Uzbekistan

Understand

The meaning of the name Uzbek is disputed. One version is that it is derived from Turkish 'uz/öz' ('good' or 'true') and 'bek' ('guardian'). Unlike the neighbouring Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, but like their close cousins the Uyghurs, the Uzbeks were mostly a sedentary people, building impressive cities along the old Silk Road There is a large population of people in Uzbekistan that speak Tajik (or other dialects of Persian), owing to historic communities in the region. Some of those people consider themselves Uzbek while others consider themselves as Tajik/Persian and living in Uzbekistan. There are also plenty of people who come from mixed Uzbek-Tajik families.

History The earliest people in what is now Uzbekistan (that we have names for) are the Saka/Scythians, an Iranian-speaking nomadic peoples that controlled the western steppes from Dobruja to Tocharia from the 9th-3rd centuries BCE. Eventually, Iranian peoples settled down in the region, founding the great cities of Samarkand, Khiva, and Bukhara. These cities served as the northernmost border cities of the different Persian empires, although Irainian-speaking nomads still roamed the steppes to the north. Samarkand (then known as Maracanda) was conquered by Alexander the Great during his campaigns against the Achaemenids (Persia under Cyrus the Great), and the cities of Cyra and Khujand (now both in Tajikistan) were the furthest north Alexander ever got. With the death of Alexander, his empire split as different satraps (regional warlords) fought for total control. Eventually, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom emerged in the region, so named because it was a fusion of Hellenic and Bactrian cultures. Buddhism was introduced to the region about the same time that Alexander's empire crumbled (around 125 BCE), and it was throug

See

Uzbekistan, a republic in the former Soviet Union, is one of the cradles of culture in the Central Asia region. The country offers an array of semi-arid landscapes and ancient sites, steeped with a history along the Silk Road.

Architecture

Uzbekistan has preserved a rich architectural heritage. The construction of monumental buildings was seen as a matter of prestige, emphasiz

Getting there

Entry requirements Citizens of most western countries (including the United States since January 2026), as well as CIS countries, China, and various others, can visit the country without a visa. Some other countries' citizens are eligible for an "e-visa" which is applied for online and easier than a regular visa. The eVisa can be applied for on a government website. As the website can be quite finicky (e.g. very specific but poorly explained requirements for passport photos, unclear error messages), soliciting other's experiences in navigating the application is useful. Some people resort to paying a third party to complete the e-visa application, or even opting for the regular visa because they cannot get the e-visa website to work. To apply for a regular visa, complete the application form from here, print out the resulting PDF and take to your printed form, together with some photos and a photocopy of your passport to your nearest Uzbek embassy. They will then ask the MFA in Tashkent for permission to issue a visa, which takes 7-14 days. Once this permission is granted you can pick up your visa. To avoid two trips to the embassy you can get a Letter of Invitation (LOI) in advance (by email) and once approval has been granted you can pick up your visa from your chosen embassy in only 1 visit - this is handy for people travelling who want to pick up a visa 'on the go'. An LOI can be obtained from travel companies when a hotel booking is made. Talk to your local travel agent in your own country. The LOI will typically cost US$30-40 for a short stay. For the latest information see the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When you enter Uzbekistan you might find fairly lengthy immigration and passport procedures (or not), but these are fairly painless. As of Marc

Getting around

Maps If you prefer a paper map, look in your home country for one made by Reise Know-How or Gizi Map. Yandex Maps is superior to Google Maps in this part of the world. OpenStreetMap (with various apps) is also better than Google Maps here.

By train

The most comfortable way to travel between the major tourist cities in Uzbekistan is by train. The main line Tashkent - Samarkand - Bukhara is served once a day in each direction by two express trains named "Afrosiob" and "Sharq": The Afrosiob is a Talgo-250-type train that takes 2.5 hours for Tashkent to Samarkand and it even meets most definitions of high speed rail at 250 km/h (160 mph) top speed. Afrosiob is Central Asia's only high-speed rail service. The "Sharq" takes less than 7 hours for the 600-km-journey Tashkent - Bukhara (with intermediate stop in Samarkand). A daily overnight train to and from Tashkent to Kungrad offers the possibility to travel during the night and so a day is not lost travelling. Comfortable sleeping carriages allow a good sleep. The timetable is available online. The server is often down, but you can use the Russian Railways website to see timetables. Tickets can be booked from the Uzbekistan Railways website. Unlike to ordinary local trains the express trains have three classes: The economy class (2nd) with 36 persons per carriage and still plenty of space and comfort, the business class (1st) and the VIP class (expect some free drinks and snacks). The Afrosiyob is the fastest and most expensive train which costs from Tashkent to Samarkand for Economy / Business class 270,000 / 396,000 so‘m as of February 2025. Doing the same trip with the Sharq will cost you around 179,250 so‘m (~ $14), but increases the travel time by more than an hour. Overnight trains also run from Tashkent via Sama