Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan, is a doubly landlocked country located in Central Asia. It is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Tajikistan to the southeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest. This makes it one of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the world, the other being Liechtenstein. The country has a population of more than 38.2 million, making it the most populous Central Asian republic. Uzbekistan is a member of the Organization of Turkic States. Uzbek (both in Cyrillic and Turkic scripts), spoken by the Uzbek people who form nearly 85% of the population, is the official language while Russian and Tajik are significant minority languages.
The first recorded settlers in Uzbekistan were Eastern Iranian nomads, known as Scythians, who founded kingdoms in Khwarazm, Sogdiana, and Bactria in the 8th–6th centuries BC, as well as in Fergana and Margiana in the 3rd century BC – 6th century AD. The area was incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire and, after a period of Greco-Bactrian rule, was part of the Sasanian Empire until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century. The early Muslim conquests and the subsequent Samanid Empire resulted in the spread of Islam among the local people. During this period, cities began to grow rich from the Silk Road, and became a center of the Islamic Golden Age. The local Khwarazmian Empire was destroyed in the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, leading to a dominance by Mongol peoples. Timur in the 14th century established the Timurid Empire. The Timurid capital of Samarkand became a center of science under the rule of Ulugh Beg, giving birth to the Timurid Renaissance. The territories of the Timurid dynasty were conquered by Kipchak Shaybanids in the 16th century. Most of Central Asia was gradually incorporated into the Russian Empire during the 19th century, with Tashkent becoming the political center of Russian Turkestan. In 1924, national delimitation created the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as a republic of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, Uzbekistan became a leading producer of farm products such as cotton and melons, while also making significant advances in science and technology. It declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991 following the Soviet collapse.
Uzbekistan is a secular state, with a semi-presidential government. Uzbekistan comprises of 12 regions (vilayats), Tashkent City, and the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan. While NGOs have defined Uzbekistan as "an authoritarian state with limited civil rights", The country also holds strong ties with other Asian countries like China, Turkey, Russia and India. In recent years, Uzbekistan's ties with the European Union have also grown rapidly.
The Uzbek economy is undergoing a gradual transition to a market economy, with foreign trade policy being based on import substitution. In September 2017, the country's currency became fully convertible at market rates. Uzbekistan is a major producer and exporter of cotton. With gigantic power-generation facilities from the Soviet era and an ample supply of natural gas, Uzbekistan has become the largest electricity producer in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), United Nations (UN) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Etymology
The name Uzbegistán appears in the 16th century Tarikh-i Rashidi.
The origin of the word Uzbek remains disputed.
- "free", "independent" or "own master/leader", requiring an amalgamation of uz (Turkic: "own"), beg ("master" or "leader")
- A contraction of uğuz, earlier oğuz, that is, the oghuz, or "tribe", amalgamated with bek "oguz-leader".
- Some scholars connect the name Uzbek to Özbeg Khan, the ruler of the Golden Horde, whence the Uzbeks migrated into what is now Uzbekistan in the 16th century.
All four have the middle syllable/phoneme being cognate with the Turkic title beg.
The name of the country was often spelled in Uzbek Cyrillic or in Russian during Soviet rule.
History
thumb|upright|left|Female statuette wearing the [[kaunakes. Chlorite and limestone, Bactria, beginning of the second millennium BC.]]
The region has been referred to by many names over the millennia. The name Uzbekistan first appears in 16th century literature.
The Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan during the 13th century brought change to the region. The invasions of Bukhara, Samarkand, Urgench and other cities resulted in mass murders and unprecedented destruction, which saw parts of Khwarezmia being completely razed.
Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, the empire was divided among his four sons and family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, an orderly succession continued for several generations. Control of most of Transoxiana stayed in the hands of the direct descendants of Chagatai Khan, the second son of Genghis Khan. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chagatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained a strong and united kingdom, known as the Golden Horde.
Timurid period
One tribal chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane), emerged from struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Transoxiana. Although he was not a descendant of Genghis Khan, Timur became the de facto ruler of Transoxiana and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, 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 was also known for his extreme brutality and his conquests were accompanied by genocidal massacres in the cities he occupied.
