Asaka (; ) is a city and the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Asaka District in eastern

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

, located in the southeastern edge of the Fergana Valley near Uzbekistan's border with

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. Asaka underwent rapid industrialization during the Soviet era. Currently, it is the second biggest industrial city in Andijan Region, the first being

Andijan Andijan ( ), also spelt Andijon () and formerly romanized as Andizhan ( ), is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, economic, and cultural center of Andijan Region. Andijan is a district-level city with an area of . Andijan is the most ...

. Asaka is home to the first automobile assembly plant in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, namely UzAutoMotors (formerly UzDaewooAuto).

Etymology

The origins of the city's name are uncertain. Some sources say that it derives from the

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

words "asvaka" or "as-saka" which mean "horse" or "horsemen", respectively. That is why a statue of a horse was erected in one of Asaka's squares in 1997 during the 60th anniversary of the city's founding. According to others, "Assake" (the original name of the city) is an ancient term derived from the Iranian ethnonym referring to Central Asian

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

.Pospelov, pp. 28–29

History

It has been known since ancient times as Asaka. The early history of Asaka has not been studied extensively. Avaz Muhammad Attor, a 19th-century historian, mentioned Assake in his book ''Tarixi jahonnoma'' (''World History''). According to him, Khudayar Khan had built a castle in the territory of present-day Asaka. Assake started to grow fast after the nearby city of

and

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

were connected with a railway line. At the turn of the 20th century, Assake had a population of only 2,000 people. In 1924, Assake was renamed Zelensk, after a local official. In 1937, it was granted town status and again renamed, this time Leninsk, after

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

. The city underwent rapid industrialization during the Soviet era. In 1946, a large electric motor plant was built in Asaka. In the 1960s, the city specialized in processing agricultural goods. The city's original name was restored in a slightly modified form (Asake) after Uzbekistan's independence in 1991. In 1994, the first automobile assembly plant in

was built in Asaka by UzDaewooAuto, an Uzbekistani-

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n joint venture. Following Daewoo's collapse in 2001, and the resulting change of ownership, UzDaewooAuto was reorganized as GM Uzbekistan in March 2008 as a new replacement joint venture.

Geography

Asaka is located above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

in the southeastern edge of the Fergana Valley near Uzbekistan's border with

. By road it is southwest of

. The Shahrixonsoy Canal flows through the city.

Climate

Asaka has a cold desert climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BWk'') with continental influences. It has cold winters and hot summers. The average July temperature is . The mean temperature in January is .

Demographics

In 2016, Asaka had a population of 62,200. Representatives of many ethnic groups can be found in the city. Uzbeks are the largest ethnic group.

Economy

Asaka is the second biggest industrial city in Andijan Region, the first being the City of Andijan. There are 12 large industrial plants and over 510 small and medium enterprises in the city.

GM Uzbekistan

Asaka is home to the first automobile assembly plant in

, namely GM Uzbekistan. It was founded as UzDaewooAuto in 1992 between the Uzbek state-owned company UzAvtoSanoat and the

n automotive company Daewoo Motors. The construction of the plant was started in 1994 and took two years. Following the change of ownership of Daewoo to GM Daewoo, UzDaewooAuto was renamed GM Uzbekistan in 2008.

Education

There are three technical schools (tekhnikum), 24th and 42nd specialized schools, and many language and education centers in Asaka. The city is also home to ten secondary schools and 22 kindergartens.

References

Notes

Sources

*Е. М. Поспелов (Ye. M. Pospelov). "Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь." (''City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary.'') Москва, "Русские словари", 1993.

External links

Information about the city of Asaka on the official website of the Andijan Region Administration

{{Andijan Region Cities in Uzbekistan Populated places in Andijan Region