Uzbekistan Geography - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Location

Central Asia, north of Turkmenistan, south of Kazakhstan

Geographic coordinates

41 00 N, 64 00 E

Map references

Asia

Area

total: 447,400 sq km

land: 425,400 sq km

water: 22,000 sq km

Area - comparative

about four times the size of Virginia; slightly larger than California

Area comparison map

Land boundaries

total: 6,893 km

border countries (5): Afghanistan 144 km, Kazakhstan 2330 km, Kyrgyzstan 1314 km, Tajikistan 1312 km, Turkmenistan 1793 km

Coastline

0 km (doubly landlocked); note - Uzbekistan includes the southern portion of the Aral Sea with a 420 km shoreline

Maritime claims

none (doubly landlocked)

Climate

mostly mid-latitude 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, Syr Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zarafshon; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west

Elevation

highest point: Adelunga Toghi 4,301 m

lowest point: Sariqamish Kuli -12 m

Natural resources

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

Land use

agricultural land: 62.6% (2018 est.)

arable land: 10.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 51.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 7.7% (2018 est.)

other: 29.7% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

42,150 sq km (2012)

Total renewable water resources

48.87 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Population distribution

most of the population is concentrated in the fertile Fergana Valley in the easternmost arm of the country; the south has significant clusters of people, while the central and western deserts are sparsely populated

Natural hazards

earthquakes; floods; landslides or mudslides; avalanches; droughts

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

along with Liechtenstein, one of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the world

NOTE: The information regarding Uzbekistan on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Uzbekistan 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Uzbekistan 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.