Timur initiated the last flowering of Transoxiana by gathering together numerous artisans and scholars from the vast lands he had conquered into his capital, Samarkand, thus imbuing his empire with a rich Perso-Islamic culture. During his reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction masterpieces were undertaken in Samarkand and other population centres.
Tamerlane also established an exchange of medical discoveries and became the patron of physicians, scientists and artists from neighbouring countries such as India; his grandson Ulugh Beg was one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkic, in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became a literary language in its own right in Transoxiana, although the Timurids were Persianate in culture. 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 15th century.
[[File:Map of 3 Uzbek tribal dynasties in the middle of the 19th century.svg|thumb|253x253px|Areas of three Uzbek Polities ruled in Central Asia in the middle of the 19th century
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Uzbek period
The Timurid state quickly split in half 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 Uzbek forces began a wholesale invasion of Transoxiana. The slave trade in the Emirate of Bukhara became prominent and was firmly established at this time. The Khanate of Bukhara was eventually invaded by the foreign government of Persia in 1740, and then became a part of the Persian empire of the day.
Before the arrival of the Russians, present-day Uzbekistan was divided between the Emirate of Bukhara and the khanates of Khiva and Kokand. thumb|upright=0.85|left|Two [[Sart men and two Sart boys in Samarkand, c. 1910]]
Russian conquest
In the 19th century, the Russian Empire began to expand and spread into Central Asia. There were 210,306 Russians living in Uzbekistan in 1912. The "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. A second, less intensive phase followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. At the start of the 19th century, there were some separating British India and the outlying regions of Tsarist Russia. Much of the land between was unmapped. In the early 1890s, Sven Hedin passed through Uzbekistan during his first expedition.
Soviet period
By the beginning of 1920, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early resistance to the 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. From 1941 to 1945, during World War II, 1,433,230 people from Uzbekistan fought in the Red Army against Nazi Germany. As many as 263,005 Uzbek soldiers died in the battlefields of the Eastern Front, and 32,670 went missing in action.
During the Soviet–Afghan War, about 65,000 Uzbek troops fought in neighbouring Afghanistan. At least 1,500 lost their lives and thousands more were paralysed.
Independence
On 20 June 1990, Uzbekistan declared its state sovereignty. On 31 August 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence after the failed coup attempt in Moscow. 1 September was proclaimed National Independence Day. The Soviet Union was dissolved on 26 December of that year. Islam Karimov, previously first secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan since 1989, was elected president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he was elected president of independent Uzbekistan. An authoritarian ruler, Karimov died in September 2016. He was replaced by his long-time Prime Minister, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on 14 December of the same year. On 6 November 2021, Mirziyoyev was sworn into his second term in office, after gaining a landslide victory in the presidential election.
Geography and climate
thumb|right|Satellite image of Uzbekistan (March 2005)
Uzbekistan has an area of . Among the CIS countries, it is the fourth largest by area and the second largest by population.
Uzbekistan lies between latitudes 37° and 46° N, and longitudes 56° and 74° E. It stretches from west to east and from north to south. Bordering Kazakhstan and the Aralkum Desert (former Aral Sea) to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to the southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is one of the largest Central Asian states and the only Central Asian state to border all the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border (less than ) with Afghanistan to the south. Uzbekistan is home to six terrestrial ecoregions: Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe, Gissaro-Alai open woodlands, Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert, Central Asian northern desert, Central Asian riparian woodlands, and Central Asian southern desert.
Uzbekistan is a hot, dry, landlocked country. The second doubly landlocked country is Liechtenstein. In addition, due to its location within a series of endorheic basins, none of its rivers lead to the sea. Less than 10% of its territory is intensively cultivated irrigated land in river valleys and oases. The Aral Sea, which has been largely desiccated by cotton production established in the Soviet era, is considered one of the world's worst environmental disasters. The rest is the vast Kyzylkum Desert and mountains.
thumb|upright=1.15|Köppen climate classification
As published in its book of records in 2007,
The climate in Uzbekistan is continental, with little precipitation expected annually (100–200 millimetres, 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 .
