Short Essay on Uzbekistan

Lying south and southeast of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan’s territory falls mainly be west of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and between Central Asia’s two major rivers north of Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, Syr Darya and Amu Darya, though they only partly from its boundaries. Although the territory does reach the Caspian Sea, it includes the southern part of the Aral Sea. The Soviet government created the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as a constituent unit of the USSR in 1924, but in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union it de­clared its independence.

With a population of 24.5 million, the largest in Central Asia, the nation is not only the most populous, but contains the largest number of the native Turkic peo­ples, overwhelmingly outnumbering the other ethnic groups, and have registered the highest growth rate in the region. The cultural and historic roots of the Uzbeks date back to the ancient times. Several cit­ies such as Bukhara, Khiva, Kokand, and Samarkand were cultural, political and trade centers for centuries.

Although a large part of the country is occupied by the extensive desert of Kyzl Kum, some of the world’s richest irrigated oases exist m a narrow band of densely populated area in the east. The most im­portant of the oases is the Fergana Valley, drained by the Syr Darya, and divided pri­marily between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

This and other oases such as Tashkent, Andizhan, Bukhara, Khiva, Kokand and Mary (Merv), Samarkand, and Zeravshan form the rich agricultural tracts that fulfill the nation’s major producer of high-grade cotton. Most of the major oases are located where mountain streams de­scend on to the lowland except such oases or Zeravshan that are located in the desert lowlands.

Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s largest ag­ricultural producer. In cotton production it ranks third in the world (China and In­dia rank higher). Besides cotton, rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruits (particularly grapes, pomegranates, figs and melons are grown. Known for its orchards and vine­yards, Uzbekistan is also important for raising Karakul sheep and silkworms.

Plenty of sunlight, mild winters, fertile ir­rigated soil, and good pastureland make conditions suitable for the cultivation of these crops and for cattle raising. Raising silkworms is a traditional occupation among farmers, dating to the 4th century. The Fergana Valley is especially known for silk production. The country’s mineral resources in elude metallic ores such as copper, zinc lead, tungsten and gold. Uzbekistan possesses substantial reserves of natural gas oil, and coal. Most of the natural gas is con­sumed domestically, and gas pipelines link the important cities and stretch from Buk­hara to the Ural Mountains in Russia.

Petroleum fields exist in the Fergana Val­ley, in the vicinity of Bukhara, and in Karakalpakstan. Dams on the Syr Darya and its tributaries are utilized to produce hydroelectricity. The country is deficient in water resources. The existing canals— the Great Fergana, Northern Fergana, Southern Fergana and Tashkent now face shortfalls in irrigation waters due to depletion of the rivers.

In manufacturing, Uzbekistan is Cen­tral Asia’s major producer of machinery and heavy equipment. The manufactured items include machines and equipment for cotton cultivation, harvesting and process­ing, and for use in textile industry, irrigation, and road construction. Cement, textile, chemical fertilizers, and tea packing are some other industries. The country predictably exports cotton, natural gas, oil, silk and fruits, as well as manufactured goods such as machines, cement, textiles, and fertilizers.

The country is nearly self-sufficient in energy sources, and agricultural products development. The disruption of the Soviet trading system caused by the collapse of the USSR in 1991 did not particularly af­fect the nation. Since independence, the nation has followed a slow and cautious path of privatization.

Economic develop­ment in the future would depend largely on overcoming the current infrastructural handicaps such as the antiquated means of distribution and processing of raw materi­als. Neither surface nor air transport now available is adequate to handle the trans­port of the produce such as fruits and vegetables.

There are few well-developed highways. Most of the country’s trade was with the Soviet Union; the nation is con­sidering plans to enlarge the trading area to include the developing countries. The majority of Uzbekistan’s popula­tion lives in rural areas. In the early 1990s just over 40 percent of the population was registered as urban and only 16 of the cit­ies contain population over 100,000. Population comprised mostly of the non- Uzbeks.

Tashkent:

With a population of a little over 2 million is the largest city of Central Asia, and the capital and the “primate” city of Uzbekistan. It lies in a large oasis along the Chirchik River on the Trans- Caspian railroad in the foothills of the Tien Shan Mountains. Dating back to the 1st century B.C., the city has been a his­toric trade and handicraft center on the historic caravan routes from the Orient to Europe during medieval times.

When the Russians occupied it in 1865, the walled city had a population of 70,000. Several old buildings, mausoleums, and religious shrines survive in the “older” section. Tashkent lies in the most industrialized part of Uzbekistan, and contains one of the largest textile mills in Asia.

Other in­dustries include food-and tobacco- processing plants, and factories that manu­facture machinery, electrical equipment, chemicals and furniture. The modern, planned section built during the Russian period, co-exists with the old Oriental quarters with its narrow, winding streets, numerous mosques, and bazaars.

Other major cities of Uzbekistan— Samarkand (370,000), Audizham (293,000), Bukhara (238,000), Fergana (198,000), and Kokand (176,000) are con­siderably smaller than Tashkent, but are just as important from the cultural and his­toric standpoint. Their histories extend back to ancient times, and they have served as political, and trade centers for centuries.

With the exception of Bukhara these cities are located in the industrial heartland of the nation; each, including Bukhara, on the historic route way (be­tween China and the Middle East) has a significant industrial component. It spe­cializes primarily in the manufacture of textiles, processed food, and machinery. The “old” sections of these cities were partially reconstructed during the Soviet period.