Uzbekistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia. It is itself surrounded by five landlocked countries: Kazakhstan to the north; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast; Tajikistan to the southeast; Afghanistan to the south, Turkmenistan to the south-west. Its capital and largest city is Tashkent. Uzbekistan is part of the Turkic languages world, as well as a member of the Organization of Turkic States. While the Uzbek language is the majority spoken language in Uzbekistan, Russian is widely used as an inter-ethnic tongue and in government. Islam is the majority religion in Uzbekistan, most Uzbeks being non-denominational Muslims. In ancient times it largely overlapped with the region known as Sogdia, and also with Bactria.
Tashkent or Toshkent is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 3 million. It is located in northeastern Uzbekistan, near the border with Kazakhstan.
Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov was an Uzbek politician who led Uzbekistan and its predecessor state, the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, from 1989 until his death in 2016. He was the last First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1989 to 1991, when the party was reconstituted as the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O‘zXDP); he led the O‘zXDP until 1996. He was the President of the Uzbek SSR from 24 March 1990 until he declared the independence of Uzbekistan on 1 September 1991.
Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev is an Uzbek politician who has served as President of Uzbekistan and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan since 14 December 2016. Previously, Mirziyoyev led the government as a Prime Minister of Uzbekistan from 2003 to 2016.
Human rights in Uzbekistan have been described as "abysmal" by Human Rights Watch, and the country has received heavy criticism from the UK and the US for alleged arbitrary arrests, religious persecution and torture employed by the government on a regional and national level. Amnesty International stated that freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly continue to be restricted, and that relations between gay men are illegal.
Sodiq Solihovich Safoyev, also known as Sodyq Safayev is first deputy chairperson of the Senate of Uzbekistan's Parliament, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan from 14 March 2003 until 4 February 2005.
Karimov or Carimoff is a slavicised version of the name Karim. Its feminine counterpart is Karimova. It is most popular in Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan, although it is prevalent in the South Caucasus. Notable people with the surname include:
Gulnara Islamovna Karimova is the elder daughter of Islam Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan from 1991 to his death in 2016. She wielded considerable influence in Uzbekistan owing to her business dealings and family connections. From 2013, due to a conflict with her father, she began to rapidly lose influence.
Dado is an Uzbekistani pop music duo consisting of brothers Alisher Madumarov and Rustam Madumarov, formed in Tashkent in 1999. The band was created by two former members of the band Anor. The duo became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 2000s in Uzbekistan. Being polyglots, they wrote and performed songs in Uzbek, English, Russian, Turkish, German, Tajik, French, Spanish, Italian and other languages.
Lola Yoʻldosheva, better known simply as Lola, is an Uzbek singer, songwriter and film actress. She rose to prominence in Uzbekistan with her song "Muhabbatim" in 2003. Lola has recorded songs both in Uzbek and Russian.
Zeromax GmbH was a private sector conglomerate registered in Switzerland and operating mainly in Uzbekistan and was the largest investor in the Uzbek economy.
Bekhzod Bakhodirovich Akhmedov was the chief executive officer of Uzdunrobita, the Uzbek branch of the Russian telecommunication company MTS, until 2012. When Uzdunrobita's operating license was suspended by the government of Uzbekistan, Akhmedov left the country and since then has been wanted by Interpol.
Corruption in Uzbekistan is a serious problem. There are laws in place to prevent corruption, but enforcement in terms of laws regarding corruption is very weak. Low prosecution rates of corrupt officials is another contributing factor to the rampant corruption in Uzbekistan. It is not a criminal offense for a non-public official to influence the discretion of a public official. The judicial system faces severe functional deficits due to limited resources and corruption.
Bilan is a French language biweekly business magazine published in Geneva, Switzerland. The magazine has been in circulation since 1989.
The Telecom corruption scandal is a 2012 corruption case involving the daughter of President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, Gulnara Karimova, accepting bribes from several foreign telecom companies in exchange for contracts to do business within Uzbekistan. Revelations showed that Karimova was paid bribes through a series of shell companies by a series of firms seeking to negotiate with her directly. In addition, it was discovered that more industries had paid bribes for access to Uzbekistan than simply telecom firms.
Tatyana Akbarovna Karimova is an Uzbek economist who held the position of First Lady of Uzbekistan from 1991 until the death of her husband in September 2016.
Ziroatkhon Mahmudovna Hoshimova is the wife of the president of Uzbekistan and first lady of Uzbekistan.
Saida Shavkatovna Mirziyoyeva is an Uzbek politician and the eldest daughter of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. In August 2023, Mirziyoyeva was appointed the first assistant to the president of the country and took over the highest position in the president's administration after the head of state.
Saodat Ismailova is an Uzbek film director whose work focuses on the history of women in Central Asia. After graduating in film making from the Tashkent State Institute, she moved to Europe, where she began exhibiting films about Central Asian culture. She first achieved international recognition with the release of Zukhra, a video installation that recounts the history of Uzbekistan, which won a prize from the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. In 2014, she premiered her first feature film, 40 Days of Silence, at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for best debut film. She then went on to make a number of short films while at the Norwegian Office for Contemporary Art and Le Fresnoy, a French contemporary arts studio.
Guli Razzakovna Khamrayeva was a ballet artist and educator whose career was associated with the A. Navoi Opera and Ballet Theater (Tashkent). She was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Uzbek SSR in 1983.
