Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
is a country of
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, located north of
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. With an area of 447,000 square kilometers (approximately the size of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
or
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
), Uzbekistan stretches from west to east and from north to south.
It borders Turkmenistan to the southwest,
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
to the north, and
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
and
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
to the south and east.
Uzbekistan also has
four small exclaves in Turkmenistan.
Uzbekistan is not only one of the larger Central Asian states but also the only Central Asian state to border all of the other four.
Uzbekistan also shares a short border with
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
to the south.
As the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
is an inland sea with no direct link to the oceans, Uzbekistan is one of only two "doubly
landlocked
A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...
" countries—countries completely surrounded by other landlocked countries. The other is
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...
.
Topography and drainage
The physical environment of Uzbekistan is diverse, ranging from the flat, desert topography that comprises almost 80% of the country's territory to mountain peaks in the east reaching about above sea level.
The southeastern portion of Uzbekistan is characterized by the foothills of the
Tian Shan
The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...
mountains, which rise higher in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and form a natural border between Central Asia and China.
The vast
Qizilqum (Turkic for "red sand"—Russian spelling
Kyzyl Kum
The Kyzylkum Desert ( uz, Qizilqum, Қизилқум, قىزىلقۇم; kk, Қызылқұм, Qyzylqūm, قىزىلقۇم) is the 15th largest desert in the world. Its name means ''Red Sand'' in Turkic languages. It is located in Central Asia, i ...
) Desert, shared with southern
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
, dominates the northern lowland portion of Uzbekistan.
The most fertile part of Uzbekistan, the
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
, is an area of about directly east of the Qizilqum and surrounded by mountain ranges to the north, south, and east.
The western end of the valley is defined by the course of the
Syr Darya
The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
, which runs across the northeastern sector of Uzbekistan from southern Kazakhstan into the Qizilqum.
Although the Fergana Valley receives just of rainfall per year, only small patches of desert remain in the center and along ridges on the periphery of the valley.
Water resources, which are unevenly distributed, are in short supply in most of Uzbekistan.
The vast plains that occupy two-thirds of Uzbekistan's territory have little water, and there are few lakes.
The two largest rivers feeding Uzbekistan are the
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin language, Latin name or Greek ) is a major rive ...
and the
Syr Darya
The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
, which originate in the mountains of
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
and
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
, respectively.
These rivers form the two main river basins of
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
; they are used primarily for irrigation, and several artificial canals have been built to expand the supply of arable land in the
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
and elsewhere.
During the Soviet Era, a plan was devised in which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan provided water from these two rivers to
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
,
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
, and
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
in summer, and these three countries provided Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with oil and gas during the winter in return. However, this system dissolved after the collapse of the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, and a new resource-sharing plan has yet to be put in place. According to the
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...
, this situation could lead to irreparable regional destabilization if it is not resolved. A shallow lake,
Sarygamysh Lake
The Sarygamysh Lake, also Sarykamysh or Sary-Kamysh (, , ), is a lake in Central Asia. It is about midway between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. It is the largest lake in Turkmenistan, in which three quarters of the entire lake's area is loca ...
, sits on the border with Turkmenistan.
Another important feature of Uzbekistan's physical environment is the significant seismic activity that dominates much of the country.
Indeed, much of Uzbekistan's capital city,
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...
, was destroyed in a major
earthquake in 1966, and other earthquakes have caused significant damage before and since the Tashkent disaster.
The mountain areas are especially prone to earthquakes.
Climate
![Koppen-Geiger Map UZB present](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Koppen-Geiger_Map_UZB_present.svg)
Uzbekistan's climate has sometimes been broadly described as
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and
humid continental
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
, meaning that it has both relatively hot summers and relatively cool winters.
However, only a small area in eastern Uzbekistan is classified as Mediterranean and humid continental under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
. A vast majority of its total area – including all of the sparsely-populated western and central regions – is classified as either
cold desert
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(Köppen ''BWk'') or
cold steppe (''BSk'').
Summer temperatures often surpass ;
winter temperatures average between and ,
but may fall as low as .
Most of the country also is quite
arid
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...
, with average annual rainfall amounting to between and occurring mostly in winter and spring.
