Get acquainted with Tashkent

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan. This city with a population of about 2,3 million people is the biggest in Central Asia.

The history of Tashkent dates back 2000 years. The first evidence of Tashkent can be found in ancient chronicles of the 2nd century B.C. Its presentday name became wide-spread in the 11th and 12th centuries.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, when Tashkent was part of the Timurid empire, it yielded to other Central Asian towns in significance, yet its geographic location – the city is located in the very centre of the Great Silk Road, at its fork – and favourable climatic conditions led to its economic and cultural growth. In the 19th century Tashkent became the administrative centre of the Turkestan Governor-General, and in 1930 the capital of Uzbekistan. This added a new impulse to the development of the city. During World War II many industrial enterprises and tens of thousands of people were evacuated from Russia to Tashkent.

In the post-war years the city began to develop rapidly, with vast residential areas, high-rise construction and industrial areas growing fast. The first subway line of the fi rst metro in Central Asia was opened in Tashkent in 1977. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tashkent became the capital of independent Uzbekistan and the country’s cultural centre. There are 9 theatres, a conservatory and many museums in the city.

Tashkent is also one of the largest scientific centres not only in Uzbekistan, but in the whole of Central Asia. There are dozens of higher educational institutions, including fi ve Universities, and over 20 academic, R&D and design institutes. The Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Uzbekistan Academy of Science, which celebrated its fi ftieth birthday in 2006, is the leader among academic organizations in Uzbekistan.