Short facts about the geography of Uzbekistan
| Location: |
Central Asia, north of
Afghanistan |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
41 00 N, 64 00
E |
| Map
references: |
Commonwealth of Independent
States |
| Area: |
total: 447,400 sq km
land: 425,400 sq km
water:
22,000 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; 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, Sirdaryo (Syr Darya), 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: 9%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures:
46%
forests and woodland: 3%
other: 41% (1993
est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
40,000 sq km (1993
est.) |
| 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 salination; soil contamination from 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
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 | Source: World Factbook |
