Uzbekistan

General Information

Country name: (conventional long form) Republic of Uzbekistan (conventional short form) Uzbekistan

Area: 447 400 sq km

Population: 26 410 416 (2004)

Capital: Tashkent

Population: 2 079 000

Administrative divisions: (12 provinces (viloyatlar, singular - viloyat), 1 autonomous republic* (respublika), and 1 city** (shahar)) Andijon Viloyati (1), Buxoro Viloyati (2), Farg'ona Viloyati (3), Jizzax Viloyati (4), Namangan Viloyati (5), Navoiy Viloyati (6), Qashqadaryo Viloyati (Qarshi) (7), Qaraqalpog'iston Respublikasi* (Nukus) (8), Samarqand Viloyati (9), Sirdaryo Viloyati (Guliston) (10), Surxondaryo Viloyati (Termiz) (11), Toshkent Shahri**, Toshkent Viloyati (12), Xorazm Viloyati (Urganch) (13)
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Map of Administrative Divisions

Ethnic groups: Uzbek 80%, Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, Tatar 1.5%, other 2.5% (1996 est.)

Government: Republic. Independence: 1 September 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Head of State: President Islom KARIMOV since 24 March 1990
Head of Government: Prime Minister Shavkat MIRZIYAYEV since 11 December 2003

Language: The official language is Uzbek, a Turkic tongue closely related to Kazakh and Kyrgyz. There is a small Russian-speaking minority. Many people involved with tourism speak English. The Government has stated its intention to change the Cyrillic script to the Latin.

Religion: Muslim (mostly Sunnis), Russian Orthodox and Jewish minorities

Time Zone: GMT + 5

Electricity: 220V AC, 50Hz

Weights & measures: Metric

Visas: The information about visa regimes should be learned in Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan or in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Websites: http://www.mfa.uz/?newlang=eng

Economy

Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country of which 11% consists of intensely cultivated, irrigated river valleys. More than 60% of its population lives in densely populated rural communities. Uzbekistan is now the world's second-largest cotton exporter, a large producer of gold and oil, and a regionally significant producer of chemicals and machinery. Following independence in December 1991, the government sought to prop up its Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on production and prices. Uzbekistan responded to the negative external conditions generated by the Asian and Russian financial crises by emphasizing import substitute industrialization and by tightening export and currency controls within its already largely closed economy. The government, while aware of the need to improve the investment climate, sponsors measures that often increase, not decrease, the government's control over business decisions. A sharp increase in the inequality of income distribution has hurt the lower ranks of society since independence.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) composition by sector: agriculture 36%, industry 21%, services 43% (2001)

Labor force (by occupation): agriculture 44%, industry 20%, services 36% (1995)

Unemployment rate: 10% plus another 20% underemployed (2001)

Industries: textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas, chemicals

Agriculture - products: cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain; livestock

Exports - commodities: cotton, gold, energy products, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, food products, automobiles (1998)

Exports - partners: Russia 19.9%, Italy 8.6%, Tajikistan 7.7%, South Korea 5.6%, Kazakhstan 5.1%, US 4.7%, Turkey 4.4%, Japan 4.3% (2002)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment 49.8%, foodstuffs 16.4%, chemicals, metals (1998 est.)

Imports - partners: Russia 24%, Germany 10.8%, South Korea 10%, US 7.3%, China 5.5%, Kazakhstan 5.3%, Turkey 4.9% (2002)

Money

Currency: The national currency of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the Sum consisting of 100 tiyn. At present, banknotes with nominal values of 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 25, 10, 5, 3 and 1 Sum, as well as coins with nominal values of 50, 20, 10, 5, 3 and 1 tiyn are in circulation

Currency exchange: Tourists and business persons without special status have to pay for hotels, hotel services and transport in hard currency; US Dollars are the most widely acceptable. All bills are normally settled in cash. It is illegal to change money on the black market and penalties can be harsh. Banks and the currency exchange bureaux in major hotels will change at the official rates

Exchange rate indicators: £1.00=1799.48 sum, $1.00=1007.49 sum (May 2004)
Website: http://eng.nbu.com/news/currency/

Banking hours: Mon-Fri 09.30-17.30

History

The land along the upper Amu-Darya, Syr-Darya and their tributaries has always been different from the rest of Central Asia. Its people are more settled than nomadic, with patterns of land use and social structures that changed little from the 6th century BC to the 19th century. The region was part of several very old Persian states. During the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great passed through and married the daughter of a local chieftain near Samarkand. Under the Kushan empire, Buddhism took hold and the Silk Road brought peaceful contact with the wider world. Towns grew and the area became rich.

