rom 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. Lake Tcharvak Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country; it is one of two double-landlocked countries in the world, i.e., a country completely surrounded by land-locked 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 (Golodnaya Steppe, Kyzyl Kum) and mountains. The highest point in Uzbekistan is 4,643 meters (15,233 ft), 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, today apparently unnamed).[13] 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 temperature tends to be 40 °C, while the average winter temperature is around 0 °C.[14] Major cities include: Bukhara, Samarqand, Namangan, and the capital Tashkent. [edit] Provinces Main article: Provinces of Uzbekistan 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 Key Andijon Viloyati Andijon 4,200 0,1,899,000 2 Buxoro Viloyati Buxoro (Bukhara) 39,400 0,1,384,700 3 Farg'ona Viloyati Farg'ona (Fergana) 6,800 0,2,597,000 4 Jizzax Viloyati Jizzax 20,500 0, 910,500 5 Xorazm Viloyati Urganch 6,300 0,1,200,000 13 Namangan Viloyati Namangan 7,900 0,1,862,000 6 Navoiy Viloyati Navoiy 110,800 0, 767,500 7 Qashqadaryo Viloyati Qarshi 28,400 0,2,029,000 8 Qaraqalpaqstan Respublikasi Nukus 160,000 0,1,200,000 14 Samarqand Viloyati Samarqand 16,400 0,2,322,000 9 Sirdaryo Viloyati Guliston 5,100 0,648,100 10 Surxondaryo Viloyati Termez 20,800 0,1,676,000 11 Toshkent Viloyati Toshkent (Tashkent) 15,300 0,4,450,000 12 Toshkent Shahri Toshkent (Tashkent) No Data 0,2,205,000 1 The statistics for Toshkent Viloyati also include the statistics for Toshkent Shahri. [edit] Economy Main article: Economy of Uzbekistan 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[15], 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).[16] 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 fourth-largest producer and the world's 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.[17] Agriculture employs 28% of Uzbekistan's labor force and contributes 24% of its GDP (2006 data).[13] While official unemployment is very low, underemployment - especially in rural areas - is estimated to be at least 20%.[18] Still, at cotton-harvest time, all students and teachers are mobilized as unpaid labour to help in the fields.[19] Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. 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"[20] and suggested that it is a unique example of a smooth transition to the market economy while avoiding shock, pauperization, 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.[21][22] Samarkand 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".[23] Thus, the national bourgeoisie in general, and the middle class in particular, are marginalized economically, and, consequently, politically. The economic policies have repelled foreign investment, which is the lowest per capita in the CIS.[24] For years, the largest barrier to foreign companies entering the Uzbekistani market has been the difficulty of converting currency. In 2003, the government accepted the obligations of Article VIII under the International Monetary Fund,[25] providing for full currency convertibility. However, strict currency controls and the tightening of borders have lessened the effect of this measure. Uzbekistan experienced galloping inflation of around 1000% per year immediately after independence (1992-1994). Stabilization efforts implemented with active guidance from the IMF rapidly paid off, as inflation rates were brought down to 50% in 1997 and then to 22% in 2002. Since 2003 annual inflation rates averaged less than 10%.[15] 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%[26]). The inflation rates moved up to 6.9% in 2006 and 7.6% in 2007, but have remained in the single-digit range.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] 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 – of between 9 and 11 per cent of GDP in 2003-05 – and foreign exchange reserves, including gold, more than doubled to around US$3 billion.[31] [edit] Demographics Main article: Demographics of Uzbekistan Boys pose for a picture at Registan. Over a third of Uzbekistan's population is under 14 years old. Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Its 27.7 million people[1] comprise nearly half the region's total population. The population of Uzbekistan is very young: 34.1% of its are people are younger than 14. According to official sources, Uzbeks comprise a majority (80%) of the total population. Other ethnic groups include Russians 5.5%, Tajiks 5%, Kazakhs 3%, Karakalpaks 2.5%, and Tatars 1.5%.[32] There is some controversy about the percentage of the Tajik population. While official numbers from Uzbekistan put the number at 5%, some Western scholars believe it to be much higher, going as high as 40%.[33] There is also an ethnic Korean population that was forcibly relocated to Uzbekistan by Stalin in the 1930s. 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 also an estimated 93,000 Jews in Uzbekistan in the early 1990s (source Library of Congress Country Studies). But now, since the collapse of the USSR, most Central Asian Jews left the region for the United States or Israel. Only about 500-1,500 Jews remain in Uzbekistan. At least 10 percent of the Uzbekistan's labour force works abroad (mostly in Russia and Kazakhstan).[34] Uzbekistan has a 99.3% literacy rate among adults older than 15,[35] which is attributable to the free and universal education system of the Soviet Union. [edit] Languages The Uzbek language is the only official state language.[36] Russian is still an important language for interethnic communication, especially in the cities, including much day-to-day technical, scientific, governmental and business use. The use of Russian in remote rural areas has always been limited, and today school children have no proficiency in Russian even in urban centers. In 1997 Uzbekistan officially shifted back to Latin script[citation needed] from traditional considerations of consistency with Turkey, 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 so-called "Uzbek Cyrillic" keyboard, and Latin script is reportedly composed using the standard English keyboard. [edit] Communications Main article: Communications in Uzbekistan 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.[37] 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 Coscom (owned by US MCT Corp., but there is news that it is selling its asset to TeliaSonera.[38] As of 1 July 2007, the estimated number of internet users was 1.8 million, according to UzACI. [edit] Transportation Main article: Transportation in Uzbekistan 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, and promotes itself as one of the cleanest systems in the world. The stations are exceedingly ornate. For example Kosmonavtov is decorated throughout using a space travel theme to recognise the achievements of an Uzbek Cosmonaut 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).[39] 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.[40] Train links connect many towns within Uzbekistan, as well as neighbouring ex-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 ?????? 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 rumors of production-enhancement plans. [edit] Military Main article: Military of Uzbekistan 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 organization, 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 September 11, 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. [edit] Foreign relations Main article: Foreign relations of Uzbekistan 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 it military), the government of Uzbekistan has recently restricted American military use of the airbase at Karshi-Khanabad for air operations in neighboring Afghanistan.[41] 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 "color 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 Islom Karimov changed the political alignment of the country to bring it closer to Russia and China, countries which chose not to criticize 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 the 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 US 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 (since March 2, 1992), the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Partnership for Peace, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It belongs to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (comprised of 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 Organization (SCO) and hosts the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. Uzbekistan joined the new Central Asian Cooperation Organization (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 Islom 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 the 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. [edit] Culture Main article: Culture of Uzbekistan See also: Music of Uzbekistan, Kurash, Islam in Uzbekistan, and Scout Association of Uzbekistan 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%), 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, it was widely feared that Mu