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Uzbekistan
Physical Environment
With an area of 447,000 square kilometers (approximately the
size of France), Uzbekistan stretches 1,425 kilometers from west
to east and 930 kilometers from north to south. Bordering Turkmenistan
to the southwest, Kazakstan to the north, and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
to the south and east, Uzbekistan is not only one of the larger
Central Asian states but also the only Central Asian state to
border all of the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border
with Afghanistan to the south (see fig. 1).
Topography and Drainage
The physical environment of Uzbekistan is diverse, ranging from
the flat, desert topography that comprises almost 80 percent of
the country's territory to mountain peaks in the east reaching
about 4,500 meters above sea level. The southeastern portion of
Uzbekistan is characterized by the foothills of the Tian Shan
mountains, which rise higher in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
and form a natural border between Central Asia and China. The
vast Qizilqum (Turkic for "red sand"--Russian spelling Kyzyl Kum)
Desert, shared with southern Kazakstan, dominates the northern
lowland portion of Uzbekistan (see fig. 2). The most fertile part
of Uzbekistan, the Fergana Valley, is an area of about 21,440
square kilometers directly east of the Qizilqum and surrounded
by mountain ranges to the north, south, and east. The western
end of the valley is defined by the course of the Syrdariya, which
runs across the northeastern sector of Uzbekistan from southern
Kazakstan into the Qizilqum. Although the Fergana Valley receives
just 100 to 300 millimeters of rainfall per year, only small patches
of desert remain in the center and along ridges on the periphery
of the valley.
Water resources, which are unevenly distributed, are in short
supply in most of Uzbekistan. The vast plains that occupy two-thirds
of Uzbekistan's territory have little water, and there are few
lakes. The two largest rivers feeding Uzbekistan are the Amu Darya
and the Syrdariya, which originate in the mountains of Tajikistan
and Kyrgyzstan, respectively. These rivers form the two main river
basins of Central Asia; they are used primarily for irrigation,
and several artificial canals have been built to expand the supply
of arable land in the Fergana Valley and elsewhere.
Another important feature of Uzbekistan's physical environment
is the significant seismic activity that dominates much of the
country. Indeed, much of Uzbekistan's capital city, Tashkent,
was destroyed in a major earthquake in 1966, and other earthquakes
have caused significant damage before and since the Tashkent disaster.
The mountain areas are especially prone to earthquakes.
Data as of March 1996
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