UZBEKISTAN

TOPOGRAPHY

Uzbekistan consists of mostly flat to rolling sandy desert with dunes. The Fergana Valley lies in the east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Aral Sea lies in the northwest. There is semiarid grassland in the east. About 11% of Uzbekistan's land is arable, most of which is under irrigation.

ETHNIC GROUPS

In 1996, 80% of the population was Uzbek. Russians constituted5.5%; Tajiks made up 5%; Kazakhs accounted for 3%; Karakalpaks for 2.5%; Tatars 1.5%; and others 2.5%.

FISHING

Fishing occurs mainly in the Fergana Valley. The Aral Sea in the north (the world's fourth-largest lake) is too saline and becoming more so, especially since its water surface area has decreased by 33% since 1960. The total catch in 2000 was 3,837 tons, primarily carp.

FORESTRY

Forests make up 4.8% of the total land area, mostly in the Fergana Valley and Zeravshan regions. Commercial forestry is not a significant part of the economy. Uzbekistan imported $37.2 million in forestry products during 2000.

INSURANCE

Among the insurance companies doing business in Uzbekistan in 1997 were: GOSSTRAKH State Insurance Company of the Republic of Uzbekistan; JV, UMID Joint-Stock Insurance Co.; MADAD Joint-Stock Insurance Agency; and Uzbekinvest National Insurance Co. of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which is government-owned.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

Uzbekistan is a member of the Economic Cooperation Organization, together with Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. Uzbekistan has also formed an economic union with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Imports are subject to customs duties at rates ranging from 1% to 4%. However, excise taxes have been much higher, as much as 90% for imported liquor.

HOUSING

In 1989, 31.9% of all privately owned urban housing had running water, 11.3% had sewer lines, 21.1% had central heating, and 1.5% had hot water. In 1990, Uzbekistan had 12.1 sq m of housing space per capita and, as of 1 January 1991, 204,000 households (or 11.5%) were on waiting lists for urban housing. In 1996, it was estimated that about 90% of all households owned their own apartments or houses.

FAMOUS UZBEKISTANIS

Islam A. Karimov and Leonid Kuchma have been president and prime minister of Uzbekistan since October 1992, respectively. A famous 20th century writer is Abdullah Quaisi, who wrote the historical novels Days Gone By and the Scorpion from the Pulpit , published in the 1920s. Quaisi was killed in the 1930s during Stalin's purges. Ilyas Malayev (b.1936) is a popular poet and musician.

DEPENDENCIES

Uzbekistan has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Craumer, Peter. Rural and Agricultural Development in Uzbekistan. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, Russian and CIS Programme; distributed by the Brookings Institution, 1995.

Critchlow, James. Nationalism in Uzbekistan: A Soviet Republic's Road to Sovereignty. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1991.

Gippenreiter, Vadim Evgenevich. Fabled Cities of Central Asia: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva. New York: Abbeville Press, 1989.

Human Rights and Democratization in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Washington, D.C.: Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 2000.

Karimov, I. A. Uzbekistan on the Threshold of the Twenty-first Century: Challenges to Stability and Progress. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998.

Malcomson, Scott L. Borderlands—Nation and Empire. Boston: Faber and Faber, 1994.

Mandelbaum, Micheal (ed.). Central Asia and the World: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, and Turkmenistan. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994.

Melvin, Neil. Uzbekistan: Transition to Authoritarianism on the Silk Road. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic, 2000.

Nazarov, Bakhtiyar A. and Denis Sinor (eds.). Essays on Uzbek History, Culture, and Language. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University, 1993.