Location: Central Asia, bordering the Aral Sea, between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

Map references: Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 447,400 sq km
land area: 425,400 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries: total 6,221 km, Afghanistan 137 km, Kazakhstan 2,203 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,099 km, Tajikistan 1,161 km, Turkmenistan 1,621 km

Coastline: 0 km
note: Uzbekistan borders the Aral Sea (420 km)

Maritime claims: none; landlocked

International disputes: Russia may dispute current de facto maritime border to midpoint of Caspian Sea from shore

Climate: mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east

Terrain: mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya and Sirdaryo Rivers; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west

Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, gold, uranium, silver, copper, lead and zinc, tungsten, molybdenum

Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 47%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 42%

Irrigated land: 41,550 sq km (1990)

Environment:
current issues: drying up of the Aral Sea is resulting in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification; water pollution from industrial wastes is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salinization; soil contamination from agricultural chemicals, including DDT
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection

Note: landlocked

NOTE: The information regarding Uzbekistan on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Uzbekistan Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Uzbekistan Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.