Portal:Uzbekistan

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Uzbekistan Portal

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan, is a doubly landlocked country located in Central Asia. It is surrounded by five countries: Kazakhstan to the north, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Tajikistan to the southeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, making it one of only two doubly landlocked countries on Earth, the other being Liechtenstein. Uzbekistan is part of the Turkic world, as well as a member of the Organization of Turkic States. Uzbek is the majority language, while Russian is widely spoken and understood. Islam is the predominant religion, and most Uzbeks are Sunni Muslims.

The first recorded settlers in the land of what is modern Uzbekistan were Eastern Iranian nomads, known as Scythians, who founded kingdoms in Khwarazm, Bactria, and Sogdia in the 8th–6th centuries BC, as well as 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 ruled by the Parthian Empire and later by the Sasanian Empire, until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century. The early Muslim conquests and the subsequent Samanid Empire converted most of the people into adherents of Islam. During this period, cities began to grow rich from the Silk Road, and became a center of the Islamic Golden Age. The local Khwarazmian dynasty was destroyed by the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, leading to a dominance by Turkic peoples. Timur (Tamerlane) in the 14th century established the Timurid Empire. Its capital was Samarkand, which became a centre of science under the rule of Ulugh Beg, giving birth to the Timurid Renaissance. The territories of the Timurid dynasty were conquered by Uzbek Shaybanids in the 16th century. Conquests by Emperor Babur towards the east led to the foundation of the Mughal Empire in India. All 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. It declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

A deported Meskhetian Turk woman and her child in exile in Uzbek SSR

The deportation of the Meskhetian Turks (Russian: Депортация турок-месхетинцев) was the forced transfer by the Soviet government of the entire Meskhetian Turk population from the Meskheti region of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Georgia) to Central Asia on 14 November 1944. During the deportation, between 92,307 and 94,955 Meskhetian Turks were forcibly removed from 212 villages. They were packed into cattle wagons and mostly sent to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Members of other ethnic groups were also deported during the operation, including Kurds and Hemshins, bringing the total to approximately 115,000 evicted people. They were placed in special settlements where they were assigned to forced labor. The deportation and harsh conditions in exile caused between 12,589 to 50,000 deaths.

The expulsion was executed by NKVD chief Lavrentiy Beria on the orders of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and involved 4,000 NKVD personnel. 34 million roubles were allocated to carry out the operation. It was a part of the Soviet forced settlement program and population transfers that affected several million members of Soviet ethnic minorities between the 1930s and the 1950s. Around 32,000 people, mostly Armenians, were settled by the Soviet government in the areas cleared of Meskhetia. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know...

No recent additions

edit

In the news

Uzbekistan on Wikinews

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various Uzbekistan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Triumphant crowd at Registan, Sher-Dor Madrasah. The Emir of Bukhara viewing the severed heads of Russian soldiers on poles. Painting by Vasily Vereshchagin (1872). (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 2Russian troops taking Samarkand in 1868, by Nikolay Karazin (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 3Map of Timurid dynasty (1370–1506) (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 4The Silk Road extending from Southern Europe through Africa and Western Asia, to Central Asia, and eventually South Asia, until it reaches China, East Asia proper, and Southeast Asia (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 5Kushan Prince, Dalverzin-Tepe, 1st century AD, Uzbekistan, Museum of the History of the Peoples of Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 6Kalyan Minaret (Great Minaret) in Bukhara, 1127 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 7Ruins of Afrasiab – ancient Samarkand destroyed by Genghis Khan (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 8The Registan and its three madrasahs. From left to right: Ulugh Beg Madrasah, Tilya-Kori Madrasah and Sher-Dor Madrasah, Samarkand, and Uzbekistan. (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 9A group of youth in Uzbekistan, 1995 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 10Djamolidine Abdoujaparov is the most famous cyclist in Uzbekistan, winning three Tour de France point contests. Abdoujaparov is also one of the world's fastest cyclists. (from Culture of Uzbekistan)
Image 11Chor Minor madrasa, Bukhara, 1807 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 12Timur feasts in Samarkand (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 13Rabati Malik's portal on the road from Samarkand to Bukhara, 11th century (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 14Turkish officers during an audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand 648–651 AD (Afrasiab murals) (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 15Map of Uzbek states in 1735 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 16The Defence of the Samarkand Citadel in 1868. From the Russian illustrated magazine Niva (1872). (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 17Map of Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 18Chorasmian fresco from Kazakly-Yatkan (fortress of Akcha-Khan Kala), 1st century BC-2nd century AD (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 19A group of Uzbek elders, 1890–1896 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 20Fayaz Tepe, Standing Buddha Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 21The pharmacy building in Bukhara is a fine example of Uzbek architecture influenced by the Russian Empire. (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 22A veil-burning ceremony in Uzbek SSR as part of Soviet Hujum policies (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 23ossuary, statue of a man, Koy-Krylgan-Kala region, first centuries BC, Khorezm (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 24A parandja, a robe worn by women until it was banned in 1927. This example is made of velvet, silk threads and handmade embroidery. Displayed at the Museum of Applied Arts in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (from Culture of Uzbekistan)