Geographical situation: Republic of Uzbekistan is situated in the middle of Central Asia between the two rivers: Amudarya and Syrdarya. Turan low land and Tyan Shan mountains are situated in the north-west of the Republic and the mountain ranges of Pamir Alay in the south-east of the country. Kyzyl Kum desert is in the north of the Republic. Uzbekistan borders on Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Climate: Uzbekistan has a sharp-continental climate, it’s hot and dry. Average temperature in winter (January) ranges from -8C to +5C, in mountainous areas it can go down to -16C. In summer (July) in the north temperature is +26 - +32C while in the south (Termez, Sherabad) it reaches +41- +42C. Precipitation is about 80mm per year in desert and plain areas of the northern part of the country. It equals to approximately 200-300mm in the western parts of the country and up to 1000mm – in the mountains. At the same time relative humidity of the air is low (60-65%) practically everywhere all the year round. Maximum precipitation occurs in autumn and winter periods. A considerable amount of snow falls in the mountainous areas in winter, it can stay on the slopes up to April-May.
Nature: the landscapes of the country are rather multifarious: there are boundless deserts, oases and majestic chains of mountain ranges.
Area: 447 900 sq.km, 425 900sq. km of the area is land; 22.000sq km is water.
Population: over 35 mln. people (2013), 53 % -urban, 47% -rural.
Composition of population: Uzbeks 80%, Russians 5.5 %, Tajiks 5%, Kazakhs 5%, Karakalpaks 2%, Tatars 1.5% and representatives of other nations.
Administrative division: 12 provinces, 1 autonomous republic (Karakalpakstan)
The capital of Uzbekistan is Tashkent – more than 3 mln people.
Language: Uzbek is the state language, Russian – international language. Samarkand and Bukhara are inhabited by a big number of Tajiks: Tajik language is widespread in these cities.
English is used in the sphere of tourism and trade.
Cuisine: Uzbek cuisine consists of more than one thousand national dishes. Pilaw (plov) is one of the most popular national dishes. There are about 100 ways of cooking this dish. Every province has its own way of cooking plov. Calorific value and ecological purity of local foodstuffs is unique. Fabulous tasty fruits and vegetables that grow under the gentle oriental sun are also considered to be the ingredients of Uzbek cuisine.
Religion: Islam – 88%, Christianity – 9%, representatives of other religions - 3%.
Time: +5 hours Greenwich time.
Electric power: 220 V AC, 50 A; standard socket of double plug.
Internet zone: .uz
International telephone code of Uzbekistan: +998
Local currency unit: sum (S, UZS), equal to 100 tiyin
Foreign currency can be exchanged for local currency in exchange offices (the number of them in Tashkent is big enough) or in the banks.
Conditions for entry: At present Uzbekistan is visa-free-entry country for the citizens of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
To enter the country one needs to have international passport (must be valid for the entire period of stay). You’ll get a certificate on registration at the hotel of your stay. You are supposed to be requested to present it on leaving Uzbekistan by the officers of Passport control. In case you decided to stay with your acquaintances, you’d be required to register at the OVIR (Department of Visas and Registrations of MIA) on the address of the people you wished to stay with within three days from the day of arrival.
Mountains and a city of Uzbekistan
the Capital of Sunny Uzbekistan!
Tashkent is situated at the foothills of Tyan Shyan Mountains, in the heart of the blossoming oasis of the river Chirchik valley. In the course of many centuries Tashkent had the title of cross roads of various trade routs, including the Great Silk Road. The ancient markets of Tashkent could hear people speak various languages.
The Map of Great Silk Road
Ancient manuscripts claim that once upon a time there were very beautiful palaces in the midst of green gardens, mosques and streets of artisans. People were involved into many activities including foundry work, silk spinning manufacturing arms, ceramics, jewelry etc. The city was considered to be the main commercial centre. Coins found by the archeologists witness commercial relations stretching from Byzantine Empire to China. In the course of its historical development the city had its highs and lows, but steadily remained on the crossroads of international trade never loosing its title of the centre of culture and arts.
Ancient Decorations and Arms
The history of Tashkent numbers 2200 years. Within this period of time it has covered the way from a small settlement to a one of the biggest cities of Central Asia, the capital of Uzbekistan.
The city had first been mentioned in the ancient manuscripts of oriental scholars II c. AD. Tashkent oasis is called Uni and is described as lands belonging to state called Kyungyuj. Uni was the centre of the mentioned oasis. Chach - the ancient name of Tashkent oasis, is contained in the inscription on “Kaaba Zoroastra” of Persian king Shapur I in 262. In the Chinese sources it is transcribed as Shi, in Arabic – Shash. Later on this term was used in Turkic languages as Tash.
