"text":"Russia conquered the territory of present-day Uzbekistan in the late 19th century. Stiff resistance to the Red Army after the Bolshevik Revolution was eventually suppressed and a socialist republic established in 1924. During the Soviet era, intensive production of \"white gold\" (cotton) and grain led to overuse of agrochemicals and the depletion of water supplies, which have left the land degraded and the Aral Sea and certain rivers half dry. Independent since 1991, the country has gradually lessened its dependence on the cotton monoculture by diversifying agricultural production while developing its mineral and petroleum export capacity and increasing its manufacturing base. However, long-serving septuagenarian President Islom KARIMOV, who rose through the ranks of the Soviet-era State Planning Committee (Gosplan), remains wedded to the concepts of a command economy, creating a challenging environment for foreign investment. Current concerns include post-KARIMOV succession, economic stagnation, pervasive corruption, declining quality of social services, persistent inability to adequately meet the country's energy needs outside of Tashkent, the curtailment of human rights, and the lack of democratization."
"text":"Afghanistan 144 km, Kazakhstan 2,330 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,314 km, Tajikistan 1,312 km, Turkmenistan 1,793 km"
}
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"0 km (doubly landlocked); note - Uzbekistan includes the southern portion of the Aral Sea with a 420 km shoreline"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"text":"none (doubly landlocked)"
},
"Climate":{
"text":"mostly mid-latitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya, Syr Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zarafshon; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west"
"text":"shrinkage of the Aral Sea has resulted in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification and respiratory health problems; water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salination; soil contamination from buried nuclear processing and agricultural chemicals, including DDT"
"text":"a combination of the Turkic words \"uz\" (self) and \"bek\" (master) with the Persian suffix \"-stan\" (country) to give the meaning \"Land of the free\""
"text":"UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
}
},
"Administrative divisions":{
"text":"12 provinces (viloyatlar, singular - viloyat), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonom respublikasi), and 1 city** (shahar); Andijon Viloyati, Buxoro Viloyati, Farg'ona Viloyati, Jizzax Viloyati, Namangan Viloyati, Navoiy Viloyati, Qashqadaryo Viloyati (Qarshi), Qoraqalpog'iston Respublikasi [Karakalpakstan Republic]* (Nukus), Samarqand Viloyati, Sirdaryo Viloyati (Guliston), Surxondaryo Viloyati (Termiz), Toshkent Shahri [Tashkent City]**, Toshkent Viloyati [Tashkent province], Xorazm Viloyati (Urganch)",
"note":{
"text":"administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)"
"text":"Interim President Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV (since 8 September 2016); note - longtime President Islom KARIMOV died on 2 September 2016; new presidential elections must be held within three months of this date"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term; previously a 5-year term, extended by a 2002 constitutional amendment to 7 years, and reverted to 5 years in 2011); election last held on 29 March 2015; prime minister nominated by majority party in legislature since 2011, but appointed along with the ministers and deputy ministers by the president"
"text":"Islom KARIMOV reelected president; percent of vote - Islom KARIMOV (LDPU) 90.4%, Akmal SAIDOV (Democratic Party of Uzbekistan) 3.1%, Khatamjan KETMANOV (NDP) 2.9%, Nariman UMAROV (Justice Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan) 2.1%, other 1.5%"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"bicameral Supreme Assembly or Oliy Majlis consists of the Senate (100 seats; 84 members indirectly elected by regional governing councils and 16 appointed by the president; members serve 5-year terms) and the Legislative Chamber or Qonunchilik Palatasi (150 seats; 135 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote with a second round if needed and 15 indirectly elected by the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan; members serve 5-year terms)"
},
"note":{
"text":"all parties in the Supreme Assembly support President Islom KARIMOV"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 21 December 2014 and 4 January 2015 (next to be held in December 2019)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Legislative Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDPU 52, National Rebirth Party 36, NDP 27, Adolat 20, Ecological Movement 15"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest court(s)":{
"text":"Supreme Court (consists of 34 judges organized in civil, criminal, and military sections); Constitutional Court (consists of 7 judges); Higher Economic Court (consists of 19 judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judges of the 3 highest courts nominated by the president and confirmed by the Oliy Majlis; judges appointed for 5-year terms subject to reappointment"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"regional, district, city, and town courts"
"text":"Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan (O'zbekiston Ekologik Harakati) [Boriy ALIKHANOV] ++ Justice (Adolat) Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan [Narimon UMAROV] ++ Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O'zbekiston Liberal-Demokratik Partiyasi) or LDPU [Islam KARIMOV] ++ National Revival Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O'zbekiston Milliy Tiklanish Demokratik Partiyasi) [Shavkat MIRZIYOYEV] ++ People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Xalq Demokratik Partiyas) or NDP [Hotamjon KETMONOV] (formerly Communist Party)"
"text":"3 Moyqo'rq'on, 5th Block, Yunusobod District, Tashkent 100093"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"use embassy street address"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[998] (71) 120-5450"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[998] (71) 120-6335"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by red fimbriations with a white crescent moon (closed side to the hoist) and 12 white stars shifted to the hoist on the top band; blue is the color of the Turkic peoples and of the sky, white signifies peace and the striving for purity in thoughts and deeds, while green represents nature and is the color of Islam; the red stripes are the vital force of all living organisms that links good and pure ideas with the eternal sky and with deeds on earth; the crescent represents Islam and the 12 stars the months and constellations of the Uzbek calendar"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"khumo (mythical bird); national colors: blue, white, red, green"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"O'zbekiston Respublikasining Davlat Madhiyasi\" (National Anthem of the Republic of Uzbekistan)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Abdulla ARIPOV/Mutal BURHANOV"
