Geography

Uzbekistan is a country of Central Asia, located north of Afghanistan. With an area of 447,000 square kilometres (slightly smaller than France), Uzbekistan stretches 1,425 kilometres from west to east and 930 kilometres 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 is a dry, double-landlocked country of which 10% consists of intensely cultivated, irrigated river valleys. It is one of two double-landlocked countries in the world - the other being Liechtenstein, although in the case of Uzbekistan this is less clear, since it has borders with two countries (Kazakhstan in the north and Turkmenistan in the south) that border the landlocked but non-freshwater Caspian Sea from which ships can reach the Sea of Azov and thus the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the oceans.

The highest point in Uzbekistan is Adelunga Toghi at 4,301 metres (14,111 ft).

Enclaves and Exclaves

There are four Uzbek Exclaves, all of them surrounded by Kyrgyz territory in the Fergana Valley region where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet.

Two of them are the towns of: Sokh, area of 325 sq km (125 sq mi) with a population of 42,800 in 1993 (although some estimates go as high as 70,000); and Shakhrimardan (also known as Shakirmardon or Shah-i-Mardan), area of 90 sq km (35 sq mi) with a population of 5,100 in 1993.

The other two are the tiny territories of Chong-Kara (or Kalacha), roughly 3 km (1.9 mi) long by 1 km (0.6 mi) wide, and Dzhangail, a dot of land barely 2 or 3 km (1.5 mi) across. Chong-Kara is on the Sokh River, between the Uzbek border and the Sokh exclave.

Uzbekistan has a Tajikistan enclave, the village of Sarvan, which includes a narrow, long strip of land about 15 km (9 mi) long by 1 km (0.6 mi) wide, alongside the road from Angren to Kokand. Last but not least, there is a tiny Kyrgyzstan enclave, the village of Barak (population 627), between the towns of Margilan and Fergana.

Topography

The physical environment of Uzbekistan is diverse, ranging from the flat, desert topography that comprises almost 80% of the country's territory to mountain peaks in the east reaching about 4,500 metres above sea level.

The southeastern portion of Uzbekistan is characterised by the foothills of the Tian Shan mountains, which rise higher in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and form a natural border between Central Asia and China. The vast Qizilqum (Turkic for 'red sand') Desert, shared with southern Kazakhstan, dominates the northern lowland portion of Uzbekistan.

The most fertile part of Uzbekistan, the Fergana Valley, is an area of about 21,440 square kilometres 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 Syr Darya, which runs across the northeastern sector of Uzbekistan from southern Kazakstan into the Qizilqum. Although the Fergana Valley receives just 10-30 cm of rainfall per year, only small patches of desert remain in the centre and along ridges on the periphery of the valley.

Seismic Activity

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.

Water

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 Syr Darya, 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.

Environmental Problems

Despite Uzbekistan's rich and varied natural environment, decades of environmental neglect in the Soviet Union have combined with skewed economic policies in the Soviet south to make Uzbekistan one of the gravest of the CIS's many environmental crises. The heavy use of agrochemicals, diversion of huge amounts of irrigation water from the two rivers that feed the region, and the chronic lack of water treatment plants are among the factors that have caused health and environmental problems on an enormous scale.

The Aral Sea Disaster

Environmental devastation in Uzbekistan is best exemplified by the catastrophe of the Aral Sea. Because of diversion of the Amu Darya and Syrdariya for cotton cultivation and other purposes, what once was the world's fourth largest inland sea has shrunk in the past thirty years to only about one-third of its 1960 volume and less than half its 1960 geographical size. The desiccation and salinization of the lake have caused extensive storms of salt and dust from the sea's dried bottom, wreaking havoc on the region's agriculture and ecosystems and on the population's health.

Desertification has led to the large-scale loss of plant and animal life, loss of arable land, changed climatic conditions, depleted yields on the cultivated land that remains, and destruction of historical and cultural monuments. Every year, many tons of salts reportedly are carried as far as 800 kilometres away. Regional experts assert that salt and dust storms from the Aral Sea have raised the level of particulate matter in the earth's atmosphere by more than 5%, seriously affecting global climate change.

Environmental Mismanagement

The Aral Sea disaster is only the most visible indicator of environmental decay, however. The Soviet approach to environmental management brought decades of poor water management and lack of water or sewage treatment facilities; inordinately heavy use of pesticides, herbicides, defoliants, and fertilizers in the fields; and construction of industrial enterprises without regard to human or environmental impact. Those policies present enormous environmental challenges throughout Uzbekistan.