Asia and Oceania

Uzbekistan
Last reviewed: 13 May 2011

Country information

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Area: 448,971 sq km (Uzbek Central Election Committee, 2009)
Population: 27.5m (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2010)
Capital City: Tashkent (population: 2,400,000)
People: 80% Uzbek, 5.5% Russian, 5% Tajik, 3% Kazakh, 2.5 Karakalpak, 1,5% Tatars, 2.5 other (Uzbek Central Election Committee, 2009)
Languages: Uzbek/Russian/Tajik
Religion(s): Sunni Muslim (88%), Eastern Orthodox (9%), other (3%)
Currency: Som
Government: Republic
President: Islam Karimov
Prime Minister: Shavkat Mirziyoyev
Foreign Minister: Vladimir Norov
Economic Information: (see below)
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Asian Development Bank, Conference of Interaction Confidence building measures in Asia, CIS, Collective Security Treaty Organisation, EAEC (suspended), Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Economic Community Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation, International Atomic Energy Agency, Intentional Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Civil Aviation Organisation, International Criminal Court (signatory), International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, International Development Association, Islamic Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, International Labour Organisation, International Monetary Fund, Interpol, IOC, International Standardisation Organisation, International Telecoms Satellites Organisation, International Telecommunication Union, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Nonaligned Movement, Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OSCE, Partnership For Peace, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, World Customs Organisation, World Federation of Trade Unions, WHO, World Intellectual Property Organisation, World Meteorological Organisation, World Trade Organisation (observer)
Uzbekistan has also acceded to the Non Proliferation Treaty.
Membership of regional organisations: Uzbekistan was an active member of the GUUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) from 1999 until 2002 when it suspended its membership. It formally left the organisation in 2005. Uzbekistan joined the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in 2001 (along with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan). In 2002, Uzbekistan joined the new Central Asia Co-operation Organisation, along with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. In 2006 Uzbekistan joined the EURASEC organisation (but suspended its membership in 2008) and resumed co-operation with the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). Uzbekistan has had a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with the EU since 1 July 1999. EU Foreign Ministers decided on a partial suspension of the PCA in October 2005 following the events in Andizhan of 13 May 2005. EU sanctions imposed after the Andizhan events were lifted in October 2009.