We have students from many different countries.  We will be highlighting some of the countries in the next months.  As our students learn about their new country, we will learn a little about their home countries.

SPOTLIGHT ON UZBEKISTAN

Uzbekistan is in central Asia and has been a historical crossroads of peoples, cultures, and religions.  Over the years, Uzbekistan saw the influx of people due to the campaigns of Alexander the great, the Silk Road, the Mongol invaders, migrations of Turks, and the Uzbek tribes that would eventually give the country its names.  The Uzbeks became central in the political life of the region around the 16th century.

The country of Uzbekistan has a very diverse geography, ranging from desert to mountains.  It is doubly landlocked- a landlocked country surrounded entirely by other landlocked countries.  This gives it a “continental” climate (similar to Saint Louis) with a both hot summers and cold winters. 

Uzbek History

By the 19th century, Russian forces began to take power over current Uzbekistan and established Toshkent as an administrative city.  Toshkent has been an important historical city in the foothills of the Tian Shan mountains, and is now the capital of Uzbekistan. 

The people of Uzbekistan were unhappy with Russian rule, resulting in a series of revolts.  The Bolshevik Revolution changed the Russian government but did not offer many freedoms for the residents there, and leaders tried to create an autonomous  state in 1917, but it was crushed by Bolshevik forces.  Beginning in the 1930s the repressive state began to promote “russification” and suppressed local culture and language.   World War II brought changes in the work force as well as an influx of refugees from other parts of the Soviet Union.

Uzbekistan began to exercise some autonomy in the late 1980s as Soviet policy changed and it attained freedom as an independent country in 1991 and joined the United Nations in 1992.  The creation of the new countries from the former Soviet states did mean that Uzbek people were incorporated as minority populations in other countries, such as Kyrgyzstan. 

Uzbek Culture and Customs

Uzbek food is varied, as there has been influence from a variety of cultures.  Key influences come from Turkey and other central Asian countries.  A popular dish is called plov and is traditionally cooked by men out of rice, mutton or beef, carrots, onions and oil.  The savory dish can be made in hundreds of ways and there are many regional variations.  Tea is the main drink and is offered as a sign of hospitality.

Uzbekis celebrate Navruz, a spring “New Year” on March 21 as part of an ongoing tradition that has lasted over thousands of years.  There are festivals to celebrate and a traditional meal of sumalyak (or sumalaq) made out of flour and sprouted wheat grains as a symbol of life, abundance and health.

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Prior Spotlights

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