Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

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2. UZBEKISTAN: A COUNTRY WITH 
HISTORY, PRESENT AND FUTURE
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 2.1. 
 Geographic situation and climate
Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in 
Central Asia, comprising 12 provinces, 1 autonomous republic and 
1 independent city. The Republic of Uzbekistan is situated in the 
central part of the Eurasian continent, between the 37° and 45° North 
lati tudes, and the 56° and 73° East longitudes. Its total surface area 
is  447 400 km
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.  Uzbekistan  borders  Kazakhstan  to  the  North  and 
West, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to the South, and Tajikistan and 
Kyrgyzstan in the East (Figure 2.3).
Uzbekistan is unequally divided into two parts: the plains 
occupy about three quarters (78.8%) of its territory, while mountains 
and mountainous valleys constitute the rest (21.2%). The plains, 
which stretch out from the Northwest to the Southeast, comprise the 
larger part of the Turan Lowland. This area mainly contains deserts 
and  semi-deserts,  including  the  Karakum  Desert  –  the  largest  in 
Central Asia – stretching from the Zeravshan river valley to the Aral 
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The chapter is based on the information from Initial communication of the Re-
public of Uzbekistan under the United Nations Framework Convention on cli-
mate change. 1999, Taskhent