},
"note":{
"text":"adopted 1992; after the fall of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan kept the music of the anthem from its time as a Soviet Republic but adopted new lyrics"
"text":"Uzbekistan is a landlocked country with more than 60% of the population living in densely populated rural communities. Since its independence in September 1991, the government maintained its Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on production and prices. Despite ongoing efforts to diversify crops, Uzbekistani agriculture remains largely centered on cotton; Uzbekistan is the world's fifth largest cotton exporter and sixth largest producer. Uzbekistan's growth has been driven primarily by state-led investments, and export of natural gas, gold, and cotton provides a significant share of foreign exchange earnings. In 2015, Russia’s Gazprom announced it would reduce its natural gas imports from Uzbekistan but Tashkent continues to export natural gas to China and Chinese investments in the country have substantially increased. ++ ++ While aware of the need to improve the investment climate, the government continues to intervene in the business sector and has not addressed the impediments to foreign investment in the country. In the past, Uzbekistani authorities have accused US and other foreign companies operating in Uzbekistan of violating Uzbekistani laws and have frozen and seized their assets. At the same time, the Uzbekistani Government has actively courted several major US and international corporations, offering financing and tax advantages. ++ ++ In 2003, the government accepted Article VIII obligations under the IMF, providing for full currency convertibility. However, strict currency controls and tightening of borders have lessened the effects of convertibility and have also led to some shortages that have further stifled economic activity. Recently, lower global commodity prices and economic slowdown in neighboring Russia and China have been hurting Uzbekistan's trade and investment and worsening its problem of currency shortage."
"text":"the state-owned telecommunications company, Uzbektelecom, owner of the fixed-line telecommunications system, has used loans from the Japanese government and the China Development Bank to upgrade fixed-line services including conversion to digital exchanges; mobile-cellular services are provided by 3 private and 1 state-owned operator with a total subscriber base of 22 million as of mid 2015"
"text":"country code - 998; linked by fiber-optic cable or microwave radio relay with CIS member states and to other countries by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway switch; the country also has a link to the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable; Uzbekistan has supported the national fiber- optic backbone project of Afghanistan since 2008 (2015)"
"text":"government controls media; 14 state-owned broadcasters - 10 TV and 4 radio - provide service to virtually the entire country; about 20 privately owned TV stations, overseen by local officials, broadcast to local markets; privately owned TV stations are required to lease transmitters from the government-owned Republic TV and Radio Industry Corporation; in 2013, the government closed TV and radio broadcasters affiliated with the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of Uzbekistan, a government-sponsored NGO for private broadcast media"
"text":"Uzbek Armed Forces: Army, Air and Air Defense Forces (2013)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"18 years of age for compulsory military service; 1-month or 1-year conscript service obligation for males; moving toward a professional military, but conscription in some form will continue; the military cannot accommodate everyone who wishes to enlist, and competition for entrance into the military is similar to the competition for admission to universities (2013)"
}
},
"Transnational Issues":{
"Disputes - international":{
"text":"prolonged drought and cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan created water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2004; border delimitation of 130 km of border with Kyrgyzstan is hampered by serious disputes around enclaves and other areas"
"text":"Uzbekistan is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking; government-compelled forced labor of adults remained endemic during the 2014 cotton harvest; despite a decree banning the use of persons under 18, children were mobilized to harvest cotton by local officials in some districts; in some regions, local officials forced teachers, students, private business employees, and others to work in construction, agriculture, and cleaning parks; Uzbekistani women and children are victims of sex trafficking domestically and in the Middle East, Eurasia, and Asia; Uzbekistani men and, to a lesser extent, women are subjected to forced labor in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine in the construction, oil, agriculture, retail, and food sectors"
"text":"Tier 2 Watch List – Uzbekistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; law enforcement efforts in 2014 were mixed; the government made efforts to combat sex and transnational labor trafficking, but government-compelled forced labor of adults in the cotton harvest went unaddressed, and the decree prohibiting forced child labor was not applied universally; official complicity in human trafficking in the cotton harvest remained prevalent; authorities made efforts to identify and protect sex and transnational labor victims, although a systematic process is still lacking; minimal efforts were made to assist victims of forced labor in the cotton harvest, as the government does not openly acknowledge the existence of this forced labor; the ILO did not have permission or funding to monitor the 2014 harvest, but the government authorized the UN's International Labour Organization to conduct a survey on recruitment practices and working conditions in agriculture, particularly the cotton sector, and to monitor the 2015-17 cotton harvests for child and forced labor in project areas (2015)"
"text":"transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and small amounts of opium poppy for domestic consumption; poppy cultivation almost wiped out by government crop eradication program; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan"
