Karakalpakstan, officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus ( / ). Karakalpakstan covers an area of , and a population of about 2 million people. Its territory covers the classical land of Khwarezm, which in classical Persian literature was known as ().
The name Karakalpakstan means "land of the Karakalpaks". Despite most Karakalpaks residing in Uzbekistan, Karakalpak culture and language are closer to those of the Kazakhs and Noghais.
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". Its right to secede is limited by the veto power of Uzbekistan's legislature over any decision to secede. Article 74, 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 Parliament (known as the "President of the Republic" from 1991 to 1992). The head of the government is the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, who heads the Karakalpak Council of Ministers.
One of the deputy chairmen of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis is a representative of Karakalpakstan as per the constitution.
Demographics
The population is estimated 1,948,488 (2022), with 51% living in rural 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 (Kungrad) 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 (median age of 28.5 countrywide). Men are 27.1 years old, while women are 28.2 years old.