In the 6th century AD, Western Turks rode out of the steppes, bringing Islam and a written alphabet. When they moved on to greener pastures, Persia took over again, until Jenghiz Khan and his hordes rolled over the country. With the rise of the ruthless warrior Timur in the 14th century, Uzbekistan again rose to prosperity and Samarkand became a glittering Islamic capital thanks to Timur's patronage of the arts.

Around this time, certain Mongol tribes took the name Uzbek. In the 14th century they began moving south, eventually conquering Timur's empire. By 1510 they had control of everything from the Amu-Darya to the Syr-Darya, and they have maintained control ever since. In the early 18th century the khan of Khiva asked Peter the Great of Russia for aid in defending his land against Turkmen and Kazaks, stirring the first Russian interest in Central Asia. However, by the time the Russians got around to marching on Khiva, the khan no longer wanted their help and massacred almost the entire army. Apart from a few minor forays, the next major Russian excursion was made in 1839 by Tsar Nicholas I, who was eager to prevent British expansion in the area, but the mission was not a great success. Twenty-five years later the Russians again made a serious move on Uzbekistan and by 1875 the region was theirs.

After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks proclaimed the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkestan, despite the fact that most Central Asians defined themselves not by country, but as ethnic Turks or Persians. In October 1924, Uzbekistan was declared, although it changed shape and size many times in the following decades.

After Moscow's 1991 coup Uzbekistan was declared independent from Soviet Union.

Culture

Some of the world's most audacious and beautiful examples of Islamic religious buildings are to be found in Uzbekistan's Bukhara, Khiva and, especially, Samarkand. Most of the monumental mosques, minarets, mausolea and monasteries date from the time of the Timurids, great appreciators of glitzy, glazed goth-ish glories. Uzbekistan's folk art has tended towards the portable - clothes, arms, jewellery, weaving, embroidery and rugs - in tune with semi-nomadic living. Islam prohibits the depiction of the living, so traditional arts developed in the form of calligraphy, combining Islamic script with arabesques, and the carving of doors and screens. Painting was revived under the Soviets and became a curious hybrid of socialist realism and mock traditionalism - try smiling Ukbeks at a teahouse with futuristic chimneys thrusting skywards in the background.

Uzbek men usually wear sombre colours, except for the bright-coloured sash which older men use to close their long quilted coats. Nearly all wear the dopy, a black, four-sided skullcap embroidered in white. Uzbek women are fond of dresses in sparkly cloth, often worn as a knee-length gown with trousers of the same material underneath. One or two braids indicate a married woman; more braids signify a single woman.

Central Asian food resembles that of the Middle East or the Mediterranean in its use of rice, savoury seasonings, vegetables and legumes, yoghurt and grilled meats. In northern Uzbekistan meals often consist of pilafs, kebabs, noodles and pasta, stews, elaborate breads and pastries. Subtle seasonings and fancy sweets distinguish the cuisine of southern Uzbekistan. Tea is ubiquitous, usually served without milk. Despite their Muslim heritage, most Uzbekis drink alcohol, at least with guests. If you don't enjoy hard booze (commonly vodka), make your excuses early.

Environment

Uzbekistan borders Turkmenistan in the west, Kazakstan in the north and east, and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and a sliver of Afghanistan in the south. It's a flat, monotonous country, over two-thirds of it, mostly in the west, is steppe and desert. The only relief is the delta where the Amu-Darya empties into what remains of the Aral Sea. In the east, however, Uzbekistan tilts upward towards the mountains of its neighbours, and this is where the country's life-giving rivers rise. Central Asia's greatest waterway, the Amu-Darya, forms much of the border with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The richest farmland (and, therefore, the bulk of the population) is nestled in gaps in the mountains, on the alluvial planes at their feet, and along the country's three big rivers.