Between June and September, little precipitation falls, essentially stopping the growth of vegetation during that period of time.
Environmental problems
Despite Uzbekistan's rich and varied natural environment, decades of environmental neglect in the Soviet Union have combined with skewed economic policies in the Soviet south to make Uzbekistan one of the gravest of the CIS's many environmental crises.
The heavy use of agrochemicals, diversion of huge amounts of irrigation water from the two rivers that feed the region, and the chronic lack of water treatment plants are among the factors that have caused health and environmental problems on an enormous scale.
Environmental devastation in Uzbekistan is best exemplified by the catastrophe of the
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic basin, endorheic lake lyi ...
.
Because of diversion of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya for cotton cultivation and other purposes, what once was the world's fourth largest inland sea has shrunk in the past thirty years to only about one-third of its 1960 volume and less than half its 1960 geographical size.
The desiccation and salinization of the lake have caused extensive storms of salt and dust from the sea's dried bottom, wreaking havoc on the region's agriculture and ecosystems and on the population's health.
Desertification has led to the large-scale loss of plant and animal life, loss of arable land, changed climatic conditions, depleted yields on the cultivated land that remains, and destruction of historical and cultural monuments.
Every year, many tons of salts reportedly are carried as far as 800 kilometers away.
Regional experts assert that salt and dust storms from the Aral Sea have raised the level of particulate matter in the Earth's atmosphere by more than 5%, seriously affecting global climate change.
The Aral Sea disaster is only the most visible indicator of environmental decay, however.
The
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
approach to environmental management brought decades of poor water management and lack of water or sewage treatment facilities; inordinately heavy use of
pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
s,
herbicide
Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...
s,
defoliant
A defoliant is any herbicidal chemical sprayed or dusted on plants to cause their leaves to fall off. Defoliants are widely used for the selective removal of weeds in managing croplands and lawns. Worldwide use of defoliants, along with the ...
s, and
fertilizer
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
s in the fields; and construction of industrial enterprises without regard to human or environmental impact.
Those policies present enormous environmental challenges throughout Uzbekistan.
Natural hazards: NA
Environment – current issues:
shrinkage 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
Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...
;
water pollution
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...
from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing
soil salination
Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...
;
soil contamination
Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity ...
from agricultural chemicals, including
DDT
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...
Environment – international agreements:
''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
Water pollution
Large-scale use of chemicals for cotton cultivation, inefficient irrigation systems, and poor drainage systems are examples of the conditions that led to a high filtration of salinized and contaminated water back into the soil.
Post-Soviet policies have become even more dangerous; in the early 1990s, the average application of chemical fertilizers and insecticides throughout the Central Asian republics was 20 to 25 kilograms per hectare, compared with the former average of three kilograms per hectare for the entire Soviet Union.
As a result, the supply of fresh water has received further contaminants.
Industrial pollutants also have damaged Uzbekistan's water.
In the Amu Darya, concentrations of phenol and oil products have been measured at far above acceptable health standards.
In 1989 the Minister of Health of the Turkmen SSR described the Amu Darya as a sewage ditch for industrial and agricultural waste substances.
Experts who monitored the river in 1995 reported even further deterioration.
In the early 1990s, about 60% of pollution control funding went to water-related projects, but only about half of cities and about one-quarter of villages have sewers.
Communal water systems do not meet health standards; much of the population lacks drinking water systems and must drink water straight from contaminated irrigation ditches, canals, or the Amu Darya itself.
According to one report, virtually all the large underground fresh-water supplies in Uzbekistan are polluted by industrial and chemical wastes.
An official in Uzbekistan's Ministry of Environment estimated that about half of the country's population lives in regions where the water is severely polluted.
The government estimated in 1995 that only 230 of the country's 8,000 industrial enterprises were following pollution control standards.
Air pollution
Poor water management and heavy use of agricultural chemicals also have polluted the air.
Salt and dust storms and the spraying of pesticides and defoliants for the cotton crop have led to severe degradation of air quality in rural areas.
In urban areas, factories and auto emissions are a growing threat to air quality.
Fewer than half of factory smokestacks in Uzbekistan are equipped with filtration devices, and none has the capacity to filter gaseous emissions.
