Samarkand

Samarkand ( Самарқанд ) ( usbek. )

The Registan in Samarkand

Samarqand ( Samarkand German, Uzbek- Tajik Cyrillic and Самарқанд, Persian سمرقند; Russian Самарканд / Samarkand, Sogdian for " stone city " ) is a city in Uzbekistan with 353 347 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2008) and the capital of Samarqand Province.

  • 4.1 Town twinning
  • 5.1 traffic
  • 5.2 Impressions of 1981
  • 6.1 Attractions
  • 7.1 Sports

Geography

Samarkand is situated on a claim belonging to the western foothills of the Alai Mountains plateau, 720 meters above sea level. The area around the town is part of the river oasis of Zeravshan, which flows around the city to the north.

In the south- east begin in about 20 km distance the foothills of the Alai mountain range that forms a natural border to Tajikistan and Dushanbe.

Climate

History

Samarkand, which is one of the oldest cities in the world and the Greeks as Marakanda (Greek: Μαράκανδα ) was known, was 2750 years ago in the fertile plain of Zeravshan (Greek: Polytimetus ) founded as an oasis city. For a long time Samarkand as one of the major provinces of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Prosperity came to the Persian city through trade with the northern and eastern regions; the ancient Silk Road ran through Samarkand and takes place on this trade route technology and cultural exchanges has contributed significantly to the town's prosperity in ancient times. Alexander the Great conquered the capital Sogdia 329 BC.

Under Islamic rule the city flourished, especially during the reign of the Persian Samanids, until it was destroyed by the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan in 1220. The Mongol ruler Tamerlane made ​​Samarkand the capital of his empire.

1868, the city officially came under Russian rule. It was the capital of a province within the General Turkestan Turkestan ASSR from 1918 was. In 1925 she became the first capital of the newly created Uzbek SSR, but this feature lost in 1930 Tashkent. Since 1991, the city is part of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan, the fourth largest city it is. In addition, it is the administrative center of the homonymous region.

Population

Most residents of the city as a native language Tajik, the Central Asian form of Persian.

Politics and Administration

Samarkand is the capital of the homonymous province.

Twinning

  • Afghanistan Balkh, Afghanistan
  • Turkmenistan Merv, Turkmenistan
  • Uzbekistan Bukhara, Uzbekistan
  • Iran Nishapur, Iran
  • Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan
  • Ukraine Lviv, Ukraine
  • Turkey Istanbul, Turkey
  • Turkey Izmir, Turkey
  • Turkey Eskisehir, Turkey
  • Peru Cusco, Peru

Economy and infrastructure

In Samarkand is located under government guidance the automotive industry. So here there are the joint ventures Samauto and MAN AUTO - Uzbekistan.

Traffic

North of the city there is an international airport Samarqand. The city has over their station connection to the Trans-Caspian railway between Turkmenistan and Tashkent. In Samarqand end the M37 which leads to Turkmenistan, the A377 and the A378 to Tajikistan by Qarshi. Through the town the M39 from Termez via Tashkent extends to the border with Kazakhstan.

Impressions from the 1981

Fruit Market

Fruit Market

Street vendors with broom

Tomato seller in the market

Potato seller on the market

Cityscape and architecture

The city was founded in 2001 to the list of UNESCO World Heritage added, representing, among others, as architecture and cityscape masterpieces of Islamic cultural creativity, art, architecture and urban structure illustrate the most important eras of Central Asian cultural and political history.

Attractions

In Samarkand, there are some of the greatest testimonies of Islamic architecture.

  • Bibi Khanum Mosque -
  • The Registan Square with the adjoining madrassas:
  • The Ulugbek Madrasah (1417-1420)
  • The Sher -Dor Madrasah (1619-1636)
  • The Tilya - Kori Madrasah (1646-1660)
  • The museum and the archaeological site of Afrasiab
  • Gur - Emir Mausoleum
  • Shahi - Zinda Ensemble
  • Khodja - Doniyor Mausoleum
  • Ulugbek observatory and memorial
  • Hodja - Abdu - Darun Mausoleum

Culture

Sports

Football club in the city is FK Samarqand-Dinamo, who play their home games in the highest league in Uzbek 12,500 -seater stadium. Every year the tennis tournament Samarkand Challenger takes place.

Personalities

  • Al -Bukhari ( 810-870 )
  • Abu Mansur al - Maturidi ( 893-941 )
  • Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), poet and scientist
  • Tamerlane (1336-1405), Central Asian conqueror Bibi Khanum Mausoleum -
  • Aminollah Hossein (1905-1983), composer
  • Islom Karimov ( born 1938 ), President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
  • Shuhrat Safin (1970-2009), chess grandmaster
  • Marsel İlhan (* 1987), tennis player
Sogdian language Alay Mountains Greece Samanid Empire Timur Russian Turkestan Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic İzmir Eskişehir MAN AUTO-Uzbekistan Bibi-Khanym Mosque Afrasiyab (Samarkand) Gur-e Amir Shah-i-Zinda Abu Mansur Maturidi Shukhrat Safin Urgut Integrated Authority File
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