Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Uzbekistan conventional short form: Uzbekistan local long form: Uzbekiston Respublikasi local short form: none former: Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic
Data code: UZ
Government type: republic; effectively authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch; executive power concentrated in the presidency
Capital: Tashkent (Toshkent)
Independence: 31 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Legal system: evolution of Soviet civil law; still lacks independent judicial system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Sadyk SAFAYEV chancery: 1746 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 887-5300 FAX: [1] (202) 293-6804 consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph A. PRESEL embassy: 82 Chilanzarskaya, Tashkent 700115 mailing address: use embassy street address; US Embassy Tashkent, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7110 telephone: [998] (71) 120-5450 FAX: [998] (71) 120-6335
Economy
Economy - overview: Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country of which 10% consists of intensely cultivated, irrigated river valleys. It was one of the poorest areas of the former Soviet Union with more than 60% of its population living in densely populated rural communities. Uzbekistan is now the world's third largest cotton exporter, a major producer of gold and natural gas, and a regionally significant producer of chemicals and machinery. Following independence in December 1991, the government sought to prop up its Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on production and prices. Faced with high rates of inflation, however, the government began to reform in mid-1994, by introducing tighter monetary policies, expanding privatization, slightly reducing the role of the state in the economy, and improving the environment for foreign investors. The state continues to be a dominating influence in the economy, and reforms have so far failed to bring about much-needed structural changes. The IMF suspended Uzbekistan's $185 million standby arrangement in late 1996 because of governmental steps that made impossible fulfillment of Fund conditions. Uzbekistan has responded to the negative external conditions generated by the Asian and Russian financial crises by tightening export and currency controls within its already largely closed economy. Economic policies that have repelled foreign investment are a major factor in the economy's stagnation. A growing debt burden, persistent inflation, and a poor business climate cloud growth prospects in 2000.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 29% (1999 est.)
Industries: textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas
Telephones - main lines in use: 1.976 million (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 26,000 (1998)
Telephone system: antiquated and inadequate; in serious need of modernization domestic: the domestic telephone system is being expanded and technologically improved, particularly in Tashkent and Samarqand, under contracts with prominent companies in industrialized countries; moreover, by 1998, six cellular networks had been placed in operation - four of the GSM type (Global System for Mobile Communication), one D-AMPS type (Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System), and one AMPS type (Advanced Mobile Phone System) international: linked by landline or microwave radio relay with CIS member states and to other countries by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway switch; after the completion of the Uzbek link to the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable, Uzbekistan will be independent of Russian facilities for international communications; Inmarsat also provides an international connection, albeit an expensive one; satellite earth stations - NA (1998)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 20, FM 7, shortwave 10 (1998)
Radios: 10.2 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 4 (plus two repeater stations that relay Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Tadzhik programs) (1997)
Televisions: 6.4 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (1999)
Transportation
Railways: total: 3,380 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines broad gauge: 3,380 km 1.520-m gauge (300 km electrified) (1993)
Highways: total: 81,600 km paved: 71,237 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, meaning that some are paved and some are all-weather gravel-surfaced) unpaved: 10,363 km (dirt) (1996 est.)
Waterways: 1,100 (1990)
Pipelines: crude oil 250 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural gas 810 km (1992)
Ports and harbors: Termiz (Amu Darya river)
Airports: 3 (1997 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 3 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (1997 est.)
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