Uzbekistan

• mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes;
• broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya, Syr Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zarafshon;
• Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan;
• shrinking Aral Sea in west

agricultural land:

62.6%;

• arable land 10.1%;
• permanent crops 0.8%;
• permanent pasture 51.7%

forest:

7.7%

other:

29.7% (2011 est.)

• most of the population is concentrated in the fertile Fergana Valley in the easternmost arm of the country;
• the south has significant clusters of people, while the central and western deserts are sparsely populated

• earthquakes;
• floods;
• landslides or mudslides;
• avalanches;
• droughts

• shrinkage of the Aral Sea has resulted in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts;
• these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification and respiratory health problems;
• water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders;
• increasing soil salination;
• soil contamination from buried nuclear processing and agricultural chemicals, including DDT

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Uzbekistani

adjective:

Uzbekistani

• most of the population is concentrated in the fertile Fergana Valley in the easternmost arm of the country;
• the south has significant clusters of people, while the central and western deserts are sparsely populated

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.74 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Uzbekistan

conventional short form:

Uzbekistan

local long form:

O'zbekiston Respublikasi

local short form:

O'zbekiston

former:

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic

etymology:

a combination of the Turkic words "uz" (self) and "bek" (master) with the Persian suffix "-stan" (country) to give the meaning "Land of the Free"

name:

Tashkent (Toshkent)

geographic coordinates:

41 19 N, 69 15 E

time difference:

UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 12 provinces (viloyatlar, singular - viloyat), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonom respublikasi), and 1 city** (shahar);
• Andijon Viloyati, Buxoro Viloyati, Farg'ona Viloyati, Jizzax Viloyati, Namangan Viloyati, Navoiy Viloyati, Qashqadaryo Viloyati (Qarshi), Qoraqalpog'iston Respublikasi [Karakalpakstan Republic]* (Nukus), Samarqand Viloyati, Sirdaryo Viloyati (Guliston), Surxondaryo Viloyati (Termiz), Toshkent Shahri [Tashkent City]**, Toshkent Viloyati [Tashkent province], Xorazm Viloyati (Urganch)

note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

history:

several previous; latest adopted 8 December 1992

amendments:

• proposed by the Supreme Assembly or by referendum;
• passage requires two-thirds majority vote of both houses of the Assembly or passage in a referendum;
• amended several times, last in 2014 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Uzbekistan

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV (interim president from 8 September 2016; formally elected president on 4 December 2016 to succeed longtime President Islom KARIMOV, who died on 2 September 2016)

head of government:

Prime Minister Abdulla ARIPOV (since 14 December 2016); First Deputy Prime Minister Achilbay RAMATOV (since 15 December 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president with most requiring approval of the Senate chamber of the Supreme Assembly (Oliy Majlis)

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term; previously a 5-year term, extended by a 2002 constitutional amendment to 7 years, and reverted to 5 years in 2011);
• election last held on 4 December 2016 (next to be held in 2021);
• prime minister nominated by majority party in legislature since 2011, but appointed along with the ministers and deputy ministers by the president

election results:

Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV elected president; percent of vote - Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV (LDPU) 88.6%, Khatamjon KETMONOV (NDP) 3.7%, Narimon UMAROV (Adolat) 3.5%, Sarvar OTAMURADOV (Milliy Tiklanish/National Revival) 2.4%, other 1.8%

description:

bicameral Supreme Assembly or Oliy Majlis consists of the Senate (100 seats; 84 members indirectly elected by regional governing councils and 16 appointed by the president; members serve 5-year terms) and the Legislative Chamber or Qonunchilik Palatasi (150 seats; 135 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote with a second round, if needed, and 15 indirectly elected by the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan; members serve 5-year terms)

note: all parties in the Supreme Assembly support President Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV

elections:

last held on 21 December 2014 and 4 January 2015 (next to be held in December 2019)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• Legislative Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - LDPU 52, National Revival Democratic Party 36, NDP 27, Adolat 20, Ecological Movement 15

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court (consists of 67 judges organized into administrative, civil, criminal, economic, and military sections);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 7 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• judges of the highest courts nominated by the president and confirmed by the Oliy Majlis;
• judges appointed for initial 5-year term, subsequent 10-year term, and lifetime term subject to reappointment

subordinate courts:

regional, district, city, and town courts; economic courts

• Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan (O'zbekiston Ekologik Harakati) [Boriy ALIKHANOV]
• Justice (Adolat) Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan [Narimon UMAROV]
• Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O'zbekiston Liberal-Demokratik Partiyasi) or LDPU [Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV]
• National Revival Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O'zbekiston Milliy Tiklanish Demokratik Partiyasi) [Sarvar OTAMURATOV]
• People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Xalq Demokratik Partiyas) or NDP [Hotamjon KETMONOV] (formerly Communist Party)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Javlon VAHOBOV (since 1 December 2017)

chancery:

