Karakalpakstan

Karakalpakstan is located in the northwestern part of the country, occupies an area of ​​one hundred sixty-five thousand square kilometers, which is forty percent of the entire area of ​​the state of Uzbekistan, and has the status of an autonomous republic. In the northern and eastern parts of it are the borders of the Kazakh Republic, and in the south, the borders on the Turkmen Republic.
Karakalpakstan today is a sovereign state with its own regalia - an anthem, flag and emblem. Its components are twelve cities, fifteen districts and one hundred and twelve villages. The population is about one and a half million people, most of them are Karakalpaks and Uzbeks. The Karakalpaks are a Central Asian racial group with pronounced Mongoloid features.
The main religion in Karakalpakstan is Islam, the state languages ​​are Karakalpak and Uzbek.
Climatic conditions: the climate is continental, characterized by hot summers and cold winters. Every year the summer period is getting hotter due to the drying up of the Aral Sea.
Almost the entire territory of the autonomy is occupied by a bizarre plateau called Ustyurt in the Kyzylkum desert stretching for tens of kilometers and, in fact, the drying Aral itself.
The bowels of Karakalpakstan are rich in Glauber's salts, gas deposits, deposits of iron, granite, kaolin clay and marble.
The economy is based on karakul breeding, the textile and industrial sector is developed, special attention is paid to the development of agriculture, consisting of the cultivation of cotton, rice, vegetables and licorice crops.
Being an archeological reserve, Karakalpakstan can present, as a heritage, the great civilization of Khorezm.
Khorezm is often compared with Egypt, and it is called "Central Asian Egypt", which is quite justified. There are few places on the world map where such a huge number of historical monuments are located in a relatively small area.
For example, only in Karakalpakstan, in the Ellikala district, there are about two hundred settlements, and if we take the entire territory of ancient Khorezm, then there are more than a thousand of them, moreover, at various stages of preservation and examination by modern scientists - anthropologists.
Scientists, having studied the remains of the ancient civilization of the city of Khorezm, came to the conclusion that the ruins of a large number of fortresses are identical in scale and complexity of construction and construction, almost in no way inferior to the world famous pyramids of Egypt.

Another highlight is the Amu Darya River, which originates somewhere in the Pamir glaciers. Once upon a time, as well as in our time, it carries its mighty waters for tens of kilometers to nourish and maintain the life of an oasis on the outskirts of the Kyzylkum desert.
The city of Kyat at the beginning of the fourth century BC becomes the capital and the ruling caste is called Khorezmshahi. In the seven hundred and twelfth year, Khorezm was conquered by the Arab commander Kuteiba ibn Muslim, as a result of which the writing of Khorezm, the aristocracy, learned minds and the history of the state itself were completely forgotten. This is how Islam came.
After the Arab expansion, features common to the Caliphate countries began to appear in art - dome-hipped structures, burnt bricks began to be used for masonry of buildings and structures, and glazed ceramics and carved terracotta were the decor.
By the tenth century AD, there is a revival of Khorezm and its new round of flourishing. Its unprecedented economic development begins, and the sphere of interests included not only the nearby lands of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, but also the territories of Eastern Europe, China and the Volga region.
In 996, a union with northern Khorezm took place under the rule of Mamun ibn Muhammad. The city of Gurganja became the new capital of the state, which was reasonable and economically profitable, contributed to the development of sciences, arts, crafts.
In 1220, in the battle with Genghis Khan, Khorezm and his capital city Urgench failed and, as a result of defeat, became part of the Mongol Empire, later in Ulus Juche, even later the Golden Horde. Although the position of Khorezm was - the position of a subordinate, but its developed art, science and cultural heritage played an important role in the development of the Golden Horde itself.
In the sixteenth century, due to the fact that it was not possible to recreate Urgench (after the devastating raid of Timur in 1388) and in connection with the change in the direction of the waters of the Amu Darya, it was decided to move the capital to Khiva, where today you can admire the color of the monumental and decorative art of the late feudalism of Khorezm ...
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, thanks to the ruler Abdulgazi Khan, the united Khorezm turned into an independent, independent and strong state, called the Khiva Khanate. The population of the destroyed Urgench was allowed to move closer to the water. But the new Urgench (renamed Yangi-Urgench) was located in the southeast of the old city and is located between the city of Khiva and the main stream of the Amu Darya. The new city is called Old Urgench (Kunya Urgench) and today is the territory of Turkmenistan.
Nowadays, the capital of Karakalpakstan - the city of Nukus - is also the cultural, political and administrative center of the autonomy. It is a city with a developed infrastructure and a population of about three hundred thousand people. Although the standard of living in the city is not as high as we would like, this did not prevent the residents from preserving their cultural heritage and ancient monuments, their customs and traditions. Unsurpassed in their beauty, carved wooden products with inlay technique, embossing on leather, beautiful embroidery, woven products - all this skill has been preserved and brought to our times.
Of great interest for the guests of the city of Nukus is the Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky.
The cities of Muynak and Nukus are living sights of the ancient era. Fortresses called Kyzyl-Kala, Toprak-kala, Big Guldursun, Dzhanpyk-kala, Mizdahkan, mausoleum Mazlumkhan - you can write about them endlessly, but it is better to come once and see everything with your own eyes.