Social and economic development of Uzbekistan

After independence Uzbekistan's economy moved step by step to a market economy. In the first half of the 1990s there was an economic decline because economic ties within the former union were broken; stabilisation and growth followed. Thousands of deposits of more than 100 kinds of minerals have been found: the country stands out for gold, uranium, copper, natural gas, potash salts and phosphorite. Big deposits are in the Navoi, Tashkent, Kashkadarya and Bukhara regions and Karakalpakstan. The population grew from about 20 million in 1990 to about 37 million now, the largest in the subregion. The share of industry rose, light industry's role fell relatively, and engineering (car-making), chemicals, non-ferrous metallurgy, energy and processing grew; new industrial centres appeared not only around Tashkent but in other regions. In agriculture cotton areas shrank while grain, vegetables, fruit and grapes increased; grain output rose sharply and the level of grain self-sufficiency went up; cotton, silk and karakul stayed traditional branches. In transport the railways were joined into one network and high-speed trains (Afrosiyob, Sharq, Nasaf) began running. In exports the share of cotton fibre fell sharply while energy, non-ferrous metals, textiles, food and chemical products rose; main partners include neighbours, China, Russia, Turkey, South Korea and others. Free economic zones (Navoi, Angren, Jizzakh and others) help attract industry and investment.