Karakalpakstan

Karakalpakstan, officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It spans the northwestern portion of Uzbekistan. Its capital is Nukus. Karakalpakstan has an area of, and has a population of about 2 million people. Its territory covers the classical land of Khwarazm, which in classical Persian literature was known as .

Name

The name Karakalpakstan means "land of the Karakalpaks". Although most Karakalpaks reside in Uzbekistan, Karakalpak culture and language are closer to those of the Kazakhs and Nogais.

History

From about 500 BC to 500 AD, the region of what is now Karakalpakstan was a thriving agricultural area supported by extensive irrigation. It was strategically important territory and fiercely contested, as is seen by the more than 50 Khorezm fortresses which were constructed here. The Karakalpak people, who used to be nomadic herders and fishers, were first recorded by foreigners in the 16th century. Karakalpakstan was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Khanate of Khiva in 1873.
Under Soviet rule, it was an autonomous area within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic before becoming part of Uzbekistan in 1936 as the Karakalpak ASSR.
The region was probably at its most prosperous in the 1960s and 1970s, when irrigation from the Amu Darya was being expanded. However, the evaporation of the Aral Sea has made Karakalpakstan one of Uzbekistan's poorest regions.
The region is suffering from extensive drought, partly due to climate patterns, but also largely because the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers are mostly diverted in the eastern parts of Uzbekistan. Crop failures have deprived about 48,000 people of their main source of income and shortages of potable water have created a surge of infectious diseases.

Geography

Karakalpakstan is now mostly desert and is located in western Uzbekistan near the Aral Sea, in the lowest part of the Amu Darya basin. It has an area of 164,900 km² and is surrounded by desert. The Kyzyl Kum Desert is located to the east and the Karakum Desert is located to the south. A rocky plateau extends west to the Caspian Sea.

Politics

Autonomous status

Its predecessor, the Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, was an autonomous republic in the Soviet Union until its incorporation into the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1932. The Republic of Karakalpakstan maintained its predecessor's formal sovereignty, even after the independence of Uzbekistan in 1990. Karakalpakstan shares veto power with Uzbekistan over decisions concerning its affairs. According to the constitution, relations between Karakalpakstan and Uzbekistan are "regulated by treaties and agreements" and any disputes are "settled by way of reconciliation". Article 89, chapter XVII, Constitution of Uzbekistan, provides that: "The Republic of Karakalpakstan shall have the right to secede from the Republic of Uzbekistan on the basis of a nationwide referendum held by the people of Karakalpakstan."
In July 2022, large protests broke out in the region over a proposed constitutional change which would strip Karakalpakstan of its autonomy. The proposed change was later scrapped in response to the demonstrations.

Leadership

The head of the republic is the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Karakalpakstan or parliament. The head of the government is the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Karakalpakstan.
One of the deputy chairmen of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis is a representative of Karakalpakstan as per the constitution.

Demographics

On 1 July 2023, the population of Karakalpakstan was 1,986,900 people. It increased of 1.2% compared to the corresponding period of 2022. The number of men slightly exceeded the number of women. There were slightly more people living in rural areas than in urban areas.
In 2007, it was estimated that about 400,000 of the population are of the Karakalpak ethnic group, 400,000 are Uzbeks and 300,000 are Kazakhs. Though 95% of Karakalpaks reside in Uzbekistan, mostly in Karakalpakstan, the Karakalpak language is closer to Kazakh than to Uzbek. The language was written in a modified Cyrillic in Soviet times and has been written in the Latin alphabet since 1996.
Other than the capital Nukus, major cities include Xojeli, Taqiyatas, Shimbay, Qońirat and Moynaq.
The crude birth rate is 2.2%: approximately 39,400 children were born in 2017. Nearly 8,400 people died in the same period. The crude death rate is 0.47%. The natural growth rate is 31,000, or 1.72%.
The median age was 27.7 years old in 2017, which is younger than the rest of Uzbekistan. Men are 27.1 years old, while women are 28.2 years old.
Dynamics of the number and ethnic composition of the population of Karakalpakstan according to the All-Union censuses of 1926–1989:

