Navoiy Region

Geography and nature

Navoiy Region sits in the centre of the country, bordering Kazakhstan, the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Bukhara, Samarkand, Jizzakh and Qashqadaryo regions. Official statistics give its area as 109,500 km² (2026), making it the largest of Uzbekistan's regions (only the Republic of Karakalpakstan is bigger) — and one of the most thinly populated.

The Kyzylkum plateau covers the north-west, the Nuratau ranges run along the east and the Zarafshan River fringes the south. The climate is sharply continental, desert and dry. Aydarkul in the north-east, formed after the 1969 flood, is now one of the country's largest lakes, while the Tudakul reservoir in Qiziltepa District is a haven for waterbirds.

History

People have lived in the Zarafshan valley and the Nuratau foothills since remote antiquity: the oldest of the thousands of rock carvings in the Sarmishsay gorge are dated to the 9th millennium BC. In the Middle Ages Karmana was a major town on the Samarkand–Bukhara road, the Qarakhanids built their 'royal fortress' of Rabati Malik beside it, and Nur (Nurota) was already a famous shrine in Narshakhi's day. From the 16th century these lands belonged to the Bukhara Khanate and later the Emirate; Emir Abdulahad Khan spent much of his life in Karmana and is buried there.

Navoiy Region was created on 20 April 1982 from parts of the Bukhara and Samarkand regions and Karakalpakstan. It was merged into Samarkand Region in 1988 and restored on 27 January 1992. The region and its capital are named after the great poet Alisher Navoiy.

What to see

In 2023 four of the region's monuments joined the UNESCO site Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor: the Rabati Malik caravanserai and its sardoba, the Qosim Sheikh complex and Mir Said Bahrom Mausoleum in Karmana, and the Deggaron Mosque in Hazora. The Sarmishsay gorge in Navbahor District is an open-air museum-reserve with more than 5,000 petroglyphs and is on UNESCO's Tentative List.

In Nurota you'll find the Chashma complex over a sacred spring and the ancient Nur fortress; to the north-east lie the yurt camps by Aydarkul and the mountain village of Sentob in the Nuratau. Deep in the Kyzylkum is Jaraquduq, with its dinosaur beds and Stone Forest.

Nature and protected areas

Where desert, mountains and lakes meet, protected areas abound. BirdLife International lists the Nuratau Mountains as an Important Bird Area, with breeding Egyptian and cinereous vultures and saker falcons. The Aydar-Arnasay lake system and the Tudakul reservoir are Ramsar wetlands of international importance.

The Kyzylkum holds the Oqtogʻ-Tomdi state reserve and the Central Kyzylkum national nature park, with the Qarnobchoʻl sanctuary in Qiziltepa District and the Oqtov sanctuary in Nurota District. Desert monitors and Russian tortoises live in the sands, Kyzylkum argali (Severtsov's sheep) roam around Sarmishsay, and the Jaraquduq canyons have yielded Late Cretaceous dinosaur remains.

People, economy and crafts

On 1 January 2026 the region had 1,111,898 inhabitants. It is divided into 8 districts and three cities of regional status — Navoiy, Zarafshon and Gʻozgʻon — and has 7 towns and 46 urban-type settlements in all. Xatirchi District is the most populous (219,200) and Tomdi the least (15,200).

The economy rests on mining and metallurgy, chemicals and building materials. The region holds large reserves of gold, uranium, phosphorites, quartz sand, granite and marble. Muruntau in Tomdi District is one of the world's largest gold deposits, and the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company ranks among the world's major producers of gold and uranium; the towns of Navoiy, Zarafshon and Uchquduq grew up around its operations.

The Navoiyazot chemical plant, a thermal power station and a free economic zone have made the region one of the country's main industrial hubs. Farming centres on cotton, grain and karakul sheep, and marble from Gʻozgʻon and Nurota is known throughout Uzbekistan.

Gʻozgʻon keeps a stone-carving school handed down through generations — the architect Abdurahim Gʻozgʻoniy, who built Emir Abdulahad Khan's tomb and the Mirzachorbogʻ residence, came from here. Nurota's craftsmen have long been known for carpentry, ironwork, pottery, copperware, embroidery and jewellery.

Getting there

Navoiy lies on the Tashkent–Samarkand–Bukhara railway and the M37 highway, with Navoiy International Airport close by and flights from Zarafshon airport to Tashkent. The Tashkent–Turkmenistan and Tashkent–Uchquduq rail lines cross the region.

Karmana's monuments and Rabati Malik can be seen in half a day from Navoiy. Drive to Sarmishsay, Nurota and Aydarkul, but venture into the deep Kyzylkum only by 4×4 with a local guide.