Source: Wikipedia
Flag of Uzbekistan
Capital: Tashkent 41°16′N 69°13′E
Official languages: Uzbek
Government: Authoritarian republic
President: Islom Karimov
Prime Minister: Shavkat Mirziyoyev

Independence from the Soviet Union
- Declared September 1, 1991
- Recognized December 8, 1991
- Completed December 25, 1991
- Formation 1747, as Bukharian Emirate, Kokand Khanate, Khwarezm

Area:
- Total 447,400 km² (56th) 172,742 sq mi
- Water (%) 4.9

Population:
- July 2005 estimate 26,593,000 (44th)
- Density 59/km² (136th) 153/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate:
- Total $50.395 billion (74th)
- Per capita $1,920 (145th)

HDI (2003): 0.694 (medium)

Currency: Uzbekistani som (UZS)

Time zone: UZT (UTC+5)
- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+5)

Internet TLD: .uz

Calling code: +998

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or O‘zbekiston Jumhuriyati), is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. This gives Uzbekistan a rather unusual status shared only with Europe's Liechtenstein in that their nation is surrounded entirely by other landlocked states. The language, Uzbek, is a Turkic language mutually intelligible with Turkish and other Turkic languages. Some sources estimate that Tajiks, an ethnic group closely related to Persians, make up approximately 42% of the population. The word "Ozbek" means, Real/original/true (Oz) Leaders, Nobles (bek).