Republic of Uzbekistan

Uzbekiston Respublikasi

CAPITAL: Tashkent (Toshkent)

FLAG: Horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by narrow red bands; white crescent moon and twelve stars on the blue band.

ANTHEM: The national anthem begins "Serquyosh hur o'lkam," ("My country, sunny and free,").

MONETARY UNIT: The som (SOM) is the official currency, introduced when Uzbekistan left the ruble zone in November 1993. SOM1 = $0.00103 (or $1 = SOM966.43) as of May 2003.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is used.

HOLIDAYS: Independence Day, 1 September.

TIME: 5 PM = noon GMT.

Location, Size, and Extent

Uzbekistan is located in central Asia bordering the Aral Sea, between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Comparatively, it is slightly larger than the state of California, with a total area of 447,400 sq km (172,742 sq mi). Uzbekistan shares boundaries with Kazakhstan on the N, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the E, Afghanistan on the S, and Turkmenistan on the SW. Uzbekistan's boundary length...