Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Uzbekistan occupies the heart of the region and borders every state within it. Uzbeks not only make up more than 80 percent of the population of 30.3 million, but also form substantial minorities in a number of neighboring countries. The capital, Tashkent, lies in the eastern core area of the country, where most of the people live in towns and farm villages, and where the densely-settled Fergana Valley is the focus. In the desert northwest lies what is left of the still-shrinking Aral Sea, whose feeder rivers were diverted into cotton fields and croplands during the Soviet occupation." [Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts, 17th Edition, p. 226]