Bukhara province

Established: 1938.
Area: 40,3O thousand sq. km.
Population: 1442,2 thousand.

The Bukhara province is located in central and southwestern part of the country. The province consists of 11 rural districts: Olot, Bukhara, Vobkent, Gijduvon, Jondor, Kogon, Korovulbozor, Korakul, Peshku, Romiton, Sbofirkon; 11 towns: Bukhara, Vobkent, Gazly, Galosiyo, Kogon, Olot, Gijduvon, Korakul, Romiton, Korovulbozor, Sbofirkon; 3 town-type-settlements: Jondor, Zafarobodand Yangiobod; as well as 121 villages.

The city of Bukhara is the administrative center of the province (616 km from Tashkent, 259,0 thousand people).

Agriculture: cotton, grain crops, fruit and vegetables, silk cocoon production, cattle breeding.

Industry: textile industry, oil and gas mining and refinement, precious metals.

The territory of the province is made of hills and flatlands, the highest point of which is the Tamditau (922m), at the same time the Kyzyl Kum Desert occupies the nine tenths of the province. Some well-irrigated land is only in the south of the province, the oases of Gijduvan, Bukhara and Korakul.

The climate is continental with very harsh winters. Summers are hot and dry. Water resources are limited. The main rivers are the Amu Darya and Syr Darya. The water from the Amu Darya to the irrigated oasis is delivered through the Amu-Bukhara and Amu-Karakul canals. The cotton and cocoon are produced in Bukhara, Gijduvan and Karakul oases. The reprocessing of agricultural goods, especially cotton, is well developed.

The land is very rich in natural resources, but the main resource is natural gas. Uzbekistan's major prospected and developed gas deposits are in Bukhara. Bukhara takes the lead with regard to natural gas mining, metal production, non-ferrous metallurgy and chemical industry. This is in spite of the fact that the population density in the province is the lowest in the country, with the south of the province - as an exception.

Economically, the local industry and agriculture encompasses a variety of fields of industry. There is one of the largest oil refineries in Korovulbozor. The Bukhara-Khiva oil and gas strip has the largest prospected deposits of natural gas in Uzbekistan.

The province is one of the major centers of fuel and power industry in Central Asia.

There are factories making construction materials, grain refineries, beer and wine breweries, milk processing plants, canning factories, as well as chocolate and macaroni factories.

Light industry factories produce karakul pelt and gold-knitted fabrics. There are more than 100 state owned enterprises, 13 joint ventures, 1780 small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as 54 cooperative entities.

The Uzbek-Greek «Bukhara-Omega-Furs» and «Sitora-Omega» joint ventures, Uzbek-Korean «Bukhoroi-Sharif Electronic Corporation-* (color TVs), Uzbek-Bulgarian «Sitora» (telephones), as well as Uzbek-Indian pharmaceutical joint venture «Gufik-Ibn Sino» are just a few examples of many enterprises operating in the province.

Agriculture is divided into two - the one in the south, and the livestock forming in the north.

The leading crop is cotton in addition to horticulture, grapes, and cocoons. The livestock farming is mainly oriented towards milk and meat production. An additional feature of the Bukhara livestock farming is the production of karakul pelts. Karakul sheep are bred in pastures in the Kyzyl Kum Desert.

The main transportation network is the railroad {210,6 km). The total length of automobile roads is 9,820 km, The main highways are Bukhara - Turkmenistan, Bukhara - Guzar.

There are 527 schools, many gymnasiums, lyceums, specialized music schools and three higher education institutions, 504 libraries, 265 clubs, 5 museums, 55 healthcare establishments, and 3 sanatoriums.