republic · Central Asia and the Steppe
Uzbek SSR
Origins
The Uzbek SSR was formed in October 1924 in the national delimitation of Soviet Central Asia, from parts of the Turkestan ASSR and the Bukharan and Khorezm republics. Its first capital was Samarkand; Tashkent became the capital in 1930. The Tajik ASSR was part of it until 1929, and Karakalpakstan joined in 1936.
Rule and society
The republic was transformed by collectivisation, the Latin and then Cyrillic scripts, the hujum campaign against veiling, and purges that killed leaders like Fayzulla Khodzhayev and Akmal Ikramov. Cotton became the central crop, irrigated from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, causing the Aral Sea to shrink. Under Sharof Rashidov, first secretary from 1959 to 1983, the 'cotton scandal' exposed massive fraud. Tashkent was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1966.
Decline and legacy
As the Soviet Union collapsed, Islam Karimov's government declared independence on 31 August 1991, and the republic became Uzbekistan.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- Uzbek SSR was part of Soviet Union1924 CE – 1991 CE
- Tajik ASSR was part of Uzbek SSR1924 CE – 1929 CE
- Karakalpakstan was part of Uzbek SSR1936 CE – 1991 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Uzbek SSR. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uzbek-ssr
- MLA
- “Uzbek SSR.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uzbek-ssr. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Uzbek SSR.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uzbek-ssr.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Uzbek SSR’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uzbek-ssr (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