In addition, a high percentage of existing filters are defective or out of operation.
Air pollution data for Tashkent, Farghona, and Olmaliq show all three cities exceeding recommended levels of nitrous dioxide and particulates.
High levels of heavy metals such as lead, nickel, zinc, copper, mercury, and manganese have been found in Uzbekistan's atmosphere, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, waste materials, and ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy.
Especially high concentrations of heavy metals have been reported in Toshkent Province and in the southern part of Uzbekistan near the Olmaliq Metallurgy Combine.
In the mid-1990s, Uzbekistan's industrial production, about 60% of the total for the Central Asian nations excluding Kazakhstan, also yielded about 60% of the total volume of Central Asia's emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere.
Because automobiles are relatively scarce, automotive exhaust is a problem only in Tashkent and Farghona.
Land and Soil Pollution
The reduction of water in Uzbekistan has resulted in
soil degradation
Soil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a stable soil. Retrogression is primarily due to soil erosion and corresponds to a phenomenon where succession reverts the land t ...
, and the spread of the salt from the evaporated Aral Sea has contaminated the surrounding soil. The soil has lost much of its water due to the increased surface irrigation. The irrigation of farmlands with water from the Aral Sea has resulted in increased salinization of the soil, causing the farmland to be less productive and the destruction of a large portion of farmable land.
The amount of grasslands in Uzbekistan has gradually decreased mainly due to over-grazing and climate change. About 62.6% of the land in Uzbekistan is used for agriculture with 51.7% of that land used for permanent pasture.
The soil has been polluted by mining and smelting activities due to the spread of metals and other pollutants by wind. Smelter ash contaminated soil causes environmental risks such as reduction of
soil respiration
Soil respiration refers to the production of carbon dioxide when soil organisms respire. This includes respiration of plant roots, the rhizosphere, microbes and fauna.
Soil respiration is a key ecosystem process that releases carbon from the ...
, contamination of microbial biomass, and negatively effecting trophic interactions. Many species of animals are sensitive to metal pollution and are directly exposed to it by living off of the land that has been polluted by the mining and smelting activities. The metals polluting the land and soil include copper, gold, lead, silver, metallic zinc, and others. An example is the metallurgical complex at Almalik in Uzbekistan that manufactures metals and has waste storage sites in surrounding areas, which pollute the soil, groundwater, and air with high amounts of copper, zinc, arsenic, lead, and cadmium. The mining complexes in Uzbekistan have created toxic waste that has spread through the land, groundwater, air, waterways, and soil.
[N.G. Maylyapova, I. Denisov, and V. Lipatov. “A Review of Central Asian Trans-border Issues Associated with Environmental Problems and Hazard Mitigation”. Dordecht Netherlands; Moscow Russia: Springer Netherlands, 2015. Web. 08 Oct. 2016]
The soil in Uzbekistan is also polluted by
industrial waste
Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and ...
. The improper handling and disposal of industrial waste has polluted the land in Uzbekistan and other countries in Central Asia.
[ The evaporation of the Aral Sea exposed ]Vozrozhdeniya Island
Rebirth Island ( rus, Остров Возрождения, t=Rebirth Island, a=Ru-возрождение.ogg, p=vəzrɐˈʐdʲenʲɪjə; kk, Возрождение аралы, ''Vozrojdenie araly''; uz, Vozrojdeniye oroli) was an island in the ...
, also known as Resurrection Island, to the land and environment in Uzbekistan when the island transformed into a large peninsula. At Resurrection Island, the land and soil was polluted with weaponized and genetically modified pathogens due to a secret biological weapons program carried out by the Soviet military. The island was decontaminated by the Russian military, Government of Uzbekistan, and U.S. experts because of the health and environmental dangers it could have caused with its new connection to the land.
Government environmental policy
The government of Uzbekistan has acknowledged the extent of the country's environmental problems, and it has made a commitment to address them in its Biodiversity Action Plan. But the governmental structures to deal with these problems remain confused and ill-defined. Old agencies and organizations have been expanded to address these questions, and new ones have been created, resulting in a bureaucratic web of agencies with no generally understood commitment to attack environmental problems directly. Various nongovernmental and grassroots environmental organizations also have begun to form, some closely tied to the current government and others assuming an opposition stance. For example, environmental issues were prominent points in the original platform of Birlik, the first major opposition movement to emerge in Uzbekistan. By the mid-1990s, such issues had become a key concern of all opposition groups and a cause of growing concern among the population as a whole.
