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 co ...

is divided into 12

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

(''viloyatlar'', singular viloyat, ''viloyati'' in compound, e.g. Toshkent ''viloyati''), 1 autonomous republic (''respublika'', ''respublikasi'' in compound, e.g. Qaraqalpaqstan Avtonom ''Respublikasi''), and 1

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

(''shahar'' or ''shahri'' in compounds, e.g. Toshkent ''shahri''). Names are given below in the

Uzbek language Uzbek (''Oʻzbekcha, Oʻzbek tili or Ўзбекча, Ўзбек тили''), formerly known as ''Turki'' or ''Western Turki'', is a Turkic language spoken by Uzbeks. It is the official, and national language of Uzbekistan. Uzbek is spoken as ...

, although numerous variations of the transliterations of each name exist. The regions in turn are divided into 169 districts (''tumanlar'', singular ''tuman'').

Enclaves and exclaves

There are four Uzbek exclaves, all of them surrounded by Kyrgyz territory 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 ...

region where Kyrgyzstan,

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 Uzbekistan meet. Two of them are the towns of Sokh, area of with a population of 42,800 in 1993 (with some estimates as high as 70,000, of which 99% are Tajiks and the remainder Uzbeks) and Shohimardon, area of with a population of 5,100 in 1993 (91% are Uzbeks and the remainder Kyrgyz). The other two are the tiny territories of Chon-Kara (or Qalacha), roughly long and wide, and Jani-Ayil (or Dzhangail), a dot of land barely across. Chon-Kara is on the Sokh river, between the Uzbek border and the Sokh exclave. Uzbekistan has a Tajikistan enclave, the village of Sarvan, which includes a narrow, long strip of land about long and wide, along the road from Angren to Kokand. The Kyrgyz village of

Barak Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephrai ...

(population 627) lies 15 km north of

Osh Osh (Kyrgyz: Ош, romanised Osh; uz, O‘sh/Ўш) is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". It is the oldest city in the country (e ...

. In August 1999, the area around Barak was occupied by Uzbekistan, cutting it off from Kyrgyz territory. Uzbek forces dug up and blockaded the road to Ak-Tash while also allegedly seizing large areas of Kyrgyz land that had been loaned in the Soviet era but never returned. They entrenched themselves within much of Kyrgyz border territory and refused to leave. Barak became a ''de facto'' enclave only 1.5 km from the shifted main border.
Map
In August 2018 Kyrgyz and Uzbek authorities agreed to a land swap that would eliminate the exclave. The exchange process may take up to two years.

References

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Asian countries Subdivisions of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 1 Uzbekistan 1 Regions, Uzbekistan Uzbekistan geography-related lists

Enclaves and exclaves

See also

References