21/09/2026
Wait, What? Facts About Uzbekistan
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✔Along with Liechtenstein, Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world. To reach the sea, you have to cross at least two other countries in any direction.
Long before Uzbekistan became known for its Islamic architecture, Buddhist monasteries stood near present-day Termez. UNESCO records document the Fayaztepa Buddhist monastery near Termez, which flourished between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE.
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✔During excavations at Afrasiab, the ancient settlement in Samarkand, archaeologists discovered what is considered the world’s oldest surviving chess set, dating to the 7th-8th centuries CE.
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✔In the 15th century - during the reign of Mirzo Ulugbek - a catalogue of 1,018 stars was compiled in Samarkand; the coordinates of a significant number of them were determined through observations at the observatory, long before the invention of the astronomical telescope.
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✔UNESCO describes the small Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara as the best-preserved example of 10th-century architecture in the Muslim world.
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✔The Juma Mosque in Khiva has no traditional open courtyard. Instead, its vast covered prayer hall, measuring approximately 55 × 46 m, is supported by more than 200 wooden columns, with light entering through just two openings in the roof. The result is an interior that feels more like a “forest of columns” than a typical mosque with an open courtyard.
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✔The Kosmonavty metro station in Tashkent is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2026, the World Heritage Committee officially inscribed “Tashkent Modernist Architecture: Modernity and Tradition in Central Asia” on the World Heritage List. The serial property consists of ten components. Alongside buildings, the inscription also includes a metro station.
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✔The Mughals, who built the Taj Mahal, were descendants of Amir Timur.
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✔Ibn Sina (Avicenna), born near Bukhara, wrote The Canon of Medicine - an encyclopedia of medical knowledge that became one of the most influential medical texts used in European and Islamic universities.
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✔Al-Khwarizmi, a native of Khwarezm - the historical region around modern-day Khiva - wrote one of the earliest systematic works on algebra.
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✔Uzbekistan is the only country in the world whose neighbours - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan - all have names ending in the Persian suffix “-stan”, meaning “land.”
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✔Located in the Kyzylkum Desert, the Muruntau gold mine is one of the world’s largest gold-mining operations and one of the largest open-pit mines ever developed.
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Discover Uzbekistan with local tour operator Advantour, which has more than 20 years of experience organising group and private tours throughout Uzbekistan and other countries along the Silk Road.
