什麼是烏茲別克

正式名稱烏茲別克共和國（Republic of Uzbekistan）

中亞國家，卡拉卡爾帕克斯坦自治共和國位於其邊界處。面積447,400平方公里。人口約25,155,000（2001）。首都︰塔什干。人口中7/10以上為烏茲別克人，其餘為俄羅斯人、塔吉克人、哈薩克人、韃靼人和卡拉卡爾帕克人。語言︰烏茲別克語（官方語）、俄羅斯語和塔吉克語。宗教：伊斯蘭教（遜尼派）和俄羅斯東正教。貨幣︰蘇姆（sum）。烏茲別克地處中亞心臟地帶，位於錫爾河和阿姆河之間。雖然在其東部和南部不乏肥沃的綠洲和高山崇嶺，但全境幾乎有4/5的土地為平坦的、晒硬的低地。鹹海有2/3伸入烏茲別克境內。烏茲別克是天然氣的主要生產國和出口國，也有可觀的石油、煤和各類金屬礦藏。為中亞主要棉花種植國之一，也種植水果和蔬菜，以及飼養卡拉庫爾羊。是中亞機械和重型裝置的主要生產者。政府形式是共和國，一院制。國家元首是總統，政府首腦為總理。

13世紀成吉思汗之孫昔巴坎接受封疆。蒙古人在這個地區統治著近一百個突厥主要部族，後來突厥人同蒙古人通婚，其後裔便是烏茲別克人和中亞的其他突厥人。16世紀初葉，一支蒙古和烏茲別克人聯盟入侵併佔領定居該區，包括稱為外烏滸的地區，便成為烏茲別克人的永久家園。到19世紀初，此區由布哈拉、希瓦和浩罕等汗國控制，最後這三國全都屈服於俄羅斯。1924年成立烏茲別克蘇維埃社會主義共和國。1990年6月烏茲別克是中亞第一個宣佈主權的國家。1991年獲得完全的獨立。1990年代期間，其經濟狀況是中亞國家最強者，不過其政體被視為十分粗暴。

Uzbekistan

Nation, western central Asia. The Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic is within its borders. Area: 172,700 sq mi (447,400 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 23,664,000. Capital: Tashkent. The Uzbeks make up more than seven-tenths of the population; Russians, Tajiks, Kazaks, Tatars, and Karakalpaks make up the remainder. Languages: Uzbek (official), Russian, Tajik. Religions: Islam (Sunni), Russian Orthodoxy. Currency: sum. Uzbekistan lies in the heart of central Asia, largely between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers. Although it contains fertile oases and high mountain ranges in the south and east, almost four-fifths of the country consists of flat, sun-baked lowlands. Two-thirds of the Aral Sea extends into Uzbekistan. It is a major producer and exporter of natural gas and has sizable reserves of petroleum, coal, and various metallic ores. It is one of central Asia's major cotton growers; it also grows fruits and vegetables and raises Karakul sheep. It is the main producer of machinery and heavy equipment in central Asia. It is a republic with one legislative body; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Genghis Khan's grandson Shibaqan received the territory as his inheritance in the 13th century AD. His Mongols ruled over nearly 100 mainly Turkic tribes, who would eventually intermarry with the Mongols to form the Uzbeks and other Turkic peoples of central Asia. In the early 16th century, a federation of Mongol-Uzbeks invaded and occupied settled regions, including an area called Transoxania that would become the Uzbeks' permanent homeland. By the early 19th century, the region was dominated by the khanates of Khiva, Bukhara, and Quqon, all of which eventually succumbed to Russian domination. The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created in 1924. In June 1990 Uzbekistan became the first central Asian republic to declare sovereignty. It achieved full independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. During the 1990s, its economy was considered the strongest in central Asia, though its political system was deemed harsh.