Uzbekistan

Airports

total: 265 usable: 74 with permanent-surface runways: 30 with runways over 3,659 m: 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 20 with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 19 note: a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Highways

total: 78,400 km paved and gravel: 67,000 km unpaved: earth 11,400 km (1990)

Pipelines

crude oil 250 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural gas 810 km (1992)

Ports

none; landlocked

Railroads

3,460 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

poorly developed; 1,458,000 telephone circuits with 68.75 circuits per 1,000 persons (1991); linked by landline or microwave with CIS member states and by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway switch to other countries; new INTELSAT links to Tokyo and Ankara give Uzbekistan international access independent of Russian facilities; satellite earth stations - Orbita and INTELSAT; NMT-450 analog cellular network established in Tashkent

Branches

Army, National Guard, Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops)

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 5,388,456; fit for military service 4,403,497; reach military age (18) annually 222,405 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

livestock, cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

introduced provisional som-coupons 10 November 1993 which circulated parallel to the Russian rubles; became the sole legal currency 31 January 1994; will be replaced in July 1994 by the som currency

Economic aid

recipient: $125 million by yearend 1993; future commitments for about $500 million

Electricity

capacity: 11,950,000 kW production: 50.9 billion kWh consumption per capita: 2,300 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$706.5 million to outside the FSU countries (1993) commodities: cotton, gold, natural gas, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, food products partners: Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, US

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication programs; used as transshipment points for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports

$947.3 million from outside the FSU countries (1993) commodities: grain, machinery and parts, consumer durables, other foods partners: principally other FSU countries, Czech Republic

Industrial production

growth rate -7% (1993)

Industries

textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

18% per month (1993)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $53.7 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Uzbek statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)

National product per capita

$2,430 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-3.5% (1993 est.)

Overview

Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country of which 20% is intensely cultivated, irrigated river valleys. It is one of the poorest states of the former USSR with 60% of its population living in overpopulated rural communities. Nevertheless, Uzbekistan is the world's third largest cotton exporter, a major producer of gold and natural gas, and a regionally significant producer of chemicals and machinery. Since independence, the government has sought to prop up the Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on prices and production. Such policies have buffered the economy from the sharp declines in output and high inflation experienced by many other former Soviet republics. By late 1993, however, they had become increasingly unsustainable as inflation soared and Russia forced the Uzbek Government to introduce its own currency. Faced with mounting economic problems, the government has increased its cooperation with international financial institutions, announced an acceleration of privatization, and stepped up efforts to attract foreign investors. Nevertheless, the regime is likely to resist full-fledged market reforms.

Unemployment rate

0.2% includes only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers

Area

total area: 447,400 sq km land area: 425,400 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than California

Climate

mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east

Coastline

0 km note: Uzbekistan borders the Aral Sea (420 km)

Environment

current issues: drying up of the Aral Sea is resulting in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification; water pollution from industrial wastes is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salinization; soil contamination from agricultural chemicals, including DDT natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection

International disputes

Russia may dispute current de facto maritime border to midpoint of Caspian Sea from shore

Irrigated land

41,550 sq km (1990)

Land boundaries

total 6,221 km, Afghanistan 137 km, Kazakhstan 2,203 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,099 km, Tajikistan 1,161 km, Turkmenistan 1,621 km

Land use

arable land: 10% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 47% forest and woodland: 0% other: 42%

Location

Central Asia, bordering the Aral Sea, between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

Map references

Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

natural gas, petroleum, coal, gold, uranium, silver, copper, lead and zinc, tungsten, molybdenum

Note

landlocked

Terrain

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

Administrative divisions

12 wiloyatlar (singular - wiloyat), 1 autonomous republic* (respublikasi, singular - respublika), and 1 city** (shahri); Andijon Wiloyati, Bukhoro Wiloyati, Jizzakh Wiloyati, Farghona Wiloyati, Karakalpakstan* (Nukus), Qashqadaryo Wiloyati (Qarshi), Khorazm Wiloyati (Urganch), Namangan Wiloyati, Nawoiy Wiloyati, Samarqand Wiloyati, Sirdaryo Wiloyati (Guliston), Surkhondaryo Wiloyati (Termiz), Toshkent Shahri**, Toshkent Wiloyati note: an administrative division has the same name as its administrative center (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Capital

Tashkent (Toshkent)

Constitution

new constitution adopted 8 December 1992

Digraph

UZ

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Fatikh TESHABAYEV chancery: Suites 619 and 623, 1511 K Street NW, Washington DC, 20005 telephone: (202) 638-4266/4267

Executive branch

chief of state: President Islam KARIMOV (since NA March 1990); election last held 29 December 1991 (next to be held NA December 1996); results - Islam KARIMOV 86%, Mukhammad SOLIKH 12%, other 2% head of government: Prime Minister Abdulkhashim MUTALOV (since 13 January 1992), First Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Hakimovitch DJURABEKOV (since NA) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers; appointed by the president with approval of the Supreme Assembly

FAX

(202) 638-4268 consulate(s) general: New York

FAX

[7] (3712) 77-69-53

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by red fimbriations with a crescent moon and 12 stars in the upper hoist-side quadrant

Independence

31 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

evolution of Soviet civil law; still lacks independent judicial system

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

CCC, CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IOC, ITU, NACC, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, WHO, WMO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Uzbekistan conventional short form: Uzbekistan local long form: Uzbekiston Respublikasi local short form: none former: Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 September (1991)

Other political or pressure groups

Birlik (Unity) People's Movement (BPM), Abdul Rakhim PULATOV, chairman (in exile); Islamic Rebirth Party (IRP), Abdullah UTAYEV, chairman note: PULATOV (BPM) and SOLIKH (EDP) are both in exile in the West; UTAYEV (IRP) is either in prison or in exile

Political parties and leaders

People's Democratic Party (PDP; formerly Communist Party), Islam A. KARIMOV, chairman; Erk (Freedom) Democratic Party (EDP), Muhammad SOLIKH, chairman (in exile); note - ERK was banned 9 December 1992

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Supreme Soviet

elections last held 18 February 1990 (next to be held winter 1994); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (500 total) Communist 450, ERK 10, other 40; note - total number of seats will be reduced to 250 in next election

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Henry L. CLARKE embassy: 82 Chelanzanskaya, Tashkent mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [7] (3712) 77-14-07, 77-11-32

Birth rate

30.01 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

6.51 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Uzbek 71.4%, Russian 8.3%, Tajik 4.7%, Kazakh 4.1%, Tatar 2.4%, Karakalpak 2.1%, other 7%

Infant mortality rate

53.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

8.234 million by occupation: agriculture and forestry 43%, industry and construction 22%, other 35% (1992)

Languages

Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 68.58 years male: 65.28 years female: 72.04 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality

noun: Uzbek(s) adjective: Uzbek

Net migration rate

-2.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

22,608,866 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

2.13% (1994 est.)

Religions

Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3%

Total fertility rate

3.73 children born/woman (1994 est.)