A lot of valuable data on the history of medieval Tashkent is mentioned in Arabic, Persian and Turkic sources of the 9-12 cc. The city of Tashkent has been known in Russia since 16c. It had been introduced into the Book of Great Drawing (description of the biggest map of Russia of 17 c.) under the name of Tashkura. However, by the 17 c. ancient names as Shash and others were phased out by the toponym Tashkent.
Modern Tashkent is one of the most beautiful cities of central Asia. It is not fortuitous that they call it the gem of Central Asia. There are many monuments in Tashkent survived from ancient times. The most important ones are dated back to the16 c. and include medrese Kukeldosh, Hazrati Imam-Barackhan, Sheyhantaur mausoleum, Suyunijhana,Yunus-Hana, Kaffalshashi and Qaldirgoch Biya.
Lutheran Church (arch. Benua)
XIX c. buildings of European style created by architects A. Benua, B.Gunzelman, A.Makarov are well preserved till modern times. Among the buildings of the end of XIX – beginning of XX century one can see the palace of the Grand Duke Nikolay Konstantinovich Romanov, Schools for boys and girls, Higher technical school and the building of the government.
Katholic Church Building
Former Palace of N.K. Romanov
The citizens of the capital take a special pride of the Opera and ballet theatre named after A. Navoi. Uzbekistan State Museum of Arts is well known in this country and abroad. There are more than 4000 exhibits in its exposition. Museums of Amir Temur and the Museum of Uzbekistan History are also interesting sites to visit. Tashkent is also known as the “Main air gates” of the East at the international airlines from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China to Europe.
Amir Temur Museum
TV Tower of Tashkent is considered as an example of modern architecture. The Tower is built not in a standard way. This is the highest building in Central Asia. It is 375 m. high (it comes second in height among the countries of CIS after Ostankino TV tower). Radio and TV broadcasting stations as well as meteorological station are situated at the height of 100 and 220 meters. TV tower has a hall to view impressive sites of the city from the bird's eye view and also relax at the rotating bars and restaurants of the tower. By the way, not everybody knows the fact that Tashkent is the birthplace of TV. A citizen of Tashkent Boris Pavlovich Grabovskiy had been working on his project for a long time. In 1928 his investigations brought him to a positive result. An apparatus conveying a moving image at a distance had been created under his supervision at the “Svetlana” electric bulb manufacturing plant. It has become a point of departure for the development of TV engineering. The main invention of Boris Grabovskiy was a –Telepfot- which had become a prototype of modern TV. Next inventor of TV was Vladimir Zvarykin. He was born in 1889 im Murom, Russia. In 1923 he moved to the US where he filed an application to register the invention of TV.
Tashkent TV Tower
On visiting Tashkent one can see modern tall buildings combining the latest architectural achievements with national patterns, local school of décor and oriental architectural traditions. Hotel “Intercontinental”, the Palace of Peoples Friendship, Exhibition Hall of Artists’ Union of Uzbekistan, Tashkent metro stations are also good sites to visit in the capital of Uzbekistan. The fountains of the capital are ineluctable part of architectural style of Tashkent and add charm to the beauty of the city.
Hotels of Tashkent:
At present Tashkent is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities of Central Asia. This is a place where they manufacture air planes, automobiles, excavators, tractors, power transformers, electric cranes, consumer goods. Goods manufactured in Tashkent are exported to many other countries of the world. Tashkent is a city of contrasts. Alongside with the ancient monuments tall houses built of concrete and glass rush into the sky. There are many theatres, parks, museums, stadiums, hotels and markets in the city. In general, there are many places to spend free time. As for the food, the city offers you an abundance of it. One can have a good snack outdoors, right in the streets of the city. There are many cafes or small outlets where you can buy not only hamburgers, hot dogs, samisa or chebureks (mutton pies), rolls, sweets and various soft drinks, but also national Uzbek dishes like pilaw, laghman(noodles), manty (oriental damplings), shashlyk (grilled meat) etc.
Tashkent clock tower
Parks of Tashkent
Tashkent is a very hospitable city. There are many events held on an international level here: symposiums, conferences and all kinds of festivals. Tashkent is a sister city to the following cities like Karachi, Seattle, Tunis and Birmingham. Thus, Tashkent can be called a “City of Friendship and Fraternity”.