Surxondaryo Region ( uz, Surxondaryo viloyati, Сурхондарё вилояти, سرخان‌دریا ولایت, russian: Сурхандарьинская область, fa, سرخان‌دریا, UniPers: "sorxāndaryā"), old spelling Surkhandarya Region is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

(''

viloyat A wilayah ( ar, وَلاية, wālāya or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu and fa, ولایت, ''velâyat''; tr, vilayet) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes fr ...

'') of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, located in the extreme south-east of the country. Established on March 6, 1941, it borders on

Qashqadaryo Region Qashqadaryo Region ( uz, Qashqadaryo viloyati, Қашқадарё вилояти, قەشقەدەريا ۋىلايەتى; old spelling ''Kashkadarya Region'', russian: Кашкадарьинская область) is one of the regions of Uzbekist ...

internally, and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

externally, going anticlockwise from the north. It takes its name from the river Surxondaryo, that flows through the region. It covers an area of 20,100 km². The population is estimated at 2,743,201 (beginning of 2022 data), with 80% living in rural areas.''Statistical Yearbook of the Regions of Uzbekistan 2005'', State Statistical Committee, Tashkent, 2006 (Russian). According to official data, 83% of the population are

Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...

and 12,5%

Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...

, but non-official statistics show Surxondaryo is a Persian-speaking area, because most

of Uzbekistan are concentrated in the Surxondaryo,

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

and

Bukhara Bukhara ( Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and the city ...

regions.Lena Jonson (1976) "Tajikistan in the New Central Asia", I.B.Tauris, p. 108: "According to official Uzbek statistics there are slightly over 1 million Tajiks in Uzbekistan or about 3% of the population. The unofficial figure is over 6 million Tajiks. They are concentrated in the Sukhandarya, Samarqand and Bukhara regions." The highest point of the Region and also of Uzbekistan is Khazrati Sulton peak reaching 4,643 m/15,233 ft in Gissar Range. The regional capital is

Termez Termez ( uz, Termiz/Термиз; fa, ترمذ ''Termez, Tirmiz''; ar, ترمذ ''Tirmidh''; russian: Термез; Ancient Greek: ''Tàrmita'', ''Thàrmis'', ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it i ...

(''Termiz'') with population of 122,900 (2021), and the second largest city is

Denov , other_name = , pushpin_map = Uzbekistan#West Asia#Tokharistan , pushpin_relief = yes , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Uzbekistan , coordinates = , su ...

(''Denau'') with 69,500 inhabitants (data for 2005). Other towns include Boysun, Jarqoʻrgʻon, Qumqoʻrgʻon,

Shargʻun Shargʻun ( uz, Shargʻun / Шарғун) is a city in Surxondaryo Region, Uzbekistan. It is part of Sariosiyo District Sariosiyo district ( uz, Sariosiyo tumani / Сариосиё тумани) is a district in Surxondaryo Region, Uzbekistan. I ...

, Sherobod, Shoʻrchi, and

Sariosiyo Sariosiyo ( uz, Sariosiyo/Сариосиё, russian: Сариасия, Persian: سرآسیا) is an urban-type settlement in Surxondaryo Region, Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), offici ...

. The climate is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

, with mild wet winters and hot dry summers. The southern part of the region is in the Badkhiz-Karabil semi-desert ecoregion (PA0808), characterized by a savanna of pistachio and desert sedge. The northern portion is characterized by open woodlands (Gissaro-Alai open woodlands ecoregion, PA1306), with characteristic plants being pistachio, almond, walnut, apple, and juniper. Sagebrush is common at lower elevations

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. ...

include

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 ...

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 carbon d ...

, and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

Light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...

, mainly

cotton ginning A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

and

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex in ...

, is also an important part of the regional economy, particularly in the production of

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, b ...

. Agriculture is based primarily on

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

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

, supplemented with

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

. Surxondaryo is the country's largest supplier of long-fiber cotton. Livestock accounts for 40% of regional agricultural product. The climatic conditions of this region also make it possible to cultivate subtropical crops such as

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

. The region has a well-developed transport infrastructure, with 300 km of railways and 2,700 km of surfaced roads.

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

's only

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers ...

is located at Termez on the Amudarya River.

History

Bitter debates accompanied the Soviet allocation of Surkhandarya Region to the

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...

rather than the

Tajik SSR The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic,, ''Çumhuriji Şūraviji Sotsialistiji Toçikiston''; russian: Таджикская Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Tadzhikskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Resp ...

in 1929, as that region, as well as the areas of

and

, had sizable, if not dominant, Tajik populations.

Districts

The Surxondaryo Region consists of 14

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 counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

s (listed below) and one district-level city:

. There are 8 cities (

, Boysun,

Denov , other_name = , pushpin_map = Uzbekistan#West Asia#Tokharistan , pushpin_relief = yes , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Uzbekistan , coordinates = , su ...

, Jarqoʻrgʻon, Qumqoʻrgʻon,

, Sherobod, Shoʻrchi) and 112

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 Surxondaryo Region.

Agriculture (2005 data)

Agriculture accounts for 42% of total employment in Surxondaryo Region and produces 8% of Uzbekistan’s agricultural output. Agricultural production is 56% crops and 44% livestock (like the country’s average). Milk yields are less than 1,700 kg per cow per year, on a par with the national average. Main characteristics of agriculture in Surxondaryo Region''Agriculture in Uzbekistan'', State Statistical Committee, Tashkent, 2007 (Russian).

Gallery

File:Khujaypok (uzb. Xo'jaypok), Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan-12.jpg, Two different streams flow into one (a healing spring and the river itself in blue) File:Khujaypok (uzb. Xo'jaypok), Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan-15.jpg, Market at the foot of Khujaypok File:Khujaypok (uzb. Xo'jaypok), Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan-14.jpg, Healing bath from a hydrogen-chloride source. Treats infectious skin diseases and difficult to heal wounds File:Khujaypok (uzb. Xo'jaypok), Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan-16.jpg, The Khujaypok river

References

External links

Map of Surxondaryo Region
(Russian). {{Authority control Regions of Uzbekistan