ABSTRACT
The Republic of Uzbekistan, lying in the heart of former Soviet Central Asia, is one of the sovereign states which arose from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its population numbers 21 millon, 84 per cent of whom are ethnic Uzbeks; 60 per cent of the people reside in rural areas. Tashkent, the capital, has a population exceeding two million. Although it is the most advanced region in Central Asia (having a relatively well-developed industrial sector) Uzbekistan's economy is still based on agriculture, cotton being the most important crop. The standard of living of most people is lower than that prevailing in the European part of the former Soviet Union. In 1990 the per capita income was only 52 per cent of the USSR average. In 1989,45 per cent of the population of Uzbekistan lived below the poverty line (Zvezda Vostoka, 1990) and since then the situation has deteriorated.