Environment
thumb|Cotton picking near [[Kyzyl-Kala, Karakalpakstan]]
thumb|Uzbekistan was the thirteenth most water stressed country in the world in 2022.
Uzbekistan has a rich and diverse natural environment. However, decades of Soviet policies in pursuit of greater cotton production have resulted in a catastrophic scenario with the agricultural industry being the main contributor to the pollution and devastation of both air and water in the country.
thumb|left|Comparison of the [[Aral Sea between 1989 and 2014]]
The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest inland sea on Earth, humidifying the surrounding air and irrigating the arid land. Since the 1960s, when the overuse of the Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to about 10% of its former area and divided into parts, with only the southern part of the narrow western lobe of the South Aral Sea remaining permanently in Uzbekistan. Much of the water was and continues to be used for the irrigation of cotton fields,
Due to the Aral Sea loss, 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 84% of the water use and contributes to high soil salinity. Heavy use of pesticides and fertilisers for cotton growing further aggravates soil contamination.
Numerous oil and gas deposits have been discovered in the south of the country.
Uzbekistan has also been home to seismic activity, as evidenced by the 1902 Andijan earthquake, 2011 Fergana Valley earthquake, and 1966 Tashkent earthquake.
A dam collapse at Sardoba Reservoir in May 2020 flooded 35,000 hectares of land. Six people died and 111,000 evacuated with recovery estimates over 1.5 trillion som. The devastation extended into areas inside neighbouring Kazakhstan.
Air pollution
The air pollution situation in Uzbekistan throughout the 21st century has been characterised by steady deterioration, reflecting a long history of environmental problems. The increase in pollution began with local domestic emissions in the early 20th century, but Soviet industrialisation made a significant contribution, especially the evacuation of enterprises in the 1940s and the subsequent development of heavy industry, oil refining and chemical production in the 1950s–1980s. The decline in the level of the Aral Sea has created an additional source of salt and dust storms. In the post-Soviet period, the structure of pollution shifted: in the 2000s, the dominant factor was the growth of motor transport and the use of low-quality fuel, and in the 2010s, it was the increase in PM2.5 concentrations due to the construction boom and climatic conditions.
By 2020–2025, the combination of transport emissions, domestic heating, dust and meteorological inversions had led to a systemic environmental crisis, with Tashkent regularly ranking among the most polluted cities in the world. According to the World Bank, the average annual pollution level in the capital is more than six times higher than the WHO recommended level (5 μg/m³).
Responses to climate change
Uzbekistan’s socioeconomic situation and geographic location make it highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change—particularly water stress—as much of the country consists of vast desert plains and arid regions. According to a risk assessment by The World Bank, more than a fifth of Uzbekistan’s projected 2030 population (8 million people) will live in areas classified as very high climate‑risk (p. 11). While the constitution designated Senate Chairman Nigmatilla Yuldashev as the rightful successor, he declined the position, citing Mirziyoyev’s extensive experience. In the December 2016 presidential election, Mirziyoyev was officially elected with 88.6% of the vote and was sworn in on 14 December. Deputy Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov then succeeded him as prime minister.
As president, Mirziyoyev replaced most of Karimov’s officials and called for the inclusion of younger, patriotic individuals in government. Over time, he distanced himself from Karimov’s policies, visiting various regions and cities to oversee reforms. Analysts and Western media have compared his leadership style to that of Deng Xiaoping and Mikhail Gorbachev, describing his tenure as a potential "Uzbek Spring".
According to International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices and Democracy Tracker, Uzbekistan performs in the low range on overall democratic measures, with particular weaknesses in local democracy, judicial independence and free political parties. The V-Dem Democracy Indices described Uzbekistan as a closed autocracy in 2024.
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-organised 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 neighbouring Afghanistan. Uzbekistan was an active supporter of U.S. efforts against worldwide terrorism.
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 Andijan, the relationship further declined, and President Islam Karimov changed the political alignment of the country to bring it closer to Russia and China.
thumb|left|President [[Islam Karimov with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Samarkand in November 2015]]
In late July 2005, the government of Uzbekistan ordered the United States to vacate an airbase 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 UK and U.S. influences in the area of Andijan.