The Aral Sea. The Aral Sea is a salted enclosed lake or sea without outflow in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In 1990 its area was 36.5 thousand square kilometers. Prevailing depths are 10 – 15 km and the maximum depth reaches 54.5 m. Since the beginning of the 1960s the sea level has been dramatically dropping owing to intense intake of water from rivers flowing into the Aral Sea for agricultural needs; the Syrdaria’s water and in some years the Amurdaria’s water did not reach the sea.

Native flora and fauna are devastated. Irrigation projects in the steppes of Uzbekistan have degraded the soil, polluted the water, and caused large-scale erosion, aridity and salinity.

Geology

Geological structure. Uzbekistan is located in the interstream area of the Amurdaria and the Syrdaria Rivers in the mountain structures of Tian Shan and Turan plate. Geosyncline development of the territory was completed at the end of the Paleozoic (200 million years ago), which was followed by a relatively quiescent stage of platform conditions. Neogene – Anthropogene intense tectonic movements, which still persist, formed modern alpine relief of the east of the country.

Tian Shan Mountains are composed of Devonian and Carboniferous red and carbonate rocks crumpled into linear folds of northeastern strike and magmatic formations (for the major part granites). The structure of folded complexes of median massifs comprises Carboniferous and Permian volcanogenic rocks, Devonian limestone, and numerous intrusions of granodiorite.

Mesozoic and Cenozoic platform formations (sandy clayey and locally coal-bearing) compose the structure of Fergana intermontane basin. Many areas of the mountain area of Uzbekistan are noted for their increased seismic activity.

Turan plate comprises several plateaus bounded by deep faults. Turan plate basement is composed of Precambrian crystalline schist formed more than 500 million years ago. The sedimentary cover is, for the major part, composed of terrigene, carbonaceous and salt-bearing deposits (the Carboniferous – Anthropogene). In overlying troughs formed on Southern Tian Shan deep fault, Carboniferous volcanogenic sedimentary and flyschoid molassa deposits with granitoid intrusions occur.

Natural resources. Uzbekistan is rich in various useful minerals. Bismuth ore deposits are associated with Tien Shan magmatic formations, copper porphyrite deposits are associated with diorite, complex ores deposits are related to carbonate rocks, and gold deposits are associated with formations of volcanic origin. Besides, gold deposits are also encountered in Precambrian rocks of Kyzylkum. Oil is extracted in Fergana valley. Deposits are known of tungsten, coal, potassium and rock salts, sulfur, graphite, clays and semiprecious stones.

Getting Around

Large towns (with population): Tashkent (2 079 000), Samarqand (367 000), Namangan (308 000), Bukhara (224 000), Fergana (198 000). The last population census was held in 1989.

Flying is the least edifying and arguably the least safe mode of transport in Uzbekistan. Domestic flights are seroiusly no-frills - you'll need to pack your own lunch - and have a long way to go before meeting international safety standards.

The bus is the best bet for getting between towns cheaply. There are long-distance coaches which run on fixed routes with fixed stops, and they're relatively comfortable. Regional buses are less comfortable and less reliable. Private minibuses cost more and go faster - often hair-raisingly so. There are frequent connections between Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand. Taxis cost a little more than buses, but can be more comfortable, and they're more likely to take you to out-of-the-way places.

Lower class train travel is the cheapest way to get around, which also makes it the most crowded method. Trains are slow, the windows are so dirty you won't get much in the way of a view, there's no such thing as a dining car and you run a reasonable chance of getting mugged.

Accommodation

Hotels. Tourists are still required to stay in hotels that are licensed by Uzbektourism, and most hotels are run by them. However, a growing number of independent hotels are now being licensed. Services and facilities are not generally up to Western standards, but efforts are being made to improve them and there is a growing number of western-style hotels owned by foreign companies. All regional capitals have at least one Uzbektourism hotel that will accept foreigners.
Website: http://www.uzbekistan-hotels.com/

Camping. Uzbektourism runs a number of temporary campsites in the mountains.