In the first half of the 1990s, many plans were proposed to limit or discourage economic practices that damage the environment. Despite discussion of programs to require payments for resources (especially water) and to collect fines from heavy polluters, however, little has been accomplished. The obstacles are a lack of law enforcement in these areas, inconsistent government economic and environmental planning, corruption, and the overwhelming concentration of power in the hands of a president who shows little tolerance of grassroots activity.
International donors and Western assistance agencies have devised programs to transfer technology and know-how to address these problems. But the country's environmental problems are predominantly the result of abuse and mismanagement of natural resources promoted by political and economic priorities. Until the political will emerges to regard environmental and health problems as a threat not only to the government in power but also to the very survival of Uzbekistan, the increasingly grave environmental threat will not be addressed effectively.
The Government of Uzbekistan joined forces with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan in 1992 to form the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) and in 1993 to form the Interstate Council on the Problems of the Aral Sea Basin (ICAS). The ICAS was formed to work with the World Bank in order to improve the conditions of the Aral Sea, but was disbanded in 1997 to form IFAS.[
The Uzbekistan government along with NGOs and U.S. international donors has been working to help improve the health conditions in Uzbekistan since the 1990s. This has led to improvements in drinking water. The World Bank and United Nations have also been involved in preparing possible solutions for the environmental problems in Uzbekistan. The World Bank worked with the countries in the Aral Sea Basin to form the Aral Sea Basin Assistance Program (ASBP) in the early 1990s. The main roles of the ASBP were the rehabilitation of the Aral Sea area that was destroyed through evaporation, the planning and management of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, and the construction of institutions to plan and implement the rehabilitation and management of the water resources surrounding the Aral Sea. The World Bank also formed the Water and Environmental Management Project in 1998 that was funded by both the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The program was funded by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Asian Development Bank, as well as the governments of a few countries. Other groups that contributed to the rehabilitation and management of the Aral Sea include the European Union, the United Nations, UNESCO, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Science for Peace program.][United Nations. Second National Communication of the Republic of Uzbekistan under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Rep. Tashkent: Centre of Hydrometeorological Service under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, n. d. Web.]
Area and boundaries
Area:
''total:'' 447,400 km²
''land:'' 425,400 km²
''water:'' 22,000 km²
Area – comparative: slightly larger than California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, same size as Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, slightly smaller than Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
Land boundaries:
''total:'' 6,221 km
''border countries:'' Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
137 km, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
2,203 km, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
1,099 km, Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
1,161 km, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
1,621 km
Coastline: 0 km
''note:'' Uzbekistan formerly had a 420 km coastline on the Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic basin, endorheic lake lyi ...
, which dried up.
Maritime claims: None. Uzbekistan is one of only two countries (Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...
) in the world that are ''doubly landlocked
A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...
''.
Elevation extremes:
''lowest point:'' Sariqarnish Kuli −12 m (−39 ft) below sea level.
''highest point:'' Khazret Sultan
Khazret Sultan (in Uzbek Hazrati Sulton choʻqqisi) is a mountain and the highest point of Uzbekistan, with an elevation of . It is located on the border of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, in Surxondaryo Region, in the Uzbek part of the Gissar Range ...
, ["Uzbekistan High Point" on Peakbagger](_blank)
Retrieved 2015-01-15.
Resources and land uses
Natural resources: natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
, petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
, coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
, gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
, uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
, silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
, copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
, tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...
, molybdenum
Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...
Land use:
''arable land:'' 9.61%
''permanent crops:'' 0.8%
''other:'' 89.58% (2011)
Irrigated land:
41,980 km² (2005)
Total renewable water resources:
48.87 km2 (2011)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
''total:'' 56 km2/yr (7%/3%/90%)
per capita: 2,113 m3/yr (2005)
References
*
{{Asia topic, Climate of
bn:উজবেকিস্তান#ভূগোল