History of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia. It is itself surrounded by five landlocked countries: Kazakhstan to the north; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast; Tajikistan to the southeast; Afghanistan to the south, Turkmenistan to the south-west. Its capital and largest city is Tashkent. Uzbekistan is part of the area known as Turkestan as well as a member of the Organization of Turkic States and TÜRKSOY. Its majority native and titular ethnic group are the Uzbek people, a Turkic people. While the Uzbek language, a Turkic language, is the majority native and spoken language in Uzbekistan, Russian, a foreign language, is widely used as an inter-ethnic tongue and in government due to the country's Soviet and Russian Imperial past. Russians also form a significant minority ethnic group. Additionally, there are significant Tajik, Karakalpak, and Kazakh minorities, along with numerous smaller groups. Islam is the majority religion in Uzbekistan, most Uzbeks being Sunni Muslims. In ancient times it largely overlapped with the regions known as Sogdia, Bactria, Khwarazm, Transoxiana, and Khorasan.