 Country facts |
Full country name: Republic of Uzbekistan
Local form: Uzbekiston Respublikasi
Former: Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic
Data Code: UZ
President (executive): Islam Karimov elected 1991, re-elected in 1995 and 2000
Independence: August 31, 1991 from the Soviet Union
Capital: Tashkent with 2.5 million inhabitants
Constitution: 8 December in 1992
Legal system: evolution of Soviet civil law
Suffrage: the universal 18 years of age
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Supreme Assembly
Parties:
Parties represented in parliament from 21 January
2000: CDP, Adolat (Justice) (Social Democratic Party);
Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival Democratic Party),
and in April 2000 a new party, Fidorkorlar (Self-Sacrifice),
was formed from a merger of Fidorkorlar (Self-Sacrifice)
and Vatan Tarikietti (Progress of the Fatherland). |
Area: 447,400-sq. km
Population: 24,5 million inhabitants
People: Uzbek (75.8%), Russian (6.0%), Tajiks (4.8%), Kazakhs (4.1%), Karakalpak (1%), Tatars, Korean and Kyrgyz (1%), others (4%)
Languages: Uzbek (official), Russian widely spoken especially in business
Religion: 90% Muslim, 8% Christian
Currency: Soum (1.3.2001 one usd = 700 soums by the commercial rate)
GMT: +5 hours
| PUBLIC HOLIDAYS |
January 1st: New Year
January 14th: Defenders of the Motherland
March 8th: International Women's Day
March 20th: Navrus (Iranian New Year)
May 1st: International Labour Day
May 9th: Victory Day
September 1st: Independence Day
December 8th: Constitution Day to celebrate the constitution of 1992
 Holy Days of Islamic Calendar in year 2001 (dates change according to the lunar calendar) |
December 28th: Eid-ul-Fitr (Hayin in Uzbekistan) marks the end of Ramadan
March 6th: Eid-ul-Azha (also called Qurban Hayit) is the Feast of Sacrifice during which the pilgrimage to Mecca takes place
June 4th: Mawlid-an-Nabi celebrates the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed
November 17th onwards: Ramadan, the great fasting period |
