Uzbekistan: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:38, 13 June 2007

Revision as of 05:39, 13 June 2007

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[[Link title]]'''Bold text'''''Italic text'''''Bold text'''{{Infobox Country or territory

|native_name = ''O‘zbekiston Respublikasi''<br/>''O‘zbekiston Jumhuriyati''<br/>Ўзбекистон Республикаси

|conventional_long_name = Republic of Uzbekistan

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{{main|Demographics of Uzbekistan}}

Uzbekistan is Centbhvvgcfxrtxci565rfgfgcgfcxfhdktycgfchralCentral Asia's most populous country. Its 26 million people, concentrated in the south and east of the country, comprise nearly half the region's total population. Uzbekistan had been one of the poorest republics of the Soviet Union; much of its population was engaged in cotton farming in small rural collective farms ([[kolkhoz]]y). In the recent years, the fraction of the rural population has continued to increase&nbsp;[http://www.unescap.org/stat/data/apif/uzbekistan_apif2004.pdf] now reaching 63.5%. The population of Uzbekistan is very young: 34.1% of it are people younger than 14.

Uzbekistan is predominantly [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] in ethnic composition. According to [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uz.html Uzbekistan's CIA World Factbook entry], Uzbeks comprise 80% of the total population. Other ethnic groups include [[Russians|Russian]] 5.5%, [[Tajiks|Tajik]] 5%, [[Kazakhs]] 3%, [[Karakalpaks|Karakalpak]] 2.5%, and [[Tatars|Tatar]] 1.5%. There is also a large ethnic Korean population that was forcibly relocated to Uzbekistan by Stalin during World War II{{Fact|date=April 2007}}. The nation is 88% Muslim (mostly [[Sunnis|Sunni]], with a 5% [[Shi'a]] minority), 9% [[Eastern Orthodox]] and 3% following other faiths. The US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004 reports 0.2% of the population are [[Buddhist]] (these being amongst the ethnic Koreans). Also, an estimated 93,000 [[Jew]]s were present in Uzbekistan in the early 1990s (source Library of Congress Country Studies).