Land area

447,400 sq km, of which 9% is arable

Population

27.6m (January 2009)

Main towns

Population in '000, July 1999

Tashkent (capital): 2,400

Samarkand: 392

Namangan: 378

Climate

Continental desert

Languages

Uzbek is the state language; Russian is widely spoken; Tajik is spoken in Samarkand and Bukhara; Karakalpak is used in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan

Weights and measures

Metric system

Currency

The som-coupon was introduced on November 29th 1993 as the successor to the rouble. It was replaced by the som on July 1st 1994, at a rate of Som7:US$1. A multiple exchange-rate system was introduced in 1997, and the main reference rate was subsequently repeatedly devalued in order to keep pace with the rapid depreciation of the currency on the black market. The exchange rate was unified on October 15th 2003 at a rate of Som975:US$1

Time

Six hours ahead of GMT

Public holidays

January 1st (New Year); March 8th (International Women's Day); March 20th (Prophet's Birthday); Nowruz (Persian New Year); May 1st (Labour Day); May 9th (Day of Memory and Respect); September 1st (Independence Day); Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan); December 8th (Constitution Day); Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice)