Uzbekistan

The republic of Uzbekistan is a Central Asian state bordering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. The capital is Tashkent, and it has about 34 million inhabitants in total. The official languages in the country are Uzbek, and Caracalpak, in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan.

An independent state since 1991, at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union - of which, like the other Central Asian countries, it represented an autonomous republic - it covers a territory largely desert or covered by highlands and steppes. It shares part of the shores of the Aral Sea with Kazakhstan.

Being the most densely populated country in the region, the ethnic groups into which its population is divided include a large majority of Uzbeks, followed by Tajiks, Kazakhs, Russians, and Caracalpachians, who live mainly in the Aral Sea region. The territory of what is now Uzbekistan was once a crossroads of trade and commerce developing along its land through the silk routes. It was disputed and occupied by several imperial entities, from the Achaemenian and then Macedonian empires in ancient times, eventually passing through the Parthians and the Sasanian and then Turkish Qaraqanid empires, until the invasion of the Mongol hordes.

Tamerlane made Uzbekistan the core of his possessions, allowing the city of Samarkand to become one of the main centers of the region. It remained a territory divided among several state entities, and then fell under the sphere of influence of tsarist Russia, later joining the Soviet Union. Most of the Uzbek population worships Islam, although there is a small Christian Orthodox minority.

Institutionally, Uzbekistan is a presidential republic. In foreign policy it maintains strong relations with Russia and China, and is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the OSCE, the International Monetary Fund, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The national economy features a major role of both the agricultural sector - where cotton cultivation is prominent, making Uzbekistan the second largest producer in the world - and the mining sector, particularly with gold mining, followed by coal, oil, uranium, and natural gas. Over the past few years, thanks to a large amount of domestic investment, the country experienced a phase of modernization of its economic sector, notably with growth in the manufacturing industry as well.

On the economic and trade level, the main partners are China, Turkey, Russia, and Kazakhstan. In terms of trade relations with Italy, by 2021, Italy is reported to have become Uzbekistan's 11th supplier, with a central role played in exports of machinery and equipment.