Tashkent Overview

Overview

Tashkent (Uzbek: Toshkent, Russian: Ташкент) is the capital city of Uzbekistan. It is an ancient city on the Great Silk Road from China to Europe. Little remains of the ancient city after the 1966 earthquake and earlier modernisation work following the 1917 revolution. Tashkent feels more like Eastern Europe than Central Asia, with its mixture of modern new office buildings, hotels, parks and crumbling Soviet style apartment blocks. The streets are generally clean and there are not too many potholes in the city center. Further out, the infrastructure is not so good. Over the last few years the Uzbek government has embarked on a major reconstruction program in the centre of the city. Roads, government buildings and parks are all being reconstructed. To the visitor, the new city looks very impressive, although many of the local residents have yet to see any improvement in their residential areas. Tashkent is waiting for a boom. The infrastructure, hotels and shops are there but the influx of people and business has failed to materialise. This is caused in part by a combination of government policy and bad publicity. Tashkent is a very attractive and vibrant city. The roots of the rich Uzbek culture shine through Tashkent's architecture, museums and metro stations. The uzbek folk are very friendly. The best way to get a full taste of the culture would be to visit the local markets, It is a social place which every citizen in Tashkent is bound to visit. Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan but does not have the special attractions Samarkand and Bukhara have. Most of it was destroyed by a huge earthquake in the seventies. The soviets took this disaster as an opportunity and called the working class heroes to help rebuild Tashkent. Thousants of volunteers went to the city to help and stayed afterwards, turning the ancient city into a modern, communist and rather Russian town. The town is not unpleasant though. There may not be many sights, except for a few really good museums, but there are parks and fountains and the Stalinst like architecture is quite impressive. It is also an important hub if you wnat to go to Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan. There are cheap internal flights to Khiva, Bokhara and Samarkand, although the savety records of internal flights for Uzbekistan is only so so. Although Uzbek is now the official language, Russian is still the primary language used in Tashkent. Most businesses use Russian in their signs, menus and other printed material. Only government institutions use Uzbek as the first language, and even then, many government forms and reports are in Russian, rather than Uzbek. The Uzbek language currently uses the Latin alphabet rather than Russian Cyrillic. This is a source of some confusion for many Uzbeks, especially those who are older. During Soviet times, the written Uzbek language was converted into Cyrillic. Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and Uzbekistan declared independence in 1991, the written Uzbek language was converted back into Latin characters. Many older Uzbeks have difficulty reading the Latin characters. Uzbek is a Turkic-based language, and while Uzbeks and Turks cannot completely communicate directly, the better educated on both sides can usually find some common understanding. Many of the signs in Tashkent are in Russian cyrillic. A significant number of Russian words are similar to their English counterparts. Learning the Cyrillic alphabet - which is not as difficult as one might think (however, learning the Russian language is extremely difficult) - will help a traveller to read signs and in restaurants. It is very useful for the casual visitor to Tashkent to learn a few basic Russian words and phrases. Although Uzbek is now the official language, Russian is still the primary language used in Tashkent. Most businesses use Russian in their signs, menus and other printed material. Only government institutions use Uzbek as the first language, and even then, many government forms and reports are in Russian, rather than Uzbek. The Uzbek language currently uses the Latin alphabet rather than Russian Cyrillic. This is a source of some confusion for many Uzbeks, especially those who are older. During Soviet times, the written Uzbek language was converted into Cyrillic. Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and Uzbekistan declared independence in 1991, the written Uzbek language was converted back into Latin characters. Many older Uzbeks have difficulty reading the Latin characters. Uzbek is a Turkic-based language, and while Uzbeks and Turks cannot completely communicate directly, the better educated on both sides can usually find some common understanding. Many of the signs in Tashkent are in Russian cyrillic. A significant number of Russian words are similar to their English counterparts. Learning the Cyrillic alphabet - which is not as difficult as one might think (however, learning the Russian language is extremely difficult) - will help a traveller to read signs and in restaurants. It is very useful for the casual visitor to Tashkent to learn a few basic Russian words and phrases.