Portal:Uzbekistan

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...)

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Map of Russia's advances into Turkestan, 1912

In the 16th century, the Tsardom of Russia embarked on a campaign to expand the Russian frontier to the east. This effort continued until the 19th century under the Russian Empire, when the Imperial Russian Army succeeded in conquering all of Central Asia. The majority of this land became known as Russian Turkestan—the name "Turkestan" was used to refer to the area due to the fact that it was and is inhabited by Turkic peoples, excluding the Tajiks, who are an Iranian ethnicity. Upon witnessing Russia's absorption of the various Central Asian realms, the British Empire sought to reinforce India, triggering the Great Game, which ended when both sides eventually designated Afghanistan as a neutral buffer zone.

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• Uzbekistan on Wikinews

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  Image 1The 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)
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  Image 2The pharmacy building in Bukhara is a fine example of Uzbek architecture influenced by the Russian Empire. (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 3The Defence of the Samarkand Citadel in 1868. From the Russian illustrated magazine Niva (1872). (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 4The Silk Road extending from Southern Europe through Africa and Western Asia, to Central Asia, and eventually South Asia, until it reaches China, and Southeast Asia (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 5ossuary, statue of a man, Koy-Krylgan-Kala region, first centuries BC, Khorezm (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 6Map of Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 7Turkish officers during an audience with king VarkhumanofSamarkand 648–651 AD (Afrasiab murals) (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 8Map of Uzbek states in 1735 (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 9Kushan Prince, Dalverzin-Tepe, 1st century AD, Uzbekistan, Museum of the History of the Peoples of Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 10Ruins of Afrasiab – ancient Samarkand destroyed by Genghis Khan (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 11Djamolidine 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)
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  Image 12Kalyan Minaret (Great Minaret) in Bukhara, 1127 (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 13Map of Timurid dynasty (1370–1506) (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 14Fayaz Tepe, Standing Buddha Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 15A group of Uzbek elders, 1890–1896 (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 16Rabati Malik's portal on the road from Samarkand to Bukhara, 11th century (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 17Aparandja, 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)
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  Image 18Triumphant 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)
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  Image 19Russian troops taking Samarkand in 1868, by Nikolay Karazin (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 20A group of youth in Uzbekistan, 1995 (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 21Timur feasts in Samarkand (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 22Chorasmian fresco from Kazakly-Yatkan (fortress of Akcha-Khan Kala), 1st century BC-2nd century AD (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 23Aveil-burning ceremony in Uzbek SSR as part of Soviet Hujum policies (from History of Uzbekistan)
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  Image 24Chor Minor madrasa, Bukhara, 1807 (from History of Uzbekistan)

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