乌兹别克(Uzbekistan)
正式名称乌兹别克共和国（Republic of Uzbekistan）
中亚国家，卡拉卡尔帕克斯坦自治共和国位於其边界处。面积447,400平方公里。人口约25,155,000（2001）。首都︰塔什干。人口中7/10以上为乌兹别克人，其余为俄罗斯人、塔吉克人、哈萨克人、鞑靼人和卡拉卡尔帕克人。语言︰乌兹别克语（官方语）、俄罗斯语和塔吉克语。宗教：伊斯兰教（逊尼派）和俄罗斯东正教。货币︰苏姆（sum）。乌兹别克地处中亚心脏地带，位於锡尔河和阿姆河之间。虽然在其东部和南部不乏肥沃的绿洲和高山崇岭，但全境几乎有4/5的土地为平坦的、晒硬的低地。咸海有2/3伸入乌兹别克境内。乌兹别克是天然气的主要生产国和出口国，也有可观的石油、煤和各类金属矿藏。为中亚主要棉花种植国之一，也种植水果和蔬菜，以及饲养卡拉库尔羊。是中亚机械和重型设备的主要生产者。政府形式是共和国，一院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
13世纪成吉思汗之孙昔巴坎接受封疆。蒙古人在这个地区统治着近一百个突厥主要部族，後来突厥人同蒙古人通婚，其後裔便是乌兹别克人和中亚的其他突厥人。16世纪初叶，一支蒙古和乌兹别克人联盟入侵并占领定居该区，包括称为外乌浒的地区，便成为乌兹别克人的永久家园。到19世纪初，此区由布哈拉、希瓦和浩罕等汗国控制，最後这三国全都屈服於俄罗斯。1924年成立乌兹别克苏维埃社会主义共和国。1990年6月乌兹别克是中亚第一个宣布主权的国家。1991年获得完全的独立。1990年代期间，其经济状况是中亚国家最强者，不过其政体被视为十分粗暴。
English version：
Uzbekistan
Nation, western central Asia. The Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic is within its borders. Area: 172,700 sq mi (447,400 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 23,664,000. Capital: Tashkent. The Uzbeks make up more than seven-tenths of the population; Russians, Tajiks, Kazaks, Tatars, and Karakalpaks make up the remainder. Languages: Uzbek (official), Russian, Tajik. Religions: Islam (Sunni), Russian Orthodoxy. Currency: sum. Uzbekistan lies in the heart of central Asia, largely between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers. Although it contains fertile oases and high mountain ranges in the south and east, almost four-fifths of the country consists of flat, sun-baked lowlands. Two-thirds of the Aral Sea extends into Uzbekistan. It is a major producer and exporter of natural gas and has sizable reserves of petroleum, coal, and various metallic ores. It is one of central Asia's major cotton growers; it also grows fruits and vegetables and raises Karakul sheep. It is the main producer of machinery and heavy equipment in central Asia. It is a republic with one legislative body; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Genghis Khan's grandson Shibaqan received the territory as his inheritance in the 13th century AD. His Mongols ruled over nearly 100 mainly Turkic tribes, who would eventually intermarry with the Mongols to form the Uzbeks and other Turkic peoples of central Asia. In the early 16th century, a federation of Mongol-Uzbeks invaded and occupied settled regions, including an area called Transoxania that would become the Uzbeks' permanent homeland. By the early 19th century, the region was dominated by the khanates of Khiva, Bukhara, and Quqon, all of which eventually succumbed to Russian domination. The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created in 1924. In June 1990 Uzbekistan became the first central Asian republic to declare sovereignty. It achieved full independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. During the 1990s, its economy was considered the strongest in central Asia, though its political system was deemed harsh.