had predicted, but rather a gradual
reacquaintance with the precepts of the faith. However after
2000, there seems to be a rise of support in favour of the
Islamists.
Languages
The
Uzbek language is the only
official state language.
The Tajik
language is widespread in the cities of Bukhara
and Samarqand
because of their relatively large population of
ethnic Tajiks.
Russian is an important language
for interethnic communication, especially in the cities, including
much day-to-day technical, scientific, governmental and business
use. Russian is the main language of over 14% of the population and
is spoken as a second language by many more. The use of Russian in
remote rural areas has always been limited, and today school
children have no proficiency in Russian even in urban centres.
However, it was reported in 2003 that over half of the population
could speak Russian, and a renewed close political relationship
between Russia and Uzbekistan have meant that official
discouragement of Russian has dropped off sharply.
In 1992 Uzbekistan officially shifted back to Latin script , but
many signs and notices (including official government boards in the
streets) are still written in Uzbek Cyrillic script that had been
used in
Uzbek SSR since 1940. Computers as
a rule operate using the "Uzbek Cyrillic" keyboard, and Latin
script is reportedly composed using the standard English
keyboard.
Communications
According to the official source report, as of 10 March 2008, the
number of cellular phone users in Uzbekistan reached 7 million, up
from 3.7 million on 1 July 2007. The largest mobile operator in
terms of number of subscribers is MTS-Uzbekistan (former
Uzdunrobita and part of Russian Mobile
TeleSystems) and it is followed by Beeline (part of Russia's
Beeline) and UCell (ex Coscom) (originally part of the U.S. MCT
Corp., now a subsidiary of the Nordic/Baltic telecommunication
company
TeliaSonera AB).
As of 1 July 2007, the estimated number of internet users was 1.8
million, according to UzACI.
Transportation
Central Station of Tashkent
Tashkent
, the nation's capital and largest city, has a
three-line rapid transit system built
in 1977, and expanded in 2001 after ten years' independence from
the Soviet
Union
. Uzbekistan is currently the only country in
Central Asia with a subway system, which is
promoted as one of the cleanest systems in the former
Soviet Union. The stations are exceedingly ornate. For example, the
station
Metro Kosmonavtov built in 1984 is decorated using
a
space travel theme to recognise
the achievements of mankind in space exploration and to commemorate
the role of
Vladimir
Dzhanibekov, the Soviet
cosmonaut of
Uzbek origin. A statue of Vladimir Dzhanibekov stands near one of
the station's entrances.
There are government-operated trams, buses and
trolley buses running across the city. There are
also many taxis, both registered and unregistered. Uzbekistan has
car-producing plants which produce modern cars. The car production
is supported by the government and the Korean auto company
Daewoo. The Uzbek government acquired a 50% stake in
Daewoo in 2005 for an undisclosed sum, and in May 2007
UzDaewooAuto, the car maker, signed a strategic
agreement with General Motors-Daewoo Auto and Technology (
GMDAT). The government also bought a stake in
Turkey's Koc in SamKocAuto, a producer of small buses and lorries.
Afterwards, it signed an agreement with Isuzu Motors of Japan to
produce Isuzu buses and lorries.
Train
links connect many towns within Uzbekistan, as well as neighboring
former republics of the Soviet Union
. Moreover, after independence two
fast-running train systems were established. There is also a large
airplane plant that was built during the Soviet era – Tashkent
Chkalov Aviation Manufacturing Plant or ТАПОиЧ in Russian. The
plant originated during World War II, when production facilities
were evacuated south and east to avoid capture by advancing Nazi
forces. Until the late 1980s, the plant was one of the leading
airplane production centers in the USSR, but with collapse of the
Soviet Union its manufacturing equipment became outdated, and most
of the workers were laid off. Now it produces only a few planes a
year, but with interest from Russian companies growing in it, there
are rumours of production-enhancement plans.
Military

Uzbek troop during a cooperative
operation exercise
Uzbekistan possesses the largest military force in the Central
Asian region, having around 65,000 people in uniform. Its structure
is inherited from the Soviet armed forces, although it is moving
rapidly toward a fully restructured organisation, which will
eventually be built around light and Special Forces. The Uzbekistan
Armed Forces equipment is not modern, and training, while
improving, is neither uniform nor adequate for its new mission of
territorial security.
