Uzbekistan

 

Here we are at another Monday, I wasn’t sure I would do a post today due to feeling tired and worn out and not having a lot of motivation but here I am writing about the country of Uzbekistan, not a country I have heard of but I do like doing posts about places and other stuff I know little or nothing about.  This country has a population of around 36 million.

Uzbekistan is a Central Asian nation and former Soviet republic. It's known for its mosques, mausoleums and other sites linked to the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean. Samarkand, a major city on the route, contains a landmark of Islamic architecture: the Registan, a plaza bordered by 3 ornate, mosaic-covered religious schools dating to the 15th and 17th centuries

The capital city is Tashkent, it’s known for its many museums and its mix of modern and Soviet-era architecture. The Amir Timur Museum houses manuscripts, weapons and other relics from the Timurid dynasty. Nearby, the huge State Museum of History of Uzbekistan has centuries-old Buddhist artifacts. The city’s skyline is distinguished by Tashkent Tower, which offers city views from its observation deck.

The official currency is the Sum, the country replaced the ruble with the sum at par in on 16 July 1994. No subdivisions of this sum were initially issued and only banknotes were produced, in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 sum. Further series, however, have introduced coins and a subunit, the tiyin. Because it was meant to be a transitional currency, the design was rather simplistic.

The flag of Uzbekistan is a horizontal triband with three equal bands of blue, white, and green, separated by two thin red stripes. In the upper left canton (hoist side), there's a white crescent moon and twelve white stars. The blue band represents the sky and water and is also associated with the Turkic peoples. The white represents peace and purity. The green symbolizes nature and new life. The red stripes are a symbol of the power of life. The crescent moon is a traditional Uzbek symbol, and the twelve stars represent the twelve months of the Islamic calendar and the constellations. 

Islam is the predominant religion, with the vast majority of the population identifying as Muslim. While Islam is dominant, there are also other officially recognized faiths, and the country has a diverse religious landscape.

Other faiths are also present, including Russian Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, there are also significant populations of Baha'is, Zoroastrians, and Roman Catholics. 

Uzbekistan's government acknowledges religious freedom, but it also maintains a system of state control over religious organizations, including registration requirements and oversight of religious literature. The Muslim Board of Uzbekistan (MBU) plays a significant role in managing Islamic affairs, and it works within a framework established by the government. 

Uzbek is a Karluk Turkic language spoken by Uzbeks. It is the official and national language of Uzbekistan and formally succeeded Chagatai, an earlier Karluk language endonymically called Türki or Türkçe, as the literary language of Uzbekistan in the 1920s.  However, many other native languages are spoken in the country. These include several other Turkic languages, Persian and Russian.