Quill's Quiz - 1100 Question US Mega Geography Quiz
Print this map of Uzbekistan US States and Capitals Map Quiz
Free Maps, Map Puzzles and Educational Software: Owl and Mouse Educational Software
Print this map of Uzbekistan US States and Capitals Map Quiz
Free Maps, Map Puzzles and Educational Software: Owl and Mouse Educational Software
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan started out as several warring tribes, which were eventually conquered by Alexander the Great. To solidify his claim to the land, he married Roxanna, the daughter of a Bactrian chief. After Alexander's death, his empire began to collapse and Uzbekistan tried to return to independence and warring. Under the Romans, the Silk Road began to expand and flourish, causing trading posts to be established, which eventually turned into towns, villages, and even large cities. In the 13th century CE, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan swept across central Asia, conquering all they could, including the Uzbekistan tribes. After Genghis Khan's death, the empire was split into four; eventually the infamous Tamerlane claimed the western Khanate through fear and a few murders. Tamerlane's tomb has been said to have been cursed; the two most accurate versions of the inscriptions on his tomb translate to 'Anyone who violates my stillness in this life or in the next one, will be subjected to inevitable punishment and misery' and 'whoever would dare disturb the tomb would bring demons of war onto his land.' Two days after Russians opened the tomb, Nazi Germany declared war on Russia.
Russia conquered the country over the span of several years, taking over the western half and then finally the eastern half. In the 1940's Crimean Tartars, Germans, Chuchens, Greeks, Turks, Kurds, and others were exported to Central Asia, including to Uzbekistan, then the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Despite strict policies to squelch any native tradition, the country immediately declared the national language as Uzbek in 1991 at the fall of the USSR and converted to a Latin alphabet a year later.
The country faced many hardships since independence. The first leader of post-Soviet Uzbekistan was a former Soviet adviser who tried to keep many Soviet policies. Inflation was bad; at 1000% for years. Despite claims to have moved on to a market economy, there are still many economic controls to keep out foreign investors or imports, as the government promotes its own economy with 'import substitutions'.
Although the dominant religion by far is Islam, there are many versions practiced Uzbekistan is one of the two double-landlocked countries in the world. While under the control of the USSR, the Soviets were ruthless in their demand to increase cotton production. Cotton is harsh on soils, but Soviet policies demanded heavy use of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, leaving the air, water, soil extremely polluted and difficult to cultivate again. Such policies also greatly contributed to the shrinkage of the Aral Sea, which ceased to be the 4th largest inland sea in the 60's. Not only have the after effects of this made in extremely difficult to cultivate crops, but damage to the surrounding biosphere has been extreme.