The government has accepted the arms control obligations of the
former Soviet Union, acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (as a non-nuclear state), and supported an active program by
the U.S.
Defense Threat Reduction
Agency
(DTRA) in western Uzbekistan (Nukus
and
Vozrozhdeniye Island
). The Government of Uzbekistan spends about
3.7% of GDP on the military but has received a growing infusion of
Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and other security assistance
funds since 1998.
Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.,
Uzbekistan approved the U.S.
Central Command's request for access to a
vital military air base, Karshi-Khanabad Airbase
, in southern Uzbekistan. However Uzbekistan
demanded that the U.S. withdraw from the airbases after the
Andijan massacre and the U.S.
reaction to this massacre. The last US troops left Uzbekistan in
November 2005.
Foreign relations
Uzbekistan joined the
Commonwealth of Independent
States in December 1991. However, it is opposed to
reintegration and withdrew from the CIS collective security
arrangement in 1999. Since that time, Uzbekistan has participated
in the CIS peacekeeping force in Tajikistan and in UN-organized
groups to help resolve the Tajikistan and Afghanistan conflicts,
both of which it sees as posing threats to its own stability.
Previously close to Washington (which gave
Uzbekistan half a billion dollars in aid in 2004, about a quarter
of its military budget), the government of Uzbekistan has recently
restricted American military use of the airbase at Karshi-Khanabad
for air operations in neighboring
Afghanistan. Uzbekistan was an active supporter of U.S.
efforts against worldwide terrorism and joined the coalitions that
have dealt with both Afghanistan and Iraq.
The relationship between Uzbekistan and the United States began to
deteriorate after the so-called "
colour revolutions" in Georgia and
Ukraine (and to a lesser extent Kyrgyzstan). When the U.S. joined
in a call for an independent international investigation of the
bloody events at
Andijon, the
relationship took an additional nosedive, and President Islam
Karimov changed the political alignment of the country to bring it
closer to Russia and China, countries which chose not to criticise
Uzbekistan's leaders for their alleged human rights
violations.
In late July 2005, the government of Uzbekistan ordered the United
States to vacate an air base in Karshi-Kanabad (near Uzbekistan's
border with Afghanistan) within 180 days. Karimov had offered use
of the base to the U.S. shortly after
9/11. It
is also believed by some Uzbeks that the protests in Andijan were
brought about by the U.K. and U.S. influences in the area of
Andijan. This is another reason for the hostility between
Uzbekistan and the West.
Uzbekistan is a member of the
United
Nations (UN) (since 2 March 1992), the
Euro-Atlantic Partnership
Council (EAPC),
Partnership
for Peace (PfP), and the
Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
It belongs to the
Organisation of
the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Economic Cooperation
Organisation (ECO) (comprising the five Central Asian
countries, Azerbaijan
, Turkey
, Iran
, Afghanistan
, and Pakistan
). In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the GUAM alliance (Georgia
, Ukraine
, Azerbaijan
and Moldova
), which was formed in 1997 (making it GUUAM), but
pulled out of the organization in 2005.
Uzbekistan is also a member of the
Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) and hosts the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist
Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. Uzbekistan joined the new
Central Asian Cooperation
Organisation (CACO) in 2002.
The CACO consists of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
, Kazakhstan
and Kyrgyzstan
. It is a founding member of, and remains
involved in, the
Central Asian
Union, formed with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and joined in
March 1998 by Tajikistan.
In
September 2006, UNESCO
presented
Islam Karimov an award for Uzbekistan's preservation of its rich
culture and traditions. Despite criticism, this seems to be
a sign of improving relationships between Uzbekistan and the
West.
The month of October 2006 also saw a decrease in the isolation of
Uzbekistan from the West. The
EU announced that
it was planning to send a delegation to Uzbekistan to talk about
human rights and liberties, after a long period of hostile
relations between the two. Although it is equivocal about whether
the official or unofficial version of the
Andijan Massacre is true, the EU is
evidently willing to ease its economic sanctions against
Uzbekistan.
Nevertheless, it is generally assumed among
Uzbekistan's population that the government will stand firm in
maintaining its close ties with the Russian Federation
and in its theory that the 2004–2005 protests in
Uzbekistan were promoted by the USA
and
UK
.
Culture

Uzbek women.

Navoi Opera in Tashkent
Uzbekistan has a wide mix of ethnic groups and cultures, with the
Uzbek being the majority group. In 1995 about
71% of Uzbekistan's population was Uzbek.
