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Uzbekistan
Historical Background
BEFORE THE COLLAPSE of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan was the third
largest Soviet republic by population and the fourth largest in
territory. Because it has a population that is more than 40 percent
of the combined population of the five Central Asian states of
the former Soviet Union, and because it has rich natural resources,
many experts believe that Uzbekistan is likely to emerge as the
dominant new state in Central Asia. But Uzbekistan's history also
has given rise to serious problems: deeply rooted ethnic tensions;
serious economic, political, and environmental challenges; and
an uncertain security and foreign policy environment. Like its
neighbors in Central Asia, Uzbekistan emerged suddenly from more
than sixty years within a highly structured, and in many ways
protective, political and economic system. In the years following
that emergence, survival has depended on the development of new
international relationships as well as on solutions to the dilemmas
of the Soviet era. By 1996 Uzbekistan showed signs of progress
in both directions.
Data as of March 1996
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