republic in Central Asia, bordered on the west and north by Kazakstan, on the east by Kyrgyzstan, on the southeast by Tajikistan, and on the south by Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. It was formerly the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Uzbekistan includes the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic, which occupies about 37 percent of Uzbekistan's territory. Uzbekistan's land area totals about 447,400 sq km (about 172,750 sq mi). Tashkent is the capital and chief industrial and cultural center.
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Population
With about 20,739,000 inhabitants in 1991, Uzbekistan has the largest population of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, and the third largest population of any former Soviet republic (after Russia and Ukraine). Uzbeks, a Turkic-speaking people with an Islamic heritage, constitute 71 percent of the population. Russians are the largest minority with 8.3 percent. As in most other former Soviet republics in Central Asia, the size of the Russian minority has decreased in recent years, as thousands have emigrated to Russia and elsewhere. Tajiks (4.7 percent) and Kazaks (4.1 percent) are the next largest minorities, followed by Tatars, Karakalpaks, Koreans, Kyrgyz, Ukrainians, Turkmens, and Turks. The Russians in Uzbekistan live almost exclusively in Toshkent and other industrial centers. Tajiks are concentrated in the ancient cities of Bukhoro and Samarqand. Karakalpaks reside principally in their home region, the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic.
Most of the population of Uzbekistan lives in rural settlements. Slightly more than 40 percent of the total population live in urban areas. With a population of about 2,120,000 in 1991, Toshkent, the capital, is the largest city in Central Asia and the fourth largest in the former USSR (after Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Kyiv). Other major cities, which are concentrated in the eastern half of the country, include Samarqand, Namangan, Andijon, and Bukhoro (228,000). The country's population growth rate is high, about 3.5 percent per year. Health standards, indicated by infant mortality and death from infectious diseases, are poor. In the western part of the country near the shrinking Aral Sea the population's health has deteriorated mainly due to the scarcity of good drinking water. The exposed Aral seabed is the source of toxic dust storms that mix sands, salts, and pesticides, poisoning the surrounding water table.
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"Uzbekistan," Microsoft ® Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.
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