Fotw Uzbekistan

Received on 13th of December, 2019. Thanks to dear friend Alexandra Chernisheva.

Map of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan officially also the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked sovereign state in Central Asia. It is a secular, unitary constitutional republic, comprising 12 provinces, one autonomous republic, and a capital city. Uzbekistan is bordered by five landlocked countries: Kazakhstan to the north; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast; Tajikistan to the southeast; Afghanistan to the south; and Turkmenistan to the southwest.  Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan on August 31, 1991. Uzbekistan has a diverse cultural heritage due to its storied history and strategic location. Its official language is Uzbek, a Turkic language written in the Latin alphabet and spoken natively by approximately 85% of the population. Russian has widespread use; it is the most widely taught second language. Uzbeks constitute 81% of the population, followed by Russians (5.4%), Tajiks (4.0%), Kazakhs (3.0%), and others (6.5%). Muslims constitute 79% of the population while 5% of the population follow Russian Orthodox Christianity, and 16% of the population follow other religions or are non-religious. A majority of Uzbeks are non-denominational Muslims.

Samarkand

The mosque Bibi-Khanym Mosque  is one of the most important monuments of Samarkand. In the 15th century it was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world. By the mid-20th century only a grandiose ruin of it still survived, but now major parts of the mosque have been restored.

Samarkand