SAMARKAND

About:

• Samarkand is located in the Zarefshan River valley in the Southeastern region of Uzbekistan.
• Samarkand is the country’s cultural capital and has always been an intrinsic part of the world culture for more than two and a half millennia.
• In central Asia, it is one of the oldest cities to be inhabited. Inhabitation in Samarkand started almost in 1500 BC.
• Samarkand is a central point for trade due to its easy route access to China and the Mediterranean areas.
• The name Samarkand is derived from the Sogdian civilisation, where Samar means stone or rock and Khand means fort. Thus, Samarkand means a town or fort of rock or stone. The city of Samarkand is a storehouse of natural resources spanning Central Asia.
• Since ancient times, Samarkand has been famous for its craft production with a castle and robust defence. Like the entire region of Uzbekistan, the official language of Samarkand is Uzbek. However, the second official language is Russian.