Sharing the Aral sea coastline with its northern neighbor, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan has common borders with five countries, including Afghanistan to the south. It is the most populous central Asian republic and has considerable natural resources. Uzbekistan contains the ancient cities of Samarkand, Bukhara (Bukhoro), Khiva, and Tashkent. The dictatorship of President Karimov has prevented the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.

Among the former Soviet republics, Uzbekistan has a relatively complex makeup. In addition to the Uzbeks, Russians, Tajiks, and Kazakhs, there are small minorities of Tatars and Karakalpaks. The proportion of Russians has been declining since the 1970s, when net emigration of Russians began. Tensions among ethnic groups have the potential to create regional and racial conflict. The authoritarian nature of the Karimov leadership has so far prevented these antagonisms from becoming violent. Incidents such as the 1989 and 1990 clashes between Meskhetian Turks and Uzbeks are rare. The removal of the dominance of the Communist Party has meant that Uzbek society has reverted to traditional social patterns based on family, religion, clan, and region, rather than on membership of the party. Independence has done little to alter the minor role of women in politics. Arranged marriages are still the custom in the countryside.

Strengths

Gold. Well-developed cotton market. Considerable unexploited deposits of oil and natural gas. Current production of natural gas makes significant contribution to electricity generation. Manufacturing tradition includes agricultural machinery and central Asia's only aviation factory.

Weaknesses

Dependent on grain imports, as domestic production meets only 25% of needs. Very limited economic reform. High inflation. Environmentally damaging irrigation scheme for cotton production.

Profile

Uzbekistan's economy is predominantly agricultural with the exception of Tashkent, which became an industrial area during World War II. Pro-market reforms have been slow, despite fresh assistance from the World Bank to raise the efficiency of privatized companies. The gold sector has attracted investment by US companies. Energy resources are still to be fully exploited. The som was devalued by 50% in 2001.

Uzbekistan is effectively run by a presidential dictatorship. A referendum in 2002 approved the creation of a second legislative chamber and lengthened the presidential term.

Profile

President Karimov's PDP has not been willing to devolve or share power. The 1992 constitution appeared to endorse multiparty politics, but Karimov took advantage of greater powers granted to his office by banning a number of opposition parties, including the nationalist Birlik (Unity) movement and the Islamic Renaissance Party. The only legal opposition party, Erk (Will), was proscribed in 1993, and in 1995, a group of its activists, found guilty of political subversion, received stiff prison sentences. Opposition is now entirely underground. The intimidation and arbitrary imprisonment of dissidents are common, and repression has increased since bomb attacks in Tashkent in 1999. Karimov has kept the support of the Russian minority by avoiding nationalist rhetoric.

Main Political Issues

Islamic fundamentalism

The civil war in Tajikistan and the rise of the taliban regime in Afghanistan raised fears about Islamic fundamentalism. The constitution stipulates the separation of Islam and the state. A joint operation with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan against the pan-regional Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) took place in 2000, as cross-border attacks increased. IMU leader Juma Namangani was reported killed alongside taliban fighters in northern Afghanistan in late 2001. A clampdown against the Hizb-ut Tahrir group continues.

Regionalism

The high birthrate puts pressure on limited agricultural resources. In the densely populated eastern Fergana Valley there has been a number of violent incidents.

Uzbekistan has the world's largest gold mine, at Murantau in the Kyzyl Kum desert, and also large deposits of natural gas, petroleum, coal, and uranium. An important oil field was discovered in 1992 in the Namangan region and production will rise with further investment. Most gas produced is currently used domestically, but it could also become a strong export.

Cotton is the main focus of agriculture: Uzbekistan is the world's fourth-largest producer. A decision after independence to diversify was reversed when the value of cotton as a commodity on the world market became clear. Fruit, silk cocoons, and vegetables for Russian markets are also of rising importance.

The health service has been in decline since the dissolution of the USSR. Some rural areas are not served at all. In 1998 a $69.7 million project to improve health services was announced, with the World Bank providing a loan of some $30 million. Serious respiratory diseases among cotton growers are increasing.

The state system still follows the Soviet model, though some instruction is in Uzbek. In the late 1980s, there were a few ethnic Tajik schools and a university in Samarkand. These were closed down in 1992 as relations deteriorated between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The rise in Islamic consciousness has led to a growing number of madrasas, schools attached to mosques. In 1999 the establishment of Tashkent Islamic University was agreed.

Former communists are still the wealthiest group, since they retain control of the economy. Many rural poor live below the poverty line.

Part of the great Mongol Empire, present-day Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire between 1865 and 1876. Russification of the area was superficial, and it was not until Soviet rule that significant Slav immigration occurred. A further influx of Slavs occurred during Stalin's program of forced collectivization.

• 1917 Soviet power established in Tashkent.
• 1918 Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), incorporating present-day Uzbekistan, proclaimed.
• 1923–1941 Several alphabet changes, from Arabic to eventual Cyrillic.
• 1924 Basmachi rebels who resisted Soviet rule crushed. Uzbek SSR founded (which, until 1929, included the Tajik ASSR).
• 1925 Anti-Islamic campaign bans schools and closes mosques.
• 1936 Karakalpak ASSR (formerly part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) incorporated into the Uzbek SSR.
• 1937 Uzbek communist leadership is purged by Stalin.
• 1941–1945 Industrial boom.
• 1959 Sharaf Rashidov becomes first secretary of Communist Party of Uzbekistan (CPUz). Retains position until 1983.
• 1966 Tashkent razed by earthquake. Rebuilding brings in large number of Russian and other non-Uzbek migrants.
• 1982–1983 Yuri Andropov becomes leader in Moscow. His anticorruption purge results in emergence of a new generation of central Asian officials.
• 1989 First noncommunist political movement, Unity Party (Birlik), formed but not officially registered. June, clashes erupt between Meskhetian Turks and indigenous Uzbek population of Fergana Valley resulting in more than 100 deaths. October, Birlik campaign leads to Uzbek being declared the official language.
• 1990 Islam Karimov becomes executive president of the new Uzbek Supreme Soviet. Further interethnic fighting in Fergana Valley; 320 killed.
• 1991 August, independence is proclaimed and Republic of Uzbekistan is adopted as official name. October, Uzbekistan signs treaty establishing economic community with seven other former Soviet republics. November, CPUz restructured as the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDP); Karimov remains its leader. December, Karimov confirmed in post of president. Uzbekistan joins the CIS.
• 1992 Price liberalization provokes student riots in Tashkent. New post-Soviet constitution adopted along Western democratic lines. All religious parties banned. September, Uzbekistan sends troops to Tajikistan to suppress violence and strengthen border controls.
• 1993 Growing harassment of opposition political parties, Erk and Birlik.
• 1994 Introduction of som which becomes sole legal tender in October.
• 1995 January, Karimov's PDP wins legislative elections. March, referendum extends Karimov's presidential term until 2000. December, Utkur Sultanov replaces Abdulashim Mutalov as prime minister.
• 1999 Bomb attacks by Islamic terrorists lead to crackdown and arrests of hundreds of opposition activists. Legislative elections.
• 2000 Karimov reelected.
• 2002 Referendum extends president's term to seven years.