Population: 25,000,000

Population Density: 53.5 per sq km.

Capital: Tashkent. Population: 2,500,000.

Climate: The climate of Uzbekistan is sharply continental. Summers are warm and dry, and springs in comparison with other seasons are the rainiest. The average temperature in mid winter makes about minus 5 - 10 Celsius while average temperature in summer - plus 30 - 35 Celsius.

Geographical position:

Uzbekistan is situated in Central Asia between Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers. Landscape is extremely diverse starting from lowland Turans in the northwest up to mountain ranges of Tien Shan and Alay in the southeast. Sandy deserts of Kyzylkum are located in the southwest part of the republic. The territory of Uzbekistan makes up 447, 400 sq. km, equal to that of Sweden. Uzbekistan bordered by Kazakhstan to the north and the west, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Aral Sea coasts lie on its territory as well.

Government: Republic. Declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Head of State: President Islam Karimov since 1990. Head of Government: Prime Minister Otkir Sultanov since 1995.

Language: The official language is Uzbek, a Turkic tongue closely related to Kazakh and Kyrgyz. There is a small Russian-speaking minority. Many people involved with tourism speak English. The Government has stated its intention to change the Cyrillic script to the Latin.

Religion: Predominantly Sunni Muslim, with Shia (15%), Russian Orthodox and Jewish minorities.
Time: GMT + 5.
Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Round 2-pin continental plugs are standard.

Communications:
There are many types of communication services such as: analog and digital phone communication, international long distance, cellular phone services, paging service, internet, international express carrier service, worldwide cargo service and etc.

Telephone: Country code: 998. The area code for Tashkent is 712 for 6-digit numbers and 71 for 7-digit numbers.) IDD is available, but calls from hotel rooms still need to be booked either from reception or from the floor attendant. International calls can also be made from main post offices (in Tashkent on Prospekt Navoi). Direct-dial calls within the CIS are obtained by dialling 8 and waiting for another dial tone and then dialling the city code. Calls within the city limits are free of charge.

Mobile telephone: GSM 900 network. Operators include Butzel, Daewoo, Coscom (web site: http://www.coscom.uz) and Uzmacom (web site: http://www.uzmacom.uz). Coverage is limited to certain areas around Tashkent.

Fax: Services are available from major hotels for residents only.

Internet/E-mail: There are many ISP companies offering internet sevices. There are many internet cafes found in most of the large cities of the Republic.

Telegram: Services are available from post offices in large towns.

Post: Letters to Western Europe and the USA can take between two weeks and two months. Stamped envelopes can be bought from post offices. Addresses should be laid out in the following order: country, postcode, city, street, house number and lastly the person's name. Post office hours: 09.00-18.00 Monday to Friday. The Main Post Office in Tashkent (see above) is open until 19.00. Visitors can also use the post offices situated in the major hotels. There are a number of international courier services based in Tashkent.

Press: There are no independent daily newspapers in Uzbekistan. The main editions are published in Tashkent and include Narodnoye Slovo, Pravda Vostoka and Molodiozh Uzbekistana (all published in Russian), and Halk Suzi (in Uzbek).