Sarmishsay (Navoi Region) Rock Art 3rd millennium BCE

Navoiy Region ( uz, Навоий вилояти, Navoiy viloyati, russian: Навоийская область) is one of the

regions of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan is divided into 12 regions (''viloyatlar'', singularviloyat, ''viloyati'' in compound, e.g. Toshkent ''viloyati''), 1 autonomous republic (''respublika'', ''respublikasi'' in compound, e.g. Qaraqalpaqstan Avtonom ''Respublikasi''), ...

. It is located in the central north/northwest of the country. It covers an area of (a large part of which is taken up by the

Kyzyl-Kum The Kyzylkum Desert ( uz, Qizilqum, Қизилқум, قىزىلقۇم; kk, Қызылқұм, Qyzylqūm, قىزىلقۇم) is the 15th largest desert in the world. Its name means ''Red Sand'' in Turkic languages. It is located in Central Asia, i ...

desert), which makes it the largest of the regions of Uzbekistan (the autonomous

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...

Republic is still larger at 166,590 km²). The Navoiy region borders with

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Samarqand Region Samarqand Region (Samarkand Region) ( uz, Самарқанд вилояти, Samarqand viloyati, russian: Самаркандская область) is the most populous region of Uzbekistan. It is located in the center of the country in the basi ...

, Buxoro Region,

Jizzakh Region Jizzakh Region ( uz, Jizzax viloyati, Жиззах вилояти, جٮززﻩخ ۋٮلايەتى, russian: Джизакская область, Dzhizakskaya Oblast') is one of the regions of Uzbekistan. It is located in the center/east of the co ...

, and the

Republic. The population is estimated 1,033,857 (2022), with 51% living in rural areas. The capital is

Navoiy Navoiy (), also spelled Navoi, is a city and the capital of Navoiy Region in the southwestern part of Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Tinchlik. It is located at latitude 40° 5' 4 ...

(pop. est. 146,900). The region and its capital are named after the poet Ali-Shir Nava'i. The climate is a typically semi-desert continental climate. Navoiy region has significant

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

, especially

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

, and

precious metals Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lu ...

, plus raw materials for construction. The region's economy is heavily dependent on large

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

and chemical production complexes. The Navoi and Zarafshan mines produce some of the world's purest

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. Leading agricultural products are

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

and

Karakul sheep Karakul or Qaraqul (named after Qorakoʻl, a city in Bukhara Region in Uzbekistan) is a breed of domestic sheep which originated in Central Asia. Some archaeological evidence points to Karakul sheep being raised there continuously since 1400 BC ...

. Some 90% of the entire area is considered potentially rich agricultural land, if a source of water for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

can be located.

Administrative divisions

The Navoiy Region consists of 8

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

s (listed below) and three district-level cities:

Zarafshon Zarafshon ( uz, Zarafshon / Зарафшон, fa, زرافشان) is a city in the center of Uzbekistan's Navoiy Region. Administratively, it is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Muruntau. It has an area of and it ...

and Gʻozgʻon. There are 7 cities (

, Gʻozgʻon, Qiziltepa,

Nurota Nurota (sometimes spelled as Nurata, uz, Nurota, Нурота; tg, Нурато; russian: Нурата) is a city and seat of Nurota District in Navoiy Region in Uzbekistan. Its population is 32,300 (2016). History Nurota was founded as the anci ...

, Uchquduq, Yangirabod) and 46

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

s in the Navoiy Region.

Economy

Navoiy Region is located in the central part of Uzbekistan, being one of the largest industrial centres of the country. The region possesses rich minerals and raw materials resources – Muruntau gold-bearing field, silica sand fields (of more than 1.5 billion tons), deposits of granite (1.9 billion cubic meters), marble (420 million cubic meters), phosphorites (1.5 billion tons) and many others. Navoiy Mining and Metallurgy Combinat – the biggest enterprise of the region, is included in top ten largest world producers of uranium and gold (9999 standard). Gold bars produced by the Combinat are awarded with the status of “optimal gold delivery” by London Precious Metals Market and Tokyo Commodities Exchange. Along with mining, the region’s economy is based on production of building materials, chemical, textile and food industries. 40 foreign investment enterprises operate in Navoiy Region. Most of them are established with participation of investors from USA, China, Russia and the United Kingdom – Uzbek-British Joint Venture “Amantaytau-Goldfields” is successfully working in the region. In 2019 the entire region was made a "free economic zone" by presidential decree.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Regions of Uzbekistan