1746 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 887-5300

FAX:

[1] (202) 293-6804

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Pamela L. SPRATLEN (since 27 January 2015)

embassy:

3 Moyqo'rq'on, 5th Block, Yunusobod District, Tashkent 100093

mailing address:

use embassy street address

telephone:

[998] (71) 120-5450

FAX:

[998] (71) 120-6335

• three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by red fimbriations with a white crescent moon (closed side to the hoist) and 12 white stars shifted to the hoist on the top band;
• blue is the color of the Turkic peoples and of the sky, white signifies peace and the striving for purity in thoughts and deeds, while green represents nature and is the color of Islam;
• the red stripes are the vital force of all living organisms that links good and pure ideas with the eternal sky and with deeds on earth;
• the crescent represents Islam and the 12 stars the months and constellations of the Uzbek calendar

name:

"O'zbekiston Respublikasining Davlat Madhiyasi" (National Anthem of the Republic of Uzbekistan)

lyrics/music:

Abdulla ARIPOV/Mutal BURHANOV

note: adopted 1992; after the fall of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan kept the music of the anthem from its time as a Soviet Republic but adopted new lyrics

agriculture:

25.9%

industry:

13.2%

services:

60.9% (2012 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.8%

highest 10%:

29.6% (2003)

general assessment:

digital exchanges in large cities and in rural areas

domestic:

• the state-owned telecommunications company, Uzbektelecom, owner of the fixed-line telecommunications system, has used loans from the Japanese government and the China Development Bank to upgrade fixed-line services including conversion to digital exchanges;
• mobile-cellular services are provided by three private and two state-owned operators with a total subscriber base of 23 million as of mid-2016

international:

• country code - 998;
• linked by fiber-optic cable or microwave radio relay with CIS member states and to other countries by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway switch;
• the country also has a link to the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable;
• Uzbekistan has supported the national fiber- optic backbone project of Afghanistan since 2008 (2016)

• government controls media;
• 18 state-owned broadcasters - 14 TV and 4 radio - provide service to virtually the entire country;
• about 20 privately owned TV stations, overseen by local officials, broadcast to local markets;
• privately owned TV stations are required to lease transmitters from the government-owned Republic TV and Radio Industry Corporation;
• in 2013, the government closed TV and radio broadcasters affiliated with the National Association of Electronic Mass Media (NAEMM) of Uzbekistan, a government-sponsored NGO for private broadcast media;
• in 2015, the NAEMM relaunched its TV channel under a different name (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

2; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 29

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

2,486,673

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

114,334,520 mt-km (2015)

total:

4,304 km

broad gauge:

4,304 km 1.520-m gauge (1,354 km electrified) (2016)

country comparison to the world: 48

total:

86,496 km

paved:

75,511 km

unpaved:

10,985 km (2000)

country comparison to the world: 54

• 18 years of age for compulsory military service;
• 1-month or 1-year conscript service obligation for males;
• moving toward a professional military, but conscription in some form will continue;
• the military cannot accommodate everyone who wishes to enlist, and competition for entrance into the military is similar to the competition for admission to universities;
• note - widely considered to have one of the strongest militaries in Central Asia, although it is untested (2016)

• prolonged drought and cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan created water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states;
• field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2004;
• border delimitation of 130 km of border with Kyrgyzstan is hampered by serious disputes around enclaves and other areas

current situation:

• Uzbekistan is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking;
• government-compelled forced labor of adults remained endemic during the 2014 cotton harvest;
• despite a decree banning the use of persons under 18, children were mobilized to harvest cotton by local officials in some districts;
• in some regions, local officials forced teachers, students, private business employees, and others to work in construction, agriculture, and cleaning parks;
• Uzbekistani women and children are victims of sex trafficking domestically and in the Middle East, Eurasia, and Asia;
• Uzbekistani men and, to a lesser extent, women are subjected to forced labor in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine in the construction, oil, agriculture, retail, and food sectors

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List – Uzbekistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• law enforcement efforts in 2014 were mixed;
• the government made efforts to combat sex and transnational labor trafficking, but government-compelled forced labor of adults in the cotton harvest went unaddressed, and the decree prohibiting forced child labor was not applied universally;
• official complicity in human trafficking in the cotton harvest remained prevalent;
• authorities made efforts to identify and protect sex and transnational labor victims, although a systematic process is still lacking;
• minimal efforts were made to assist victims of forced labor in the cotton harvest, as the government does not openly acknowledge the existence of this forced labor;
• the ILO did not have permission or funding to monitor the 2014 harvest, but the government authorized the UN's International Labour Organization to conduct a survey on recruitment practices and working conditions in agriculture, particularly the cotton sector, and to monitor the 2015-17 cotton harvests for child and forced labor in project areas (2015)

• transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets;
• limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and small amounts of opium poppy for domestic consumption;
• poppy cultivation almost wiped out by government crop eradication program;
• transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan