People and Culture

    Uzbeks are descended from Turkic tribes, Persians, Mongols, and other peoples, and Uzbekistan is home for over 100 ethnic groups. The largest is Uzbeks, who make up over 70 percent of the population. The other main ethnic groups in Uzbekistan are Russians, Karakalpaks, Tajiks, Kazakhs, and Tatars. Over 60 percent of the population lives in rural areas.

    Uzbek, a member of the Turkic language family, is the state language. Russian is still the language of academia, and Tajik is spoken in the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. In the Karakalpakstan region, both Karakalpak and Uzbek are official languages. While most people are nominally Muslim, only a few actively practice the religion.

    Throughout Uzbekistan, people wear European-style and traditional clothing. Uzbek men usually wear somber colors, except for a bright-colored sash, which older men use to close their long quilted coats. Many people wear the dopy, a black, four-sided skullcap embroidered in white. Uzbek women are fond of dresses in sparkly cloth, often worn as a knee-length gown.

    Some of the world's most beautiful Islamic religious buildings are in the cities of Bukhara, Khiva, and Samarkand. Most of the monumental mosques, minarets, and mausoleums date from the time of the Timurids. Traditional Uzbekistan's crafts tend towards clothes, firearms, jewelry, weaving, embroidery, and rugs. Because Islam prohibits the depiction of the living, traditional arts developed in the form of calligraphy, combining Islamic script with arabesques, and the carving of doors and screens.

For more info on Uzbekistan visit: The Cia World Factbook Uzbekistan page