Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan, is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, one of former Soviet Union Republics. It shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

In the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire began to expand, and spread into Central Asia. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and despite some early resistance to Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia became a part of the Soviet Union. On August 31, 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence.

The country is now is seeking to lessen gradually its dependence on agriculture - it is the world's second-largest exporter of cotton - while developing its mineral and petroleum reserves.