The chief minority
groups were Russians
(8%), Tajiks
(5–30%), Kazaks (4%), Tatars (2.5%) and Karakalpaks (2%). It is said, however,
that the number of non-Uzbek people living in Uzbekistan is
decreasing as Russians and other minority groups slowly leave and
Uzbeks return from other parts of the former Soviet Union
.
When Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991, there was concern that
Muslim fundamentalism would
spread across the region. The expectation was that a country long
denied freedom of religious practice would undergo a very rapid
increase in the expression of its dominant faith. As of 1994, well
over half of Uzbekistan's population was said to be Muslim, though
in an official survey few of that number had any real knowledge of
the religion or knew how to practice it. However, Islamic
observance is increasing in the region.
Uzbekistan has a high
literacy rate,
with about 99.3% of adults above the age of 15 being able to read
and write. However with only 88% of the under-15 population
currently enrolled in education, this figure may drop in the future
. Uzbekistan has encountered severe budgeting shortfalls in its
education program. The education law of 1992 began the process of
theoretical reform, but the physical base has deteriorated and
curriculum revision has been slow.
Uzbekistan's universities create almost 600,000 graduates
annually.
Sport
Uzbekistan is home to former racing cyclist
Djamolidine Abdoujaparov.
Abdoujaparov has won the points contest in the
Tour de France three times, each time winning
the coveted yellow jersey. The green jersey is second only to the
yellow jersey. Abdoujaparov was a specialist at winning stages in
tours or one-day races when the bunch or
peloton would finish together. He would often
'sprint' in the final kilometre and had a reputation as being
dangerous in these bunch sprints as he would weave from side to
side in a sprint. This reputation earned him the nickname 'The
Terror of Tashkent'.
Environment
Decades
of questionable Soviet
policies
in pursuit of greater cotton production have
resulted in a catastrophic scenario. The agricultural
industry appears to be the main contributor to the pollution and
devastation of the air and water in the country.
The
Aral
Sea
disaster is a classic example. The Aral Sea
used to be the fourth-largest inland
sea on
Earth, acting as an influencing factor in the
air moisture. Since the 1960s, the decade when the misuse of the
Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to less than 50% of its former
area and decreased in volume threefold. Reliable – or even
approximate – data have not been collected, stored or provided by
any organisation or official agency. Much of the water was and
still continues to be used for the irrigation of cotton fields - a
crop that requires an extremely large amount of water to grow. The
numbers of animal deaths and human refugees from the area around
the sea can only be guessed at. The question of who is responsible
for the crisis – the Soviet scientists and politicians who directed
the distribution of water during the 1960s, or the post-Soviet
politicians who did not allocate sufficient funding for the
building of dams and irrigation systems – remains open.
Due to
the virtually insoluble Aral Sea problem, high salinity and contamination of the soil with
heavy elements are especially
widespread in Karakalpakstan
– the region of Uzbekistan adjacent to the Aral
Sea. The bulk of the nation's water resources is used for
farming, which accounts for nearly 94% of
the
water usage and contributes to high soil
salinity. Heavy use of
pesticides and
fertilisers for cotton growing further
aggravates
soil pollution.
See also
Notes
- Human rights in Uzbekistan: Amnesty
International report, 2008.
- UNDP: Human development indices - Table 3: Human
and income poverty (Population living below national poverty line
(2000-2007))
- www.worldatlas.com
- Uzbekistan will publish its own book of records -
Ferghana.ru, accessed on July 29, 2009.
- Climate, Uzbekistan : Country Studies - Federal
Research Division, Library of Congress.
- Lubin, Nancy. "Early history". In Curtis.
- Lubin, Nancy. "Rule of Timur". In Curtis.
- US Department of State, 2008 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in
Uzbekistan, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour,
February 25, 2009
- IHF,
Human Rights in OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia
and North America - Uzbekistan, Report 2004 (events of 2003),
2004-06-23
- OMCT and Legal Aid
Society, Denial of justice in Uzbekistan - an assessment of
the human rights situation and national system of protection of
fundamental rights, April 2005.
