Uzbekistan
The Republic of Uzbekistan has been an independent state since the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The country is located at the heart of Central Asia, surrounded by Kazakhstan to the west-northwest and north, Kyrgyzstan to the east, Tajikistan to the southeast, Afghanistan to the south-southeast, and Turkmenistan to the southwest. Its capital is Tashkent, a metropolis with more than 3 million inhabitants (2024). It is a cosmopolitan country with over 37 million inhabitants (2024).
1. Total area – 447,400 km²
2. Currency – Uzbek Som (UZS) 1 € = 13,500 (2024)
3. Telephone code – +998
4. Language – Uzbek
5. September 1st is Independence Day
The history of Uzbekistan dates back to 40-50 thousand years BC. The first peoples of the region were the Bactrians and Sogdians. These regions were occupied by the Achaemenid Empire of Iran in the 6th century BC. Uzbekistan was located on the great caravan route and was an important crossroads of the Silk Road. This is why the region was extremely prosperous until the creation of maritime routes in the 16th century. When maritime routes were established in Europe, land routes lost their importance. Traveling by sea became faster, cheaper, and more strategically secure. However, the region was invaded and devastated by several conquerors, such as the Greeks with Alexander the Great in 327 BC. There was the invasion of nomads, the Persian Sassanids, the White Huns, the Western Göktürks, the Arabs, and the creation of the Silk Road in the 1st century BC.
After the arrival of the Arabs in Central Asia, a golden age began, and the country was reborn with the Uzbek intellectuals: from 750 to 850, during the Abbasid caliphate period, the so-called "Arab-Muslim" science reached its peak. The philosopher al-Farabi (born in Transoxiana), the second teacher (in reference to the first teacher, Aristotle), played a significant role in this dynamic. The great mathematician al-Khwarizmi (Al-Khorezmi), inventor of algebraic principles and the namesake of the algorithm, was born around 783 in Khiva. The famous astronomer al-Farghani (805-880) was born in Fergana, while Muhammad al-Bukhari (Imam Bukhari) (810-870), the famous Sunni Muslim scholar of Persian origin, was born in Bukhara, and Muhammad al-Beruni, who lived in the 11th century, founded the globe 600 years before Galileo Galilei.
There were several dynasties until the arrival of the Mongols with Genghis Khan in the 13th century, who completely destroyed Uzbek culture. It was Timur, our national hero, who restored the country in the 14th century. The first Uzbeks (Shaybanids) lived in the 15th century. Until the late 19th century, Central Asia was divided into three khanates. From the late 19th century until independence in 1991, the region was controlled by the Russians, the tsars, the Bolsheviks, and the Soviets. Uzbekistan is one of the rare countries that gained independence peacefully, without conflict and without casualties.
Historically located on a major international route, the country currently has an ethnic group of 130 different nationalities. The majority of the population is Muslim (95%). Other religions represented include Orthodoxy (4%). The rest (1%) consists of Judaism, Catholicism with a few recent Baptist communities, and Lutheranism, which is mainly present due to the deportation of Soviet Germans by Stalin to Uzbekistan. Despite this multiculturalism and multi-religious diversity, and thanks to the tolerance of Uzbeks, there has never been any tension between nationalities and different religions.
Uzbekistan is a dynamic country with a young population, 60% of whom are under 30 years old. The major economic partners of Uzbekistan are: China, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, France, Germany, etc.
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Medal Table of Uzbekistan in the Paris 2024 Olympics:
- Boxing: 5 gold medals
- Taekwondo: 1 gold medal and 1 silver medal
- Judo: 1 gold medal and 2 bronze medals
- Wrestling: 1 gold medal and 1 bronze medal
- Weightlifting: 1 bronze medal
With these 13 medals, we ranked 13th, just after Canada.
