Central Asia - Uzbekistan

• Samarkand, the ancient city of Afrasiab and already an important settlement in the 1st Millennium, was one of the jewels of the Silk Road. It was also the home ofTamarlane whose mausoleum is a major attraction, as is the famous Registan Square, the Bibi Khanum Mosque and the Shah-i-Zinda mausoleum complex. Some 15 km outside of town is the Imam AI-Bulahari Mausoleum, a shrine for the entire Muslim world.

• Bukhara was once known as"the divine" because of the number of religious schools and mosques there. Besides being a main trading center, it was a pilgrimage site Muslim visiting Imam Bakhouddin Naqshbansdin's mausoleum. Its main attractions include the Ark, where the emirs lived, the UNESCO-protected Kalyan Minaret and a number of restored madrases in the old downtown section.

• Khiva was an oasis town on the northern Silk Road spur on the way to Russia and became known for its artisans. The entire city has been remarkably preserved and declared a national reserve. It is like an open-air museum and perhaps the finest existing example of an old Silk Road city in Central Asia.

• Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, has been a settlement of some kind or another since the 1st century BC and was largely rebuilt following a devastating earthquake in 1966. Attractions include many excellent museums, a number of mosques and madrases, and the Zangi-ata mausoleum complex.

Tashkent has one five star hotel with 120 rooms three four star hotels with 885 rooms and two three-star hotels with 564 rooms Most of these have conference facilities There is one four star hotel with 278 rooms in Samarkand and one three star hotel In Bukhara there is one four star hotel with 228 rooms and one three star hotel with 183 rooms In Urgench, serving Khiva, there two three star hotels with a total of 341 rooms New hotels are under cons truction in all of the above-mentioned cities with a total capacity of 1, 000 rooms.

• Urgench is the gateway city for those visiting Khiva

• Shahnsabz was the birth place and home town of the great Tamarlane

• The Fergana Valley is a fertile area filled with orchards, where the Silk Road passes through to Kyrgyzstan

• Kokand is the ancient capital of the local rulers known as the Khans of Kokand

• Margilan is an Uzbek city with a famous silk factory still operating today Other Facilities

The respublic of UZBEKISTAN occupyng over 447. 400 km², is the second largest country in the Central Asia as to the territory. Uzbekistan lies in the very center of the Central Asia.

This location
predetermined historically its great geopolitical importence on the major transasian lines of communication between the East and the West. Uzbekistan border on Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrghyzstan, Afganistan.

UZBEKISTAN covering vast territory is notable for the extremaly diverse relief: from snowy mountans to steppes, semidesert and desert.

Climate of Uzbekistan is sharp continental.

Uzbekistan is a multinational state. There are over 22. 5 million inhabitans today. Uzbek make 65%, Russia - 25%, other nationalities (over 70) - 15%.

Uzbek, the official landuage of the country, belongs to the TURK group. Russan remains the language of the interethnic communication.

Uzbek, the official landuage of the country, belongs to the TURK group. Russan remains the language of the interethnic communication.

The city of Tashkent with the population of 2. 7 million inhabitants.