1Inntroduction to REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN Flag and State Emblem of Republic of Uzbekistan 2Geography Uzbekistan is a completely landlocked country located in the Central Asian region of the Eurasia landmass in the Eastern hemisphere. It is slightly larger than California covering 447,400 sq km, bordering Afghanistan in the south, Kazakhstan in the north, Turkmenistan in the west, and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the east. The Afghan border is the shortest (137km), but most guarded and watched. However it is still porous due to the lack of resources to maintain adequate border control and the corruption of custom officials. The Tajikistani border is 1,161 km long and is the second most guarded including measures like unmarked minefields on certain stretches and permanent garrisons of Special Forces and National Security Service battalion in addition to the regular border guard. Still it is reported to be porous and is crossed regularly by smugglers, drug traffickers and terrorists. The same is true for the border with Kyrgyzstan, with which Uzbekistan has an unresolved territorial dispute, although there are no reported minefields or deployments, other than border guards and customs. The borders with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are considered of no security risk and have border guards and customs on lowest alert. Climate The climate of modern Uzbekistan has been characterized by a lot of fluctuations due to the drying out of Aral Sea. Generally it is extremely continental. In a zone of deserts and steppes covering all of the plain area, winter is short, snow is not enough, and it thaws quickly, but summer is hot, long, dry and dusty. Autumn is cool and rainy. The average temperature in January is from -12C (10F) in the north to +3C (37F) in the south, in July it ranges from 26C (79F) in the north up to 46C (114F) in the shade in the south. In the west and northwest, Uzbekistan is not protected from humid air coming from the area of the Volga River or from the Northern Caucasus bringing extremely cold snaps in winter. In summer these air masses, moving over the deserts, are getting warmer and 3drier causing a lot of precipitation in the mountains of Tian-Shan and Pamir in the northeast and east. Precipitation in the territory of Uzbekistan is distributed irregularly because of the location of the republic in the depth of the wide continent and the complexity of its relief. The western plain and the Fergana valley are the driest zones with 100 - 300 mm of precipitation a year. From the plains to the foothills there is more precipitation and on the western and southwestern slopes of the mountains, which are open to the humid air mass, there may be more than 2000 mm of precipitation a year. Terrain Nearly four-fifths of Uzbekistans territory, the sun-dried western area, has the appearance of a wasteland. In the northwest the Turan Plain rises 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 metres) above sea level around the Aral Sea in Qoraqalpoghiston. This terrain merges on the south with the Kyzylkum (Uzbek: Qizilqum) Desert and farther west becomes the Ustyurt Plateau, a region of low ridges, salt marshes, sinkholes, and caverns. View of semi desert in early spring and early summer Southeast of the Aral Sea, small hills break the flatness of the low-lying Kyzylkum Desert, and, much farther east, a series of mountain ridges partition Uzbekistans territory. The western Tien Shan includes the Karzhantau, Ugam, and Pskem ranges, the latter featuring the 14,104-foot (4,299-metre) Beshtor Peak, the countrys highest point. Also a part of the western Tien Shan are the Chatkal and Kurama ranges. The Gissar (Hissor) and Alay (Oloy) ranges stand across the Fergana valley, which lies south of the western Tien Shan. The Mirzachul desert, which is southwest of Tashkent, lies between the Tien Shan spurs to the north and the Turkestan, Marguzar, and Nuratau ranges to the south. In south-central Uzbekistan the Zeravshan valley opens westward; the cities of Samarkand (Samarqand) and Bukhara (Bukhoro) grace this ancient cultural centre. 4Two big rivers Syrdarya in the north and Amudarya in the south - supply water to an area in the northeast and southeast of the country in which most of the population live. They run southeast to northwest almost parallel to each other and empty into Aral Sea, which only 30 years ago was comparable to Lake Superior but now is quarter of its former size and a fifth of the volume. Pollution, including nuclear waste from buried weapon manufacture process materials, pesticides, and human generated refuse reached critical level and now being spread globally, by winds, from exposed dry lakebed. Water is still being diverted from both rivers, despite numerous international accords to restore Aral, signed by Uzbekistan, and after being used for irrigation, dumped into manmade lakes. View of the shore of artificial lake Aydarqul Population According t