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

• 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:

1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.89 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.75 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2020 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)

etymology:

"tash" means "stone" and "kent" means "city" in Turkic languages, so the name simply denotes "stone city"

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 2017 (2018)

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/Minister of Transport 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 in first round;
• percent of vote - Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV (LDPU) 88.6%, Hotamjon KETMONOV (NDP) 3.7%, Narimon UMAROV (Adolat) 3.5%, Sarvar OTAMURODOV (Milliy Tiklanish/National Revival) 2.4%, other 1.8%

highest courts:

Supreme Court (consists of 67 judges organized into administrative, civil, criminal, and economic 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 Senate of the Oliy Majlis;
• judges appointed for initial 5-year term and can be reappointed for subsequent 10-year and lifetime terms

subordinate courts:

regional, district, city, and town courts

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador Javlon VAHOBOV (since 29 November 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 Daniel ROSENBLUM (since 24 May 2019)

telephone:

[998] (71) 120-5450

embassy:

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

mailing address:

use embassy street address

FAX:

[998] (71) 120-6335

• three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by red fimbriations with a vertical, white crescent moon (closed side to the hoist) and 12 white, five-pointed 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

Fitch rating:

BB- (2018)

Moody's rating:

B1 (2019)

Standard & Poors rating: BB- (2018)

agriculture:

25.9%

industry:

13.2%

services:

60.9% (2012 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.8%

highest 10%:

29.6% (2003)

• the government controls media;
• 17 state-owned broadcasters - 13 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 2019, the Uzbek Agency for Press and Information was reorganized into the Agency of Information and Mass Communications and became part of the Uzbek Presidential Administration with recent appointment of the Uzbek President's elder daughter as it deputy director (2019)

number of registered air carriers:

2 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 34

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

3,056,558 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

89.43 million mt-km (2018)

total:

4,642 km (2018)

broad gauge:

4,642 km 1.520-m gauge (1,684 km electrified) (2018)

total:

86,496 km (2000)

paved:

75,511 km (2000)

unpaved:

10,985 km (2000)

Armed Forces of Uzbekistan:

• Army, Air and Air Defense Forces;
• National Guard;
• Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Security Troops (2019)

• assessments for the size of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan vary;
• approximately 55,000 total active troops (est. 45,000 Army; est. 10,000 Air and Air Defense Forces) (2019 est.)

• 18-27 years of age for compulsory military service;
• 1-year conscript service obligation for males (conscripts have the option of paying for a shorter service of one month while remaining in the reserves until the age of 27);
• Uzbek citizens who have completed their service terms in the armed forces have privileges in employment and admission to higher educational institutions (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