- Embassy of Uzbekistan to the US, Press-Release: "The measures taken by the government of
the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of providing and
encouraging human rights", October 24, 2005
- Uzbekistan Daily Digest, "Uzbekistan's Ombudsman reports on 2002
results", December 25, 2007
-
http://usinfo.state.gov/eur/Archive/2005/Sep/26-966275.html
- Uzbekistan: Report Cites Evidence Of Government
'Massacre' In Andijon - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
- Uzbekistan: Independent international investigation
needed into Andizhan events | Amnesty International
- Press-service of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan:
- Kreml.Org | Андижанские события стали поводом для
беспрецедентного давления на Узбекистан
- Statistical Review of Uzbekistan 2008,
p.176
- IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2007
- GNI per capita 2006, Atlas method and PPP,
World Development Indicators database, World Bank, 14 September
2007.
- Cotton This Week, International Cotton
Advisory Committee, February 2005.
- IRIN | Country Profile | Uzbekistan
- BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Child labour
and the High Street
- Tesco: Raw cotton sourcing, letter to
suppliers, January 7, 2008.
- C&A Code of Conduct for Uzbekistan.
- Пресс-служба Президента Республики Узбекистан
- International Crisis Group - Uzbekistan: In for the Long
Haul
- New Report Paints Grim Picture of
Uzbekistan
- Economist Intelligence Unit report cited
- http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/2005/42196.htm
- Press Release: The Republic of Uzbekistan Accepts Article
VIII Obligations
- Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on IMF's
role in economic stabilisation. Retrieved on 22 June 2009
- Asian Development Outlook 2005 - Uzbekistan -
ADB.org
- Uzbekistan CPI 2003-2007
- NTE 2004 FINAL 3.30.04 latest.doc
- Министерство иностранных дел Республики
Узбекистан
- CIA World Factbook, Uzbekistan
- Svante E. Cornell, "Uzbekistan: A Regional Player
in Eurasian Geopolitics?", European Security, vol. 20,
no. 2, Summer 2000.
- Richard Foltz, "The Tajiks of Uzbekistan", Central Asian
Survey, 15(2), 213–216 (1996).
- Karl Cordell, "Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New
Europe", Published by Routledge, 1999. Excerpt from pg 201:
"Consequently, the number of citizens who regard themselves as
Tajiks is difficult to determine. Tajikis within and outside of the
republic, Samarkand State University (SamGU) academic and
international commentators suggest that there may be between six
and seven million Tajiks in Uzbekistan, constituting 30% of the
republic's 22 million population, rather than the official figure
of 4.7%(Foltz 1996;213; Carlisle 1995:88).
- Lena Jonson, "Tajikistan in the New Central Asia", Published by
I.B.Tauris, 2006. pg 108: "According to official Uzbek statistics
there are slightly over 1 million Tajiks in Uzbekistan or about 4%
of the population. The unofficial figure is over 6 million Tajiks.
They are concentrated in the Sukhandarya, Samarqand and Bukhara
regions."
- World Jewish Population 2001, American Jewish
Yearbook, vol. 101 (2001), p. 561.
- World Jewish Population 2007, American Jewish
Yearbook, vol. 107 (2007), p. 592.
- The Russians are Still Leaving Uzbekistan For
Kazakhstan Now. Journal of Turkish Weekly. December 16,
2004.
- Deported Nationalities. World Directory of
Minorities.
- Crimean Tatars Divide Ukraine and Russia. The
Jamestown Foundation. June 24, 2009.
- Greece overcomes its ancient history, finally.
The Independent. July 6, 2004.
- World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous
Peoples - Uzbekistan : Meskhetian Turks. Minority Rights Group
International.
- International Crisis Group,
Uzbekistan: Stagnation and Uncertainty, Asia
Briefing N°67, 22 August 2007 (free registration needed to view
full report)
- Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan
- "Uzbekistan's Russian-Language Conundrum"
- Uzbekistan agency for Communication and Information (UzACI)
[1] and UzDaily.com
[2]
- TeleSonera AB acquires Coscom, UzDaily.com, 17 July
2007. Retrieved on 18 January 2009.
- Uzbekistan, General Motors sign strategic deal
- SamAuto supplies 100 buses to Samarkand firms,
UZDaily.com. Japanese firm buys 8% shares in SamAuto,
UZDaily.com.
- Rice Attempts to Secure US Influence in Central
Asia, Global Policy Forum.
- Svante E. Cornell, "Uzbekistan: A Regional Player
in Eurasian Geopolitics?", European Security, vol. 20,
no. 2, Summer 2000.
- Richard Foltz, "The Tajiks of Uzbekistan", Central Asian
Survey, 15(2), 213–216 (1996).
- Karl Cordell, "Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New
Europe", Published by Routledge, 1999. Excerpt from pg 201:
"Consequently, the number of citizens who regard themselves as
Tajiks is difficult to determine. Tajikis within and outside of the
republic, Samarkand State University (SamGU) academic and
international commentators suggest that there may be between six
and seven million Tajiks in Uzbekistan, constituting 30% of the
republic's 22 million population, rather than the official figure
of 4.7%(Foltz 1996;213; Carlisle 1995:88).
- Lena Jonson, "Tajikistan in the New Central Asia", Published by
I.B.Tauris, 2006. pg 108: "According to official Uzbek statistics
there are slightly over 1 million Tajiks in Uzbekistan or about 4%
of the population. The unofficial figure is over 6 million Tajiks.
They are concentrated in the Sukhandarya, Samarqand and Bukhara
regions."
- Uzbekistan - Environment
- MSF Around the World
- Aral Sea Crisis Environmental Justice Foundation
Report
References
Online sources
- Environmental
Justice Foundation, May 2009, Still In
The Fields - A report exposing the continued use of state-sponsored
forced child labour in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan,
- Anora Mahmudova, AlterNet, 27 May 2005,
Uzbekistan’s Growing Police State (checked
2005-11-08)
- Manfred Nowak, Radio Free Europe, 2005-06-23, UN Charges Uzbekistan With Post-Andijon
Torture,
- Gulnoza Saidazimova, Radio Free Europe, 2005-06-22, Uzbekistan: Tashkent reveals findings on Andijon
uprising as victims mourned
- BBC News, 'Harassed' BBC shuts Uzbek office, 2005-10-26
(checked 2005-11-15)
- CIA - The World Factbook — Uzbekistan
- Denial of Justice in Uzbekistan, report to
OMCT
- The worst of the worst, the world's most repressive
societies, 2005.
- The measures, taken by the Government of the Republic of
Uzbekistan in the field of providing and encouraging human
rights
- Uzbekistan's Ombudsman reports on 2002
results
- Jeffrey Thomas, US Government Info 26 September 2005 Freedom of Assembly, Association Needed in Eurasia,
U.S. Says,
- Robert McMahon, Radio Free
Europe, 2005-06-07 Uzbekistan: Report Cites Evidence Of Government
'Massacre' In Andijon
- Amnesty International, public statement
"Uzbekistan: Independent international investigation needed into
Andizhan events"
- People's Voice, 2005-05-17 Andijan events: truth and lies
- Interview with Akmal Saidov, kreml.org, 2005-10-17 Andijon
events are used as a pretext for putting an unprecedented pressure
on Uzbekistan
- Worldbank per-country data on GNI and PPP per
capita
- UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Country Report on Uzbekistan
- Islam Karimov's interview to Rossijskaya Gazeta, 1995-07-07
Principles of Our Reform
- 2005 Index of Economic Freedom, Uzbekistan
- US Department of State, Uzbekistan: 2005 Investment Climate Statement
- The Republic of Uzbekistan Accepts Article VIII
Obligations
- US Department of State,
2005-07 Background Note: Uzbekistan
- Asian Development Outlook for 2005, report on
Uzbekistan
- IMF , 2005-09-24 Republic of Uzbekistan and the IMF
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Uzbekistan report on International Trade
- Uzbekistan: In for the Long Haul: report on the
international response to Uzbekistan by the International Crisis Group
- On results of socio-economic development of the
Republic of Uzbekistan in the first half of 2009
Printed sources
- Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central
Asia by Tom Bissell
- A Historical Atlas of Uzbekistan by Aisha Khan
- The Modern Uzbeks From the 14th century to the Present: A
Cultural History by Edward A. Allworth
- Nationalism in Uzbekistan: Soviet Republic's Road to
Sovereignty by James Critchlow
- Odyssey Guide: Uzbekistan by Calcum Macleod and
Bradley Mayhew
- Uzbekistan: Heirs to the Silk Road by Johannes Kalter
and Margareta Pavaloi
- Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle
East? by Ted Rall
- Murder in Samarkand - A British Ambassador's Controversial
Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror by Craig Murray
- Tamerlane's Children - Dispatches from contemporary
Uzbekistan by Robert Rand
External links
- General information