Stry of higher and secondary specialized education of the republic of uzbekistan karshi state university

Environmental problems

Uzbekistan, February, 2003. Red dots indicate wildfires

Despite Uzbekistan's rich and varied natural environment, decades of environmental neglect in the Soviet Union have combined with skewed economic policies in the Soviet south to make Uzbekistan one of the gravest of the CIS's many environmental crises. The heavy use of agrochemicals, diversion of huge amounts of irrigation water from the two rivers that feed the region, and the chronic lack of water treatment plants are among the factors that have caused health and environmental problems on an enormous scale.

Uzbekistan is located in the central and northwestern parts of Central Asia, stretching from north-west, from the shores of the Aral Sea, south-east towards the valley of Syrkhandarya river. In the north-east stands a long "tongue" of the Uzbek territory, which stretches across interfluve of Pskem and Ahangaran rivers, through Chatkalsky and Kuramin ridges to the Ferghana Valley.  
The country borders with Kyrgyzstan in the north and east, with Kazakhstan to the north and north-west, with Tajikistan to the southeast, with Turkmenistan - on the south-west, and on south - with Afghanistan. North-western Uzbekistan (Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic) is washed by the Aral Sea (the length of coastline is about 420 km). 
Total country surface - 447,4 thousand square kilometers. 
Capital - Tashkent. 
Population
The total population of Uzbekistan is about 26.8 million people. Approximately 80% are Uzbeks (refer to the Pamir-Ferghana race of big European group with an admixture of Turkic and Mongol blood) and also Russians (5.5%), Tajiks (5%), Kazakhs (3%), Karakalpaks (2,5 %), Tatars (1.5%) and representatives of other nations.