Portal:Uzbekistan

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The Uzbekistan Portal

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan, is a country located in Central Asia. It is surrounded by five countries: Kazakhstan to the north, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Tajikistan to the southeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, making it one of only two doubly landlocked countries on Earth, the other being Liechtenstein. Uzbekistan is part of the Turkic world, as well as a member of the Organization of Turkic States. Uzbek is the majority language, while Russian is widely spoken and understood. Islam is the predominant religion, and most Uzbeks are Sunni Muslims.

The first recorded settlers in the land of what is modern Uzbekistan were Eastern Iranian nomads, known as Scythians, who founded kingdoms in Khwarazm, Bactria, and Sogdia in the 8th–6th centuries BC, as well as Fergana and Margiana in the 3rd century BC – 6th century AD. The area was incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire and, after a period of Greco-Bactrian rule, was ruled by the Parthian Empire and later by the Sasanian Empire, until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century. The early Muslim conquests and the subsequent Samanid Empire converted most of the people into adherents of Islam. During this period, cities began to grow rich from the Silk Road, and became a center of the Islamic Golden Age. The local Khwarazmian dynasty was destroyed by the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, leading to a dominance by Turkic peoples. Timur (Tamerlane) in the 14th century established the Timurid Empire. Its capital was Samarkand, which became a centre of science under the rule of Ulugh Beg, giving birth to the Timurid Renaissance. The territories of the Timurid dynasty were conquered by Uzbek Shaybanids in the 16th century. Conquests by Emperor Babur towards the east led to the foundation of the Mughal Empire in India. All of Central Asia was gradually incorporated into the Russian Empire during the 19th century, with Tashkent becoming the political center of Russian Turkestan. In 1924, national delimitation created the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as a republic of the Soviet Union. It declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991. (Full article...)

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Jihadist flags used by the IMU and after allegiance to ISIS

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU; Uzbek: Ўзбекистон исломий ҳаракати/Oʻzbekiston islomiy harakati; Russian: Исламское движение Узбекистана) was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 by Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev and former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani; both ethnic Uzbeks from the Fergana Valley. Its original objective was to overthrow President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and create an Islamic state under Sharia; however, in subsequent years, it reinvented itself as an ally of Al-Qaeda. The group also maintained relations with Afghan Taliban in 1990s. However, later on, relations between the Afghan Taliban and the IMU started declining.

Operating out of bases in Tajikistan and Taliban-controlled areas of northern Afghanistan, the IMU launched a series of raids into southern Kyrgyzstan in the years 1999 and 2000. The IMU suffered heavy casualties in 2001–2002 during the American-led invasion of Afghanistan. Namangani was killed, while Yuldeshev and many of the IMU's remaining fighters escaped with remnants of the Taliban to Waziristan, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The IMU then focused on fighting the Pakistan Forces in the Tribal Areas, and NATO and Afghan forces in northern Afghanistan. (Full article...)

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Uzbekistan on Wikinews

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The following are images from various Uzbekistan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A group of Uzbek elders, 1890–1896 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 2A group of youth in Uzbekistan, 1995 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 3ossuary, statue of a man, Koy-Krylgan-Kala region, first centuries BC, Khorezm (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 4Turkish officers during an audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand 648–651 AD (Afrasiab murals) (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 5Map of Uzbek states in 1735 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 6The pharmacy building in Bukhara is a fine example of Uzbek architecture influenced by the Russian Empire. (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 7A parandja, a robe worn by women until it was banned in 1927. This example is made of velvet, silk threads and handmade embroidery. Displayed at the Museum of Applied Arts in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (from Culture of Uzbekistan)
Image 8Russian troops taking Samarkand in 1868, by Nikolay Karazin (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 9Kalyan Minaret (Great Minaret) in Bukhara, 1127 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 10Map of Timurid dynasty (1370–1506) (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 11Djamolidine Abdoujaparov is the most famous cyclist in Uzbekistan, winning three Tour de France point contests. Abdoujaparov is also one of the world's fastest cyclists. (from Culture of Uzbekistan)
Image 12Map of Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 13Ruins of Afrasiab – ancient Samarkand destroyed by Genghis Khan (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 14Chor Minor madrasa, Bukhara, 1807 (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 15Rabati Malik's portal on the road from Samarkand to Bukhara, 11th century (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 16The Registan and its three madrasahs. From left to right: Ulugh Beg Madrasah, Tilya-Kori Madrasah and Sher-Dor Madrasah, Samarkand, and Uzbekistan. (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 17A veil-burning ceremony in Uzbek SSR as part of Soviet Hujum policies (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 18Fayaz Tepe, Standing Buddha Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 19The Silk Road extending from Southern Europe through Africa and Western Asia, to Central Asia, and eventually South Asia, until it reaches China, East Asia proper, and Southeast Asia (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 20Chorasmian fresco from Kazakly-Yatkan (fortress of Akcha-Khan Kala), 1st century BC-2nd century AD (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 21The Defence of the Samarkand Citadel in 1868. From the Russian illustrated magazine Niva (1872). (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 22Timur feasts in Samarkand (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 23Triumphant crowd at Registan, Sher-Dor Madrasah. The Emir of Bukhara viewing the severed heads of Russian soldiers on poles. Painting by Vasily Vereshchagin (1872). (from History of Uzbekistan)
Image 24Kushan Prince, Dalverzin-Tepe, 1st century AD, Uzbekistan, Museum of the History of the Peoples of Uzbekistan (from History of Uzbekistan)