Beginning 20 June 1990, the Uzbek SSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty within its borders.Islam Karimov became the republic's inaugural president.
The name, Uzbekistan, literally means "Home of the Free", taken from anamalgamation ofuz (Turkic: "self"),bek (Turkic: "master"), and-stan (Persian: "land of"). However, the official name of the republic was theUzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as defined by its 1937 and 1978 Constitutions.
Group of Uzbek women in the old city of Tashkent, 1924
Uzbekistan included theTajik ASSR until 1929, when the Tajik ASSR was upgraded to an equal status. In 1930, the Uzbek SSR capital was relocated fromSamarkand toTashkent, which remained the capital since. In 1936, Uzbekistan was enlarged with the addition of theKarakalpak ASSR taken from theKazakh SSR in the last stages of thenational delimitation in the Soviet Union. That same year in December, it was renamed to theUzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Further bits and pieces of territory were transferred several times between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan afterWorld War II.
In 1937–38, during theGreat Purge, a number of alleged nationalists were executed, includingFaizullah Khojaev, the first prime minister.
During the Soviet period,Islam became a focal point for theanti-religious drives of Communist authorities. The government closed mostmosques, andreligious schools became anti-religious museums.[citation needed] The Soviet period also achieved virtual elimination ofilliteracy, even in rural areas. Only a small percentage of the population was literate before 1917; this percentage increased to nearly 100 percent under the Soviets.[2][page needed][3][page needed]
Another major development, one with future catastrophic impact, was the drive initiated in the early 1960s to substantially increase cotton production in the republic. This drive led to overzealousirrigation withdrawals of irrigation water from theAmu Darya and the subsequentAral Sea ecological disaster.
TheCommunist Party was the only legal party in the Uzbek SSR until 1990. The first secretary, or head, of theCommunist Party of Uzbekistan was consistently an Uzbek. Long-time leader of theUzbek SSR wasSharof Rashidov, head of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1959 to 1983.Islam Karimov, leader of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan since 1989 and subsequently head of that party's reincarnation, thePeople's Democratic Party (PDP), became president of the Uzbek SSR in 1990. On 20 June 1990, theSupreme Soviet adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Uzbek SSR, which took over thelaws of the Soviet Union days after theRussian SFSR adoptedtheirs.
Flag of the Uzbek SSR/Uzbekistan, adopted on 18 November 1991
The Uzbek SSR participated in thereferendum in March 1991 as a part of the proposed Union of Soviet Sovereign States. This never came to pass afterunsuccessful coup attempt events between 19 and 21 August 1991 inMoscow. In the aftermath, the Uzbek SSR was renamed theRepublic of Uzbekistan and declared its independence on 31 August 1991, with the Soviet Union dissolving on 26 December 1991. After independence, the 1978 Constitution remained in use. The referendum was confirmed on29 December 1991.
Like others union republics available in USSR, Uzbek SSR had an executive body of state authority - Council of Ministers of the Uzbek SSR. Its leader has been a head of government and officially called Chairman of Council of Ministers.
In 1989 its members were:
Minister for Agriculture;
Minister for Aviation;
Minister for Autmotive Industry;
Minister for Culture
Minister for Construction;
Minister for Cotton and Wheat Production;
Minister for Coal Industry;
Minister for Chemical Industry;
Minister for Communications;
Minister for Construction Materials Industry;
Minister for Dairy and Meat Productions;
Minister for Education;
Minister for Electronic Industry;
Minister for Finance;
Minister for Food Industry;
Minister for Foreign Affairs;
Minister for Foreign Economic Relations;
Minister for Gas Industry;
Minister for General Engineering;
Minister for Geology;
Minister for Health Care;
Minister for Heavy Machinery;
Minister for Special Installations;
Minister for Instrumentation, Automation and Control Systems;
Uzbekistan had the strongestSoviet Armed Forces presence of the otherCentral Asian Republics. Almost all of its troops were personnel of theTurkestan Military District (TurkVO), which was based inTashkent. Personnel from the TurkVO were distributed between the military of Uzbekistan, as well as the militaries of the other fourCentral Asian republics when it was dissolved in June 1992. At independence, ethnicRussians filled the ranks of the newly created armed forces, and made up most of the officer corps.
Uzbekistan's energy came from large thermal power plants, including those atSyrdarya,Angren,Tashkent and others. There was also a hydroelectric component to the economy, including the Charvak, Hodzhikentskaya, Gazalkent and Farkhad hydroelectric plants, among others.
The natural gas industry was of importance to the economy of the republic. The Gazly deposits and other and Kashkadarya (Mubarak, Shurtan) area contributed to this industry. Uzbekistan also produced oil (Fergana valley,Bukhara andSurkhandarya region). In terms of minerals, there was production oflead andzinc,tungsten,molybdenum,copper ores (found in the Karamazarskaya group of deposits), andgold (found in theNavoi region,Jizzakh region, and others).
Some of the light industry present in Uzbekistan included the primary processing of cotton, silk cocoons, wool, fiber crops,raw hides, and karakul pelts. Cotton and silk textiles, footwear, garments, and carpets were all produced in Uzbekistan.
Thefood industry produced oil and fat - mainly oil production from cotton seeds, tinned vegetables, butter and cheese, milk, and meat.
ARTICLE 26. The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic consists of the Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Ferghana, and Khorezm Regions, and the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.[6]
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