Ten fast facts about the country

1 Uzbekistan is one of two doubly landlocked nations in the world. The other is Liechtenstein. One has to cross at least two countries to reach any coastline from the country.

2 The region that's currently Uzbekistan was once part of the Persian Empire. It was also under Mongol control under the rule of Genghis Khan in the 13th century.

3 Uzbekistan hosts the world's largest opencast gold mine.

4 The Aral Sea was previously the world's fourth-largest lake. But it has been shrinking since the 1960s.

5 Uzbekistan is home to five UNESCO World Heritage sites.

6 Uzbekistan has the highest population of all the five former Soviet Union Republics in Central Asia.

7 Uzbekistan is the world's 56th-largest independent state. It's almost the same size as Spain or the US state of California.

8 Uzbekistan is home to two national parks and nine nature reserves. The oldest national park in the country is Zaamin National Park, which was established in 1926.

9 The first people known to have occupied the region that's now Uzbekistan and other parts of Central Asia were the Persian nomads known as the Scythians in the first millennium BC.

10 Uzbekistan's economy relies heavily on cotton. Before 2014, nearly 200,000 students had a two-month break from their studies every year to pick cotton.