ion.

Geography Uzbekistan

Location: Central Asia, north of Afghanistan

Geographic coordinates: 41 00 N, 64 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area: total: 447,400 sq km water: 22,000 sq km land: 425,400 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries: total: 6,221 km border countries: Afghanistan 137
km, Kazakhstan 2,203 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,099 km, Tajikistan 1,161 km,
Turkmenistan 1,621 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 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, Syr
Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zarafshon; 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: 11% permanent crops: 1% other: 88% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 42,810 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: shrinkage 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 salination; soil contamination
from buried nuclear processing and agricultural chemicals, including DDT

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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

People Uzbekistan

Population: 25,563,441 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 35.5% (male 4,617,110; female 4,457,065)
15-64 years: 59.8% (male 7,567,510; female 7,726,753) 65 years and over:
4.7% (male 482,137; femal