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The terrain of the republic encompasses two unequal sections: the larger northwest area, which is part of the Kyzyl Kum desert; and the smaller southeast area, which has fertile loess soil and touches on the Tian Shan mountain system. The Aral Sea lies on the northwest frontier. Central Asia's two major rivers : the Amu Darya and Syr Darya : pass through Uzbek territory. The Khiva oasis is irrigated by the Amu Darya, the fertile Fergana Valley by the Syr Darya and its tributaries, the Tashkent oasis by the Chirchik and Angren rivers, and the Samarkand and Bukhara oases by the Zeravshan. Uzbekistan has a dry continental climate. Administratively, there are 12 wiloyats and one autonomous republic, the Karakalpak Republic.
The Uzbeks, a Turkic-speaking group who have a Persian culture and are mostly Sunni Muslims, make up 80% of the population. Russians (who live mostly in the cities) constitute more than 5%, and there are Tajik, Kazakh, and Tatar minorities. Under a 1992 constitution, Uzbekistan has an elected 250-member parliament, with an elected president as head of state; a referendum in 2002 extended the president's term to 7 years. In practice, most opposition parties are banned, opposition figures are monitored and frequently jailed, and the president rules in an autocratic manner.
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