Famous landmarks in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a country in Central Asia. It borders Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and it is doubly landlocked: none of its neighbours touches the ocean either. Only one other country in the world, Liechtenstein, is like this. The capital, Tashkent, is the largest city in Central Asia.

Uzbekistan is famous for the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, with their blue-tiled domes and minarets. On the globe you can find the Registan in Samarkand, three grand madrasas around a square, the Gur-e-Amir, the tomb of the conqueror Timur, the Ark fortress of Bukhara and Itchan Kala, the walled old town of Khiva.

Geography and nature

Much of Uzbekistan is flat desert, especially the Kyzylkum, or 'Red Sand', Desert. In the east, the land rises to the foothills of the Tian Shan mountains and the green, fertile Fergana Valley, where many people live. Two great rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, once filled the Aral Sea, but so much water has been taken for farming, especially cotton, that the sea has shrunk dramatically since the 1960s. Summers are hot and dry, and winters can be cold.

People, languages and culture

People speak Uzbek, a Turkic language, officially written in Latin letters, and Russian is also used, along with Tajik in Samarkand and Bukhara. Most people are Muslim. Plov, rice cooked with meat, carrots and onions in a huge pot, is the national dish, and its tradition is listed by UNESCO. Round non bread is stamped with patterns. Uzbekistan is famous for crafts such as suzani embroidery, ikat silk from Margilan and blue ceramics. Guests are always offered tea first.

History in a nutshell

Thousands of years ago, the region was home to Sogdiana and Khwarazm, and Alexander the Great passed through. Silk Road caravans made Samarkand and Bukhara rich. Arab armies brought Islam in the 700s, and scholars such as al-Khwarizmi and Ibn Sina came from these lands. Genghis Khan's Mongols destroyed many cities in 1220, but in the 1300s Timur built a great empire with Samarkand as its glittering capital. Later came the khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand, then Russian and Soviet rule. Uzbekistan became independent in 1991.