Tashkent the capital of Uzbekistan. by Klod5
Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva are famous Uzbek cities. Tashkent is the capital, and about 2.3 million people live there. It is the largest city in Central Asia and the only one with a subway! Tashkent has a modern appearance because it was rebuilt after a big earthquake in 1966. Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva are much smaller, but they have beautiful ancient buildings. They are on the ancient Silk Trade Route, which is in southern Uzbekistan.Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. It was communist, but now it is an independent country with a democratic government. Islam Karimov is the president. He was a leader of the Uzbek Communist Party. Uzbek is the official language, but many people still speak Russian in the larger cities