In this blog post, we have mentioned the top 10 unique and most interesting facts about Uzbekistan that everyone should definitely know.
Uzbekistan is a Central Asian republic with two geographical borders. Uzbekistan is bordered to the north by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Tajikistan to the southeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest. Tashkent is the country’s largest and most populated city.
Uzbekistan is a part of the Company of the Turkic States and a participant in the Turkish linguistic world. In Uzbekistan, the Uzbek tongue is spoken by the majority of the population. In Uzbekistan, Islam is the majority religion, with the majority of Uzbeks professing to be Sunni Muslims.
Most Interesting Facts About Uzbekistan
Here are some unknown facts about Uzbekistan, let’s have a get started;
1. Vodka is quite popular in Uzbekistan;
Uzbekistan is among the few countries on the planet where Soviet-era religious persecution gave rise to more religious persecution but fewer gulags. While the country has gradually better acquainted itself with Islam, the religion is mostly non-religious and is strictly monitored by the state. Russia’s cultural impact precedes communism for a long time, dating back to the 19th century’s “Great Game” with Britain.
As a result, Russian influence on Uzbekistan’s food is fairly prevalent, notably in the use of vodka, which would be frequently offered in teapots. Wine production is likewise a rising force, with a winemaker history going all the way back to Alexander the Great until regaining popularity in the twentieth century.
2. A Forgotten City Monaco’s size was just recently found;
Since 2011, the Chinese and Uzbeks have already been working together on archaeology projects along historic Silk Road pathways, and they’ve just discovered gold. What was formerly assumed to be only a staging point again for the Silk Road has already been proven to be a two-thousand-year-old village in Ming-Tepe inside the Ferghana Valley.
The examination is still underway, but the dig might uncover an old city of both the Yuezhi population and the pastoral nomads that toppled the Greco-Bactrian Empire, making it one of the first sites where East and West civilizations collided.
3. Authoritarianism is a problem for Islam;
Uzbekistan’s administration does not appear to have altered much since the era of the Iron Line. Islam Karimov, the past president, began his career as the chairman of the Communist Organization and served for four years, which is rather outstanding considering the statutory maximum is just two. Apart from minor infractions of the law, Karimov was dead intent on stopping Uzbekistan from abandoning the comment autocracy’s full absence of public liberties in favor of the ideology’s total loss of rights over the Afghan frontier.
The Uzbek people’s problem would be that their Muslim heritage has indeed been neglected for a long time. Although the country’s stunning 14th and 15th-century architecture has been protected, Uzbekistan has retained a secular lockdown, allowing rebellious and militant Islamism to gain traction among the youth.
4. Corruption is rife;
The high levels of fraud in the Eastern Bloc nations were one of the key challenges. Uzbekistan is concerned about government corruption. “It’s an undisputed fact that in Uzbekistan, anybody who falls out of favor with the government can be jailed and mistreated,” says Amnesty International President John Dalhuisen. The state’s tentacles encircle everyone. “
Uzbekistan is ranked 140th out of 180 nations for fraud, with favoritism, bribes, and other forms of corruption prevalent in practically every aspect of public life. Theft by government personnel is very widespread.
5. There is no such thing as press freedom;
You have two options in Uzbekistan: government media or none at all. Gulnara Karimova, for instance, was cheerfully fleecing any company she might get her fingers on as the press published puff articles to clean up her reputation.
Karimova’s antics were well-known, and according to stolen US diplomatic cables, she was the nation’s “most despised person.” Within a year following the cables’ release in 2013, the news website Uznews.net posted articles separating President Karimov from his child as he demolished her financial empire, and allegations surfaced that Gulnara was being held under home confinement by the Uzbek secret services.
6. Melons That Are Huge and Juicy;
On a stronger footing, Uzbekistan is the world’s watermelon center. They come in over 150 distinct types, and they are a mainstay of the local cuisine, offered freshly in the summertime and dried in the wintertime.
Per the Uzbek Tourism Press Office, mastering the art of melon slicing, as well as assessing whose watermelon tastes the finest, is a genuine thing that people do. We are sorry to inform our visitors that writing this article without using double wordplay has become difficult, and as a result, it is the lowest item on this list owing to the writer’s juvenile status. We’re sincerely sorry.
7. Tamerlane, the legendary conqueror, was born in Uzbekistan;
As compared to Genghis Khan’s Mongol horde, we in the West know nothing about Tamerlane, or indeed, we are educated very little about him. This might be related to the fact that the Timurid Kingdom lasted just 137 days and didn’t generate any successor empires.
Tamerlane faced a unique and difficult situation throughout his climb to prominence as a Turco-Mongolian. His Turkmen ancestry and Islamic creed provided him with respectability among Muslims, while his Mongol ancestry did the same among the huge hordes. Tamerlane, meanwhile, needed cunning tactics and hypotheses to gain an edge because he was not Muhammad’s immediate heir nor Genghis Khan’s.
8. Double-Landlocked
A landlocked nation that is bordered by two neighboring countries is known as a “double-landlocked country.” Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan border Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is doubly landlocked, as reaching the Arabian Sea’s shore requires crossing at least two of these nations.
It’s time to become a little nerdy. With the Aral Ocean to the north, it may be claimed that Uzbekistan is really not landlocked. This is a nonsensical statement. Uzbekistan is a true double-landlocked country because the Aral Sea is theoretically a saline lake with no connectivity to the ocean.
9. A Massacre Affected The Country’s Path:
Without a doubt, the 2005 killing in Andijan was a massacre. Things start to become a little muddled after that. What is certain is that 23 entrepreneurs, presumably representatives of a moderate Muslim organization, were imprisoned for allegedly becoming too strong and endangering government interference.
Armed rebels quickly broke these individuals out of prison, and the town was subsequently occupied. The demonstrators said that the level of existence in Andijan was just too poor. A kind of Islamic communism, a relatively high salary, and employment measures were advocated by the businesses.
10. Future Possibilities:
Uzbekistan has only had two leaders since proclaiming sovereignty in 1991 following the murder of Islam Karimov. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who hails from the same Samarkand lineage as his predecessors, is not a reformer in any sense of the word. On the other hand, Mirziyoyev has loosened the state’s totalitarian hold on Uzbekistan a little after assuming office in a typical, Soviet-style sham election.
President Mirziyoyev has negotiated a significant trade agreement with China and attempted to repair relationships with Uzbekistan’s neighbors after creating an internet platform for Uzbeks to communicate with him because of their problems.
Conclusion – Unknown Facts about Uzbekistan
The goal of Spotlight on Uzbekistan was to look at the condition of the country’s reform agenda in a variety of sectors, with the somewhat obvious conclusion that a lot has indeed been done and a lot more to be done. The reform effort is genuine, but there are fundamental flaws in it as well.
Instead of the easier but less meaningful transition from Karmiov’s shuttered, autarkic authoritarian regime to a stylish, shiny but plutocratic one, much work is still needed to create an online economic system, universalist politics, and a free society to meet the ambitions set out in many of Party leader Mirziyoyev’s proclamations.
These are some unknown facts about Uzbekistan. If you have found this article informative, kindly share it with your friends, family, and relatives.