;
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 Syr
Darya; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and
Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Sariqarnish Kuli -12 m
highest point: Adelunga Toghi 4,301 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 9%
permanent crops : 1%
permanent pastures: 46%
forests and woodland: 3%
other: 41% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 40,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

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 and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of
many human health disorders; increasing soil salinization; soil
contamination from agricultural chemicals, including DDT

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein are the only two doubly
landlocked countries in the world

@Uzbekistan:People

Population: 23,467,724 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 39% (male 4,609,766; female 4,474,481)
15-64 years: 57% (male 6,593,525; female 6,703,482)
65 years and over : 4% (male 421,609; female 664,861) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.35% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 24.02 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 7.63 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth : 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 70.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.31 years
male : 60.69 years
female: 68.11 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.92 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Uzbekistani(s)
adjective: