Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the capital and largest city of

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. It is the most populous city in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. It is located in northeastern Uzbekistan, near the border with

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. Before the influence of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in the mid-8th century AD, Sogdian and Turkic culture was predominant. After

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

destroyed the city in 1219, it was rebuilt and profited from its location on the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

. From the 18th to the 19th centuries, the city became an independent city-state, before being re-conquered by the

Khanate of Kokand The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. It was ruled by the Ming tribe of Uzbeks. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, a ...

. In 1865, Tashkent fell to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

; as a result, it became the capital of

Russian Turkestan Russian Turkestan () was a colony of the Russian Empire, located in the western portion of the Central Asian region of Turkestan. Administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship, it comprised the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh Steppe, b ...

. In

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

times, it witnessed major growth and demographic changes due to forced deportations from throughout the Soviet Union. Much of Tashkent was destroyed in the 1966 Tashkent earthquake, but it was soon rebuilt as a model Soviet city. It was the fourth-largest city in the Soviet Union at the time, after

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Tashkent plays a central role in the country's economic and human development. As of 2024, it recorded the highest HDI among Uzbekistan's regions, with a score of 0.840, reflecting significant progress in

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, and living standards. Economically, Tashkent was the leading contributor to the national GDP, accounting for 19% of Uzbekistan’s GDP in the first half of 2024. This economic dominance is supported by ongoing infrastructure development and urban modernization projects aimed at enhancing its role as a financial and commercial hub. Nonetheless, the city faces challenges such as environmental concerns and the need for sustainable investment in

public services A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service (economics), service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing availab ...

. Today, as the capital of an independent Uzbekistan, Tashkent retains a multiethnic population, with ethnic

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

as the majority. In 2009, it celebrated 2,200 years of its written history. The master plan of Tashkent until 2045 was approved.

History

Etymology

During its long history, Tashkent has undergone various changes in names and political and religious affiliations. Abu Rayhan Biruni wrote that the city's name Tashkent comes from the turkic ''tash'' and persian ''kent'', literally translated as "Stone City" or "City of Stones". Ilya Gershevitch (1974:55, 72) (apud Livshits, 2007:179) traces the city's old name Chach back to Old Iranian *''čāiča-'' "area of water, lake" (cf. ''Čaēčista'', the Aral Sea's name in the Avesta) (whence

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...

transcription *''źiäk'' >

standard Chinese Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912–1949). ...

''Shí'' with

Chinese character Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...

石 for "stone"), and *''Čačkand'' ~ ''Čačkanθ'' was the basis for Turkic adaptation Tashkent, popularly etymologized as "stone city".Livshits, Vladimir (2007). "The Leader of the People of Chach in Sogdian Inscriptions" in Macuch, Maggi, & Sundermann (eds.) ''Iranian Languages and Texts from Iran and Turan. Ronald E. Emmerick Memorial Volume''. p. 179 Livshits proposes that ''Čač'' originally designated only the Aral Sea before being used for the Tashkent oasis. Ünal (2022) critiques Gershevitch's and Livshits's etymology as being "based on too many assumptions". He instead derives the name ''Čač'' from Late Proto-Turkic *''t₁iāt₂(ă)'' "stone", which he proposes to be seemingly another translation, besides the apparent Chinese translation 石 ''shí'' "stone", of *''kaŋk-'' (whence Chinese transcription 康居 EHC *''kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ'' >

'' Kāngjū''), which possibly meant "stone". Against Harold Walter Bailey's and Edwin G. Pulleyblank's suggested Tocharian origin for *''kaŋk-'', Ünal proposes that it was instead an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

word and compares it to

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

''kā́ṇay'' "stone".

Early history

Tashkent was first settled between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC as an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentChirchik River, near the foothills of the West

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

Mountains. In ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer "capital" of the Kangju confederacy. Some scholars believe that a " Stone Tower" mentioned by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

in his famous treatise ''Geography'', and by other early accounts of travel on the old

, referred to this settlement (due to its etymology). This tower is said to have marked the midway point between

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Other scholars, however, disagree with this identification, though it remains one of four most probable sites for the Stone Tower.

History as Chach

In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the town and the province were known as ''Chach''. The

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

Ferdowsi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

also refers to the city as Chach. The principality of Chach had a

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

citadel built around the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, some south of the

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

River. By the 7th century AD, Chach had more than 30 towns and a network of over 50 canals, forming a trade center between the Sogdians and Turkic nomads. The

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monk

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

(602/603? – 664 AD), who travelled from China to India through Central Asia, mentioned the name of the city as (). The Chinese chronicles '' History of Northern Dynasties'', '' Book of Sui'', and ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'' mention a possession called ("stone") or with a capital of the same name since the fifth century AD. In 558–603, Chach was part of the Turkic Khaganate. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Turkic Khaganate, as a result of internecine wars and wars with its neighbors, disintegrated into the Western and Eastern Khaganates. The Western Turkic ruler Tong Yabghu Qaghan (618-630) set up his headquarters in the Ming-bulak area to the north of Chach. Here he received embassies from the emperors of the Tang Empire and

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

. In 626, the Indian Buddhist preacher Prabhakāramitra arrived with ten companions to the Khagan. In 628, Xuanzang arrived in Ming-bulak. The Turkic rulers of Chach minted their coins with the inscription on the obverse side of the "lord of the Khakan money" (mid-8th century); with an inscription in the ruler Turk (7th century), in Nudjket in the middle of the 8th century, coins were issued with the obverse inscription "Nanchu (Banchu) Ertegin sovereign".

Islamic Caliphate

Chach (Arabic: Shash) was

conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...

by the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

at the beginning of the 8th century. According to the descriptions of the authors of the 10th century, Shash was structurally divided into a

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

, an inner city (madina) and two suburbs - an inner (rabad-dahil) and an outer (rabad-harij). The citadel, surrounded by a special wall with two gates, contained the ruler's palace and the prison.

Post Caliphate rule

Under the Samanid Empire, whose founder Ismail Samani was a descendant of Persian Zoroastrian convert to

, the city came to be known as ''Binkath''. However, the Arabs retained the old name of ''Chach'' for the surrounding region, pronouncing it ''ash-Shāsh'' () instead. Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali ash-Shashi, known as al-Kaffal ash-Shashi (904-975), was born in Tashkent. He was an Islamic theologian, scholar, jurist of the

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

''madhhab'', hadith scholar and linguist. After the 11th century, the name evolved from Chachkand/Chashkand to Tashkand. The modern spelling of "Tashkent" reflects Russian orthography and 20th-century Soviet influence. At the end of the 10th century, Tashkent became part of the possessions of the Turkic state of the

Karakhanids The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; zh, t=喀喇汗國, p=Kālā Hánguó), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Karluks, Karluk Turkic peoples, Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the ...

. In 998/99 the Tashkent oasis went to the Karakhanid Ahmad ibn Ali, who ruled the north-eastern regions of Mavarannahr. In 1177/78, a separate khanate was formed in the Tashkent oasis. Its center was Banakat, where dirhams of Mu'izz ad-dunya wa-d-din Qilich-khan were minted, in 1195–1197; and of Jalal ad-dunya wa-d-din Tafgach-khakan, in 1197–1206.

Mongol conquest

The city was destroyed by

in 1219 and lost much of its population as a result of the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

' destruction of the Khwarezmid Empire in 1220.

Timurid period

Under the Timurid and subsequent Shaybanid dynasties, the city's population and culture gradually revived as a prominent strategic center of scholarship, commerce and trade along the

. During the reign of Amir Timur (1336-1405), Tashkent was restored and in the 14th-15th centuries Tashkent was part of Timur's empire. For Timur, Tashkent was considered a strategic city. In 1391 Timur set out in the spring from Tashkent to Desht-i-Kipchak to fight the Khan of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

Tokhtamysh Khan. Timur returned from this victorious campaign through Tashkent. Mausoleum Zangiata 15-12

The most famous saint Sufi of Tashkent was Sheikh Khovendi at-Takhur (13th to the first half of the 14th century). According to legend, Amir Timur, who was treating his wounded leg in Tashkent with the healing water of the Zem-Zem spring, ordered to build a mausoleum for the saint. By order of Timur, the Zangiata mausoleum was built.

Uzbek Shaybanid's dynasty period

In the 16th century, Tashkent was ruled by the Shaybanid dynasty. Barakhan Madrasah Tashkent

Shaybanid Suyunchkhoja Khan was an enlightened Uzbek ruler; following the traditions of his ancestors Mirzo Ulugbek and Abul Khair Khan, he gathered famous scientists, writers and poets at his court, among them: Vasifi, Abdullah Nasrullahi, Masud bin Osmani Kuhistani. Since 1518 Vasifi was the educator of the son of Suyunchhoja Khan Keldi Muhammad, with whom, after the death of his father in 1525, he moved to Tashkent. After the death of his former pupil, he became the educator of his son, Abu-l-Muzaffar Hasan-Sultan. Later the city was subordinated to Shaybanid Abdullah Khan II (the ruler actually from 1557, officially in 1583–1598), who issued his coins here. From 1598 to 1604 Tashkent was ruled by the Shaybanid Keldi Muhammad, who issued silver and copper coins on his behalf.

Kazakh ruled period

In 1598, Kazakh Tauekel Khan was at war with the Khanate of Bukhara. The Bukhara troops sent against him were defeated by Kazakhs in the battle between Tashkent and Samarkand. During the reign of Yesim-Khan, a peace treaty was concluded between Bukhara and Kazakhs, according to which Kazakhs abandoned Samarkand, but left behind Tashkent, Turkestan and a number of Syr Darya cities. Yesim-Khan ruled the Kazakh Khanate from 1598 to 1628, his main merit was that he managed to unite the Kazakh khanate. The city was part of Kazakh Khanate between 1598 and 1723.

Tashkent state

In 1784, Yunus Khoja, the ruler of the dakha (district) Shayhantahur, united the entire city under his rule and created an independent Tashkent state (1784-1807), which by the beginning of the 19th century seized vast lands.

Kokand Khanate

In 1809, Tashkent was annexed to the

. At the time, Tashkent had a population of around 100,000 and was considered the richest city in

. Under the Kokand domination, Tashkent was surrounded by a moat and an adobe battlement (about 20 kilometers long) with 12 gates. It prospered greatly through trade with Russia but chafed under Kokand's high taxes. The Tashkent clergy also favored the clergy of

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

over that of Kokand. However, before the

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

of Bukhara could capitalize on this discontent, the Russian army arrived.

Colonial period

In May 1865, Mikhail Grigorevich Chernyayev (Cherniaev), acting against the direct orders of the

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

and outnumbered at least 15–1, staged a daring night attack against a city with a wall long with 11 gates and 30,000 defenders. While a small contingent staged a diversionary attack, the main force penetrated the walls, led by a

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

priest. Although the defense was stiff, the Russians captured the city after two days of heavy fighting and the loss of only 25 dead as opposed to several thousand of the defenders (including Alimqul, the ruler of the Kokand Khanate). Chernyayev, dubbed the "Lion of Tashkent" by city elders, staged a hearts-and-minds campaign to win the population over. He abolished taxes for a year, rode unarmed through the streets and bazaars meeting common people, and appointed himself "Military Governor of Tashkent", recommending to Tsar Alexander II that the city become an independent

khanate A khanate ( ) or khaganate refers to historic polity, polities ruled by a Khan (title), khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongol and Turkic peoples, Turkic or Tatars, Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, ...

under Russian protection. Taskent city coat 1909

The Tsar liberally rewarded Chernyayev and his men with medals and bonuses, but regarded the impulsive general as a loose cannon, and soon replaced him with General Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman. Far from being granted independence, Tashkent became the capital of the new territory of Russian Turkistan, with Kaufman as first Governor-General. A cantonment and Russian settlement were built across the Ankhor Canal from the old city, and Russian settlers and merchants poured in. Tashkent was a center of espionage in the Great Game rivalry between Russia and the United Kingdom over Central Asia. The Turkestan Military District was established as part of the military reforms of 1874. The Trans-Caspian Railway arrived in 1889, and the railway workers who built it settled in Tashkent as well, bringing with them the seeds of Bolshevik Revolution.

Effect of the Russian Revolution

With the fall of the

, the Russian Provisional Government removed all civil restrictions based on religion and nationality, contributing to local enthusiasm for the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

. The Tashkent Soviet of Soldiers' and Workers' Deputies was soon set up, but primarily represented Russian residents, who made up about a fifth of the Tashkent population. Muslim leaders quickly set up the Tashkent Muslim Council (''Tashkand Shura-yi-Islamiya'') based in the old city. On 10 March 1917, there was a parade with Russian workers marching with red flags, Russian soldiers singing '' La Marseillaise'' and thousands of local Central Asians. Following various speeches, Governor-General Aleksey Kuropatkin closed the events with words "Long Live a great free Russia". The First Turkestan Muslim Conference was held in Tashkent 16–20 April 1917. Like the Muslim Council, it was dominated by the Jadid, Muslim reformers. A more conservative faction emerged in Tashkent centered around the

Ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

. This faction proved more successful during the local elections of July 1917. They formed an alliance with Russian conservatives, while the Soviet became more radical. The Soviet attempt to seize power in September 1917 proved unsuccessful. In April 1918, Tashkent became the capital of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( Turkestan ASSR). The new regime was threatened by White forces, '' basmachi;'' revolts from within, and purges ordered from Moscow.

Soviet period

Tashkent the building of town council 02

The city began to industrialize in the 1920s and 1930s. Violating the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. The government worked to relocate factories from western Russia and Ukraine to Tashkent to preserve the Soviet industrial capacity. This led to great increase in industry during World War II. It also evacuated most of the German communist emigres to Tashkent. The Russian population increased dramatically; evacuees from the war zones increased the total population of Tashkent to well over a million. Russians and

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

eventually comprised more than half of the total residents of Tashkent. Many of the former refugees stayed in Tashkent to live after the war, rather than return to former homes. During the postwar period, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

established numerous scientific and engineering facilities in Tashkent. On 10 January 1966, then Indian Prime Minister

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; born Lal Bahadur Srivastava; 2 October 190411 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1964 to 1966. He previously served as Minister ...

and Pakistan President Ayub Khan signed a pact in Tashkent with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin as the mediator to resolve the terms of peace after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. On the next day, Shastri died suddenly, reportedly due to a heart attack. It is widely speculated that Shastri was killed by poisoning the water he drank. Much of Tashkent's old city was destroyed by a powerful earthquake on 26 April 1966. More than 300,000 residents were left homeless, and some 78,000 poorly engineered homes were destroyed, mainly in the densely populated areas of the old city where traditional adobe housing predominated. The Soviet republics, and some other countries, such as Finland, sent "battalions of fraternal peoples" and urban planners to help rebuild devastated Tashkent. Tashkent was rebuilt as a model Soviet city with wide streets planted with shade trees, parks, immense plazas for parades, fountains, monuments, and acres of apartment blocks. The

Tashkent Metro The Tashkent Metro () is the rapid transit system serving the city of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. It was the seventh metro to be built in the former Soviet Union, USSR, opening in 1977, and the first metro in Central Asia. Each station i ...

was also built during this time. About 100,000 new homes were built by 1970, but the builders occupied many, rather than the homeless residents of Tashkent. Further development in the following years increased the size of the city with major new developments in the Chilonzor area, north-east and south-east of the city. At the time of the collapse of the

in 1991, Tashkent was the fourth-largest city in the USSR and a center of learning in the fields of science and engineering. Due to the 1966 earthquake and the Soviet redevelopment, little architectural heritage has survived of Tashkent's ancient history. Few structures mark its significance as a trading point on the historic

. Such countries of the Soviet Union as

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

helped restore the city after the earthquake and erected many modern buildings.

Capital of Uzbekistan

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan, noted for its tree-lined streets, fountains and parks. In 2009, the local government initiated a controversial tree-cutting campaign. Since 1991, the city has changed economically, culturally, and architecturally. New development has superseded or replaced icons of the Soviet era. The largest statue ever erected for Lenin was replaced with a globe, featuring a geographic map of Uzbekistan. Buildings from the Soviet era have been replaced with new modern buildings. The "Downtown Tashkent" district includes the 22-story NBU Bank building, international hotels, the International Business Center, and the Plaza Building. The Tashkent Business district is a special district, established for the development of small, medium and large businesses in Uzbekistan. In 2018, construction began on a new Downtown which would include a business district with skyscrapers of local and foreign companies, world hotels such as Hilton Tashkent Hotel, apartments, malls, shops and other entertainment. The construction of the International Business Center is planned to be completed by the end of 2021. Fitch assigns "BB−" rating to Tashkent city, "Stable" forecast. In 2007, Tashkent was named a "cultural capital of the Islamic world" by '' Moscow News'', as the city has numerous historic mosques and significant Islamic sites, including the Islamic University. Tashkent holds the Samarkand Kufic Quran, one of the earliest written copies of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, which has been located in the city since 1924. Tashkent is the most visited city in the country, and has greatly benefited from increasing

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

as a result of reforms under president Shavkat Mirziyoyev and opening up by abolishing visas for visitors from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and other developing countries or making visas easier for foreigners.

Tashkent over the years

File:Tashkent History 1860.jpg, c. 1865 File:Tashkent History 1913.jpg, 1913 File:Tashkent History 1940.jpg, 1940 File:Tashkent History 1965.jpg, 1965 File:Tashkent History 1967.jpg, 1966:

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

and subsequent redevelopment File:Tashkent History 1981.jpg, 1981 File:Tashkent History 2000.jpg, 2000

The invention of television

In the summer of 1928, the first fully electronic TV set was presented to the public in Tashkent. Boris Grabovsky's method, patented in

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

in 1925, proposed a new model of TV imaging based on the vertical and horizontal electron beam sweeping under high voltage. Nowadays this principle of the TV imaging is used practically in all modern cathode-ray tubes. Historian and ethnographer Boris Golender (Борис Голендер in Russian), in a video lecture, described this event. This date of demonstration of the fully electronic TV set is the earliest known so far. Despite this fact, most modern historians disputably consider Vladimir Zworykin and

Philo Farnsworth Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971), "The father of television", was the American inventor and pioneer who was granted the first patent for the television by the United States Government. Burns, R. W. (1998), ''Televisi ...

as inventors of the first fully electronic TV set. In 1964, the contribution made to the development of early television by Grabovsky was officially acknowledged by the Uzbek government and he was awarded the prestigious degree "Honorable Inventor of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic".

Geography

Tashkent is situated in a well-watered plain on the road between

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

, Uzbekistan's second city, and

Shymkent Shymkent (, ; ) is a city in southern Kazakhstan, located near the border with Uzbekistan. It holds the status of a city of republican significance, one of only three cities in Kazakhstan with this distinction, alongside Almaty and Astana. As of ...

across the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

. Tashkent is just 13 km from two border crossings into

. Closest geographic cities with populations of over 1 million are:

(Kazakhstan),

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

(Tajikistan),

Bishkek Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan ...

(Kyrgyzstan), Kashgar (China),

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

(Kazakhstan),

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

(Afghanistan) and

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

(Pakistan). Tashkent sits at the confluence of the Chirchiq River and several of its tributaries and is built on deep alluvial deposits up to . The city is located in an active tectonic area suffering large numbers of tremors and some earthquakes. The local time in Tashkent is UTC/GMT +5 hours.

Climate

Tashkent features a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Csa'') with some

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

influences (

: ''Dsa''). /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Asia_K%C3%B6ppen_Map.png Updated Asian map of the Köppen climate classification system/ref> As a result, Tashkent experiences cold and often snowy winters not typically associated with most Mediterranean climates and long, hot and dry summers. Most

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

occurs during the winter, which frequently falls as snow. The city experiences two peaks of precipitation in the early winter and spring. The slightly unusual precipitation pattern is partially due to its altitude. Summers are long in Tashkent, usually lasting from May to September. Tashkent can be extremely hot during the months of July and August. The city also sees very little precipitation during the summer, particularly from June through September.

Ecology

The level of

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

in Tashkent, especially in winter, significantly exceeds international norms. According to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, the average annual pollution level is more than 6 times higher than the WHO recommended level (5 μg/m³). The main sources of air pollution are the heating sector (28 %), transport (16 %) and industry (13 %). There are 631 heating complexes around the city, according to the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan 60% of them use coal, sometimes rubber tyres and other fuels.

Demographics

In 1983, the population of Tashkent amounted to 1,902,000 people living in a municipal area of . By 1991, the year the Soviet Union dissolved, the city's population had grown to approximately 2,136,600. Tashkent was the fourth most populated city in the former

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, after

, Leningrad ( St. Petersburg), and

. Nowadays, Tashkent remains the fourth most populous city in the CIS. As of 2020, the city's population was 2,716,176. *78.0% –

*5% –

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

*4.5% –

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

*2.2% – Koryo-saram (Koreans) *2.1% –

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

*1.2% – Uighurs *7.0% – other ethnic backgrounds Uzbek is the main spoken language in Tashkent, though Russian is also spoken as a lingua franca. As in much of Uzbekistan, signage in Tashkent often contains a mix of Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

Districts

Since 2020, when Yangihayot District was created, Tashkent has been divided into the following 12 districts ():
Before Tashkent was conquered by the Russian Empire, it was divided into four districts, or ''daha'' in Uzbek: #Beshyoghoch #Kukcha #Shaykhontokhur #Sebzor In 1940 it had the following districts (Russian ''район''): # Oktyabr # Kirov # Stalin # Frunze #

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

# Kuybishev By 1981, these were reorganized into the following: #Bektemir #Akmal-Ikramov (Uchtepa) #Khamza (Yashnobod) #Lenin (Mirobod) #Kuybishev (Mirzo Ulugbek) #Sergeli #Oktober (Shaykhontokhur) #Sobir Rakhimov (Olmazar) #Chilanzar #Frunze (Yakkasaray) #Kirov (Yunusabad)

Landmarks

Palace of Grand Prince Nikolai Konstantinovich 12-00

Due to the destruction of most of the ancient city during the 1917 revolution and, later, the 1966 earthquake, little remains of Tashkent's traditional architectural heritage. Tashkent is, however, rich in museums and Soviet-era monuments. They include: * Kukeldash Madrasah. Dating back to the reign of Abdullah Khan II (1557–1598) it is being restored by the provincial Religious Board of Mawarannahr Moslems. There is talk of making it into a museum, but it is currently being used as a madrassah. * Chorsu Bazaar, located near the Kukeldash Madrassa. This huge open air

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

is the center of the old town of Tashkent. Everything imaginable is for sale. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the city. * Hazrati Imam Complex. It includes several mosques, shrine, and a library which contains a part of the Uthman Qur'an, a manuscript Qur'an in Kufic script that is considered to be the oldest extant

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

in the world. Dating from 655 and stained with the blood of murdered caliph, Uthman, it was brought by Timur to

, seized by the Russians as a war trophy, and taken to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. It was returned to Uzbekistan in 1924. * Qaffol Shoshi mausoleum built in honor of Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Ismail al-Kaffal ash-Shashi. The original tomb did not survive in its initial form. In its current state, the mausoleum was constructed in 1542 by the royal architect of that time, Gulyam Husayn. It is an asymmetrical domed portal mausoleum, known as a khanqah. *Yunus Khan Mausoleum. It is a group of three 15th-century

mausoleums A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the Chamber tomb, burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's Cadaver, remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be ...

, restored in the 19th century. The biggest is the grave of Yunus Khan, grandfather of

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

founder Babur. * Palace of Prince Romanov. During the 19th century

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

Nikolai Konstantinovich, a first cousin of Alexander III of Russia was banished to Tashkent for some shady deals involving the Russian Crown Jewels. His palace still survives in the center of the city. Once a museum, it has been appropriated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. * Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre, built by the same architect who designed Lenin's Tomb in Moscow, Aleksey Shchusev, with Japanese

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

labor in World War II. It hosts Russian ballet and opera. *Fine Arts Museum of Uzbekistan. It contains a major collection of art from the pre-Russian period, including Sogdian murals,

statues, and Zoroastrian art, along with a more modern collection of 19th and 20th century

applied art The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

, such as suzani embroidered hangings. Of more interest is the large collection of paintings "borrowed" from the Hermitage by Grand Duke Romanov to decorate his palace in exile in Tashkent, and never returned. Behind the museum is a small park, containing the neglected graves of the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

who died in the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

and to Osipov's treachery in 1919, along with first Uzbekistani President Yuldosh Akhunbabayev. *Museum of Applied Arts. Housed in a traditional house originally commissioned for a wealthy tsarist diplomat, the house itself is the main attraction, rather than its collection of 19th and 20th century

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

. * State Museum of History of Uzbekistan the largest museum in the city. It is housed in the ex-Lenin Museum. * Amir Timur Museum, housed in a building with a brilliant blue dome and ornate interior. It houses exhibits of Timur and of President Islam Karimov. To adjacent south of the museum is Amir Timur Square where there is a statue of Timur on horseback, surrounded by some of the nicest gardens and fountains in the city. *Navoi Literary Museum, commemorating Uzbekistan's adopted literary hero, Alisher Navoi, with replica manuscripts,

Islamic calligraphy Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of penmanship and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the Arabic script#Additional letters used in other languages, alphabets derived from it. It is a highly stylized and struc ...

and 15th century miniature paintings. *The

is known for extravagant design and architecture in the buildings. Taking photos in the system was banned until 2018. The Russian Orthodox church in Amir Temur Square, built in 1898, was demolished in 2009. The building had not been allowed to be used for religious purposes since the 1920s due to the anti-religious campaign conducted across the former Soviet Union by the Bolshevik (communist) government in Moscow. During the Soviet period, the building was used for different non-religious purposes; after independence, it was a bank. Tashkent also has a World War II memorial park and a Defender of Motherland monument.

Education

Most important scientific institutions of Uzbekistan, such as the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, are located in Tashkent. There are several universities and institutions of higher education: *Amity University in Tashkent * New Uzbekistan University *Tashkent State Pedagogical University * TEAM University *The Branch of the Russian State University of Oil and Gas (NRU) named after I.M. Gubkin * Tashkent Automobile and Road Construction Institute * Tashkent State Technical University *Tashkent Institute of Architecture and Construction * Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Melioration *International Business School Kelajak Ilmi * Tashkent University of Information Technologies * Westminster International University in Tashkent * Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent * National University of Uzbekistan *

University of World Economy and Diplomacy The University of World Economy and Diplomacy is located in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. It was founded on September 23, 1992, by the decree of the President Karimov to train future leaders of the country. The University of World Econ ...

* Tashkent State Economic University * Tashkent State Institute of Law * Tashkent Financial Institute *State Conservatory of Uzbekistan *Tashkent Pediatric Medical Institute *Tashkent State Medicine Academy * Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies *Tashkent Islamic University *British Management University in Tashkent *

Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent The Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent (MDIST) is one of the first international university branches to open in Uzbekistan. It was established to meet the high demand for professionals in various fields. MDIS serves students ...

*Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry * Tashkent Institute of Railway Transport Engineers *National Institute of Arts and Design named after Kamaleddin Bekhzod * Inha University Tashkent * Uzbekistan State University of World Languages *AKFA UNIVERSITY *Webster University in Tashkent * Tashkent Professional College of Information Technologies

Media

*Nine

Uzbek language Uzbek is a Karluk Turkic language spoken by Uzbeks. It is the official and national language of Uzbekistan and formally succeeded Chagatai, an earlier Karluk language endonymically called or , as the literary language of Uzbekistan in the 19 ...

newspapers, four in English, and nine in Russian. *Several television and cable television facilities, including Tashkent Tower, the second tallest structure in Central Asia. *Moreover, there are digital broadcasting systems available in Tashkent which is unique in

Transportation

* Tashkent International Airport is the largest in the country, connecting the city to Asia, Europe and North America. * Tashkent–Samarkand high-speed rail line *Trolleybus system was closed down in 2010. * Tram transport ended on 1 May 2016.

Entertainment and shopping

There are several shopping malls in Tashkent. These include Tashkent City Mall, Next and Samarqand Darvoza shopping malls. Most of the malls, including Riviera and Compass mall, were built and are operated by the Tower Management Group. This is part of the Orient Group of Companies. The capital's most established theatre is the Alisher Navoi Theater, that has regular ballet and opera performances. Ilkhom Theater, founded by Mark Weil in 1976, was the first independent theater in the Soviet Union. The theater still operates in Tashkent and is known for its historical reputation.

Sport

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

is the most popular sport in Tashkent, with the most prominent football clubs being Pakhtakor Tashkent FK, FC Bunyodkor, and PFC Lokomotiv Tashkent, all three of which compete in the

Uzbekistan Super League Uzbekistan Super League (; ), known as Artel Electronics, Artel Uzbekistan Super League due to sponsorship reasons (; ), is the top division of professional association football, football in Uzbekistan. It is operated under the auspices of the U ...

. Footballers Maksim Shatskikh, Peter Odemwingie and Vasilis Hatzipanagis were born in the city. Humo Tashkent, a professional ice hockey team was established in 2019 with the aim of joining Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), a top level Eurasian league in future. Humo joined the second-tier Supreme Hockey League (VHL) for the 2019–20 season. Humo play their games at the Humo Ice Dome; both the team and arena derive their name from the mythical Huma bird. Humo Tashkent was a member of the reformed Uzbekistan Ice Hockey League which began play in February 2019. Humo finished in first place at the end of the regular season. Cyclist Djamolidine Abdoujaparov was born in the city, while tennis player Denis Istomin was raised there. Akgul Amanmuradova and Iroda Tulyaganova are notable female tennis players from Tashkent. Gymnasts Alina Kabaeva and Israeli Olympian Alexander Shatilov were also born in the city. Former world champion and Israeli Olympic bronze medalist sprint canoer in the K-1 500 m event Michael Kolganov was also born in Tashkent. In

Weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, Uzbekistan won the heavyweight class in both the Rio and Tokyo

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. Tashkent is hosting the 2021 Weightlifting World Championships.

Notable people

* Behzod Abduraimov, classical pianist * Nodirbek Abdusattorov, chess grandmaster * Turgun Alimatov, Uzbek classic music and shashmaqam player and composer * Natasha Alam, Uzbekistani–American actress and model * Abdulla Aripov, politician and

Prime Minister of Uzbekistan This is a list of prime ministers of Uzbekistan (), from the establishment of the office in 1925 as the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Uzbek SSR to the present day. The current prime minister is Abdulla Aripov. He assumed the offi ...

* Lola Astanova, Russian-American pianist * Viktor Bryukhanov, director of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant * Sogdiana Fedorinskaya, singer and actress * Gʻafur Gʻulom, poet * Ravshan Irmatov, football referee * Arthur Kaliyev, born in Tashkent raised in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, New York, American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

* Rustam Kasimdzhanov, chess player, former FIDE World Champion * Moshe Kaveh (born 1943), Israeli

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and former President of

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

* Vladimir Kozlov, Ukrainian-American professional wrestler * Varvara Lepchenko, American professional tennis player * Olena Lytovchenko, writer * Naima Mahmudova Soviet Uzbek doctor and stateswoman (1928-2017) * Tohir Malik, novelist *

Boris Mavashev Boris Mavashev (; born 9 May 1939 in Tashkent) is an Israeli seismologist, doctor of geology and ecology, specializing in the geochemistry, geochemical and meteorology, meteorological precursors of earthquakes. Early life Boris Mavashev was born ...

, Israeli seismologist * Alisher Mirzo, painter * Eson Kandov, singer and musician * Abdulla Qodiriy, writer * Mirjalol Qosimov, former player and head coach of the

Uzbekistan national football team The Uzbekistan national football team ( / ) represents Uzbekistan in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Uzbekistan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan holds t ...

* Igor Povalyayev, former professional footballer * Svetlana Radzivil, high jumper * Artur Rozyyev, former Russian professional football player * Dilorom Saidaminova, composer * Tursunoy Saidazimova, singer * Shakhida Shaimardanova, composer * Iroda Tulyaganova, former tennis player * Alisher Usmanov, born in Chust, spent his childhood in Tashkent * Milana Vayntrub, American actress and comedian * Rita Volk, Uzbekistani–American actress * Hakim Karimovich Zaripov, circus performer * Farrukh Zokirov, singer * Zulfiya, writer and poet * Sodiq Safoyev, first deputy chairperson of the Senate of Uzbekistan's Parliament * Ali Hamroyev, actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer * Abid Sadykov, organic chemist, academician, and politician * Behzod Hoshimov, academic * Umid Iskandarov, Uzbek actor * Ulugʻbek Qodirov, actor * Tohir Sodiroqov, singer * Alisher Uzoqov, actor * Zafar Khashimov (born 1968), Uzbekistani businessman * Abdukodir Khusanov, professional footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Tashkent is twinned with: *

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Turkey * Ashgabat, Turkmenistan *

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

, Kazakhstan *

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany *

, Kyrgyzstan *

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Egypt *

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

, Ukraine *

, Russia *

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Japan *

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia *

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, United States *

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea *

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China * Sverdlovsk, Ukraine

Notes

References

External links

* *
Photos of historical monuments and modern buildings in TashkentRecent photos of Tashkent with comments in EnglishDisability Information Resource Centre in Tashkent
{{Authority control Capitals in Asia Cities in Central Asia Populated places along the Silk Road Populated places in Uzbekistan Syr-Darya Oblast Populated places established in the 1st millennium BC 1st-millennium BC establishments