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.
thumb|President [[Shavkat Mirziyoyev with Russian president Vladimir Putin before the Moscow Victory Day Parade in Moscow on 9 May 2024]]
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 US and UK.
In January 2008, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva was appointed to her current role as Uzbekistan's ambassador to UNESCO. Karimova-Tillyaeva and her team have been instrumental in promoting inter-cultural dialogue by increasing European society's awareness of Uzbekistan's cultural and historical heritage.
Human rights
Non-governmental human rights organisations, such as IHF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as the United States Department of State and the Council of the European Union, characterise 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 include torture, arbitrary arrests, and various restrictions on freedoms, such as those of religion, speech, press, association, and assembly. It has also been reported that forced sterilisation of rural Uzbek women has been sanctioned by the government.
The reports maintain that the violations are most often committed against members of religious organisations, independent journalists, human rights activists and political activists, including members of the banned opposition parties. As of 2015, reports on violations on human rights in Uzbekistan indicated that violations were still going on without any improvement. The Freedom House has consistently ranked Uzbekistan near the bottom of its Freedom in the World ranking since the country's founding in 1991. In the 2018 report, Uzbekistan was one of the 11 worst countries for Political Rights and Civil Liberties.
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.
Concern has been expressed and requests for an independent investigation of the events has been made by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, 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. 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 in the country's internal affairs. Male and female homosexuality is illegal in Uzbekistan. Punishment ranges from a fine to 3 years in prison.
There are an estimated 1.2 million modern slaves in Uzbekistan, most working in the cotton industry. The government allegedly forces state employees to pick cotton in the autumn months. World Bank loans have been connected to projects that use child labour and forced labour practices in the cotton industry.
Recent developments
Karimov died in 2016 and his successor Shavkat Mirziyoyev is considered by most to be pursuing a less autocratic path by increasing co-operation with human rights NGOs, scheduling Soviet-style exit visas to be abolished in 2019, and reducing sentences for certain misdemeanor offences.
The Amnesty International report on the country for 2017–2018 found some remnant repressive measures and lack of rule of law in eradicating modern slavery. In February 2020, the United Nations announced that Uzbekistan had made "major progress" on stamping out forced labour in its cotton harvest as 94% of pickers worked voluntarily.
Administrative divisions
Uzbekistan is divided into twelve regions (, singular , compound noun e.g., , , etc.), one autonomous republic (, compound noun e.g. , Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic, etc.), and one independent city (, compound noun , e.g., , Tashkent City). Names are given below in Uzbek, and Karakalpak languages when applicable, although numerous variations of the transliterations of each name exist.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! Division !! Capital City !! Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)!! Population<br />(1 January 2024)!! Key
|-
| Andijan Region<br />
| Andijan<br /> ||4,303 || 3394,4 || 2
|-
| Bukhara Region<br />
| Bukhara<br /> || 41,937 || 2044,0 || 3
|-
| Fergana Region<br />
| Fergana<br /> || 7,005 || 4061,5 || 4
|-
| Jizzakh Region<br />
| Jizzakh<br /> || 21,179 || 1507,4 || 5
|-
| Republic of Karakalpakstan<br />, <br />
| Nukus<br /><br /> || 161,358 || 2002,7 || 14
|-
| Kashkadarya Region<br />
| Karshi<br /> || 28,568 || 3560,6 || 8
|-
| Khorezm Region<br />
| Urgench<br /> || 6,464 || 1995,6 || 13
|-
| Namangan Region<br />
| Namangan<br /> ||7,181 || 3066,1 || 6
|-
| Navoiy Region<br />
| Navoiy<br /> || 109,375 || 1075,3 || 7
|-
| Samarkand Region<br />
| Samarkand<br /> || 16,773 || 4208,5 || 9
|-
| Surkhandarya Region<br />
| Termez<br /> || 20,099 || 2877,1 || 11
|-
| Syrdarya Region<br />
| Gulistan<br /> || 4,276 || 914,0 || 10
|-
| Tashkent City<br />
| Tashkent<br /> || 327 || 3040,8 || 1
|-
| Tashkent Region<br />
| Nurafshon<br /> || 15,258 || 3051,8 || 12
|}
The regions are further divided into districts ().