Formal Name: Republic of Uzbekistan.
Short Form: Uzbekistan.
Term for Citizens: Uzbekistani(s).
Capital: Tashkent.
Date of Independence: August 31, 1991.
Size: Approximately 447,000 square kilometers.
Topography: About 80 percent flat, desert; mountain ranges dominate far southeast and far northeast and traverse middle of eastern provinces, east to west. Fergana Valley in northeast most fertile region. Few lakes and rivers; shrinking Aral Sea, shared with Kazakstan, in northwest. Most of country seismically active.
Climate: Continental; hot summers, cool winters. Annual rainfall very sparse in most regions, irrigation needed for crops.
Data as of March 1996