Nationality	1926	%	1939	%	1959	%	1970	%	1979	%	1989	%
Total	304 539	100.00%	469 702	100.00%	510 101	100.00%	702 264	100.00%	905 500	100.00%	1 212 207	100.00%
Uzbeks	84 099	27.62%	116 054	24.71%	146 783	28.78%	212 597	30.27%	285 400	31.52%	397 826	32.82%
Karakalpaks	116 125	38.13%	158 615	33.77%	155 999	30.58%	217 505	30.97%	281 809	31.12%	389 146	32.10%
Kazakhs	85 782	28.17%	129 677	27.61%	133 844	26.24%	186 038	26.49%	243 926	26.94%	318 739	26.29%
Turkmens	9686	3.18%	23 259	4.95%	29 225	5.73%	37 547	5.35%	48 655	5.37%	60 244	4.97%
Russians	4924	1.62%	24 969	5.32%	22 966	4.50%	25 165	3.58%	21 287	2.35%	19 846	1.64%
Koreans			7347	1.56%	9956	1.95%	8958	1.28%	8081	0.89%	9174	0.76%
Tatars	884	0.29%	4162	0.89%	6177	1.21%	7619	1.08%	7617	0.84%	7767	0.64%
Ukrainians	621	0.20%	3130	0.67%	2201	0.43%	2316	0.33%	2005	0.22%	2271	0.19%
Bashkirs	29	0.01%	381	0.08%	571	0.11%	854	0.12%	920	0.10%	1090	0.09%
Kyrgyz	277	0.09%	181	0.04%	177	0.03%	400	0.06%	1955	0.22%	867	0.07%
Moldovans	10	0.00%	16	0.00%			57	0.01%	343	0.04%	632	0.05%
Belarusians	30	0.01%	214	0.05%	328	0.06%	517	0.07%	852	0.09%	567	0.05%
other	2072	0.68%	1697	0.36%	1874	0.37%	2691	0.38%	2650	0.29%	4038	0.33%

Economy

The economy of the region used to be heavily dependent on fisheries in the Aral Sea. It is now supported by cotton, rice, and fruits, such as plums, pears, grapes, and apricots, in addition to all kinds of melons. Hydroelectric power comes from a large Soviet-built station on the Amu Darya, which was once heavily populated and supported extensive irrigation based agriculture for thousands of years. Under the Khorezm, the area attained considerable power and prosperity.
However, climate change over the centuries, accelerated by human induced evaporation of the Aral Sea in the late 20th century has created a desolate scene in the region. The ancient oases of rivers, lakes, reed marshes, forests and farms are drying up and being poisoned by wind-borne salt and by fertilizer and pesticide residues from the dried bed of the Aral Sea. Summer temperatures have risen by and winter temperatures have decreased by. The rates of incidence of anemia, respiratory diseases and other health problems has risen dramatically.

Administrative divisions

The autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan consists of 16 districts and one district-level city: Nukus.

№	District name	District capital
2	Amiwdárya district	Mańǵıt
3	Beruniy district	Beruniy
4	Bozataw district	Bozataw
15	Shimbay district	Shımbay
17	Ellikqala district	Bostan
7	Kegeyli district	Kegeyli
9	Moynaq district	Moynaq
10	Nókis district	Aqmańǵıt
5	Qanlikól district	Qanlıkól
8	Qońirat district	Qońırat
6	Qaraózek district	Qaraózek
16	Shomanay district	Shomanay
11	Taqiyatas district	Taqiyatas
12	Taxtakópir district	Taxtakópir
13	Tórtkúl district	Tórtkúl
14	Xojeli district	Xojeli

Taqiyatas district was created in 2017 from part of Xojeli district. Bozataw district was created in September 2019 from parts of the Kegeyli district and the Shimbay district.
There are 12 cities and 26 urban-type settlements in Karakalpakstan.