Xorazm Region

Geography and nature

Xorazm Region lies in northwestern Uzbekistan on the lower Amu Darya, bordered by Turkmenistan to the south and west, the Republic of Karakalpakstan to the north and northeast, and Bukhara Region to the southeast. At around 6,000 km² it is one of the smallest regions in the country, yet its population passed 2.07 million at the start of 2026, making it one of the most densely settled.

The region is an irrigated oasis wedged between the Karakum Desert to the southwest and the Kyzylkum to the east, and life here has always depended on the Amu Darya and its canals — the Palvanyap, Shovot, Toshsoka and others. The climate is sharply continental: hot, dry summers and winters noticeably colder than in southern Uzbekistan. Only 80–100 mm of rain falls a year; January averages around −5 °C and July close to +30 °C.

History

The name Khwarazm appears in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian scripture. One of Central Asia’s earliest states took shape here in the mid-1st millennium BCE, later became part of the Achaemenid empire and regained independence in the 4th century BCE. In the first centuries CE Khorezmian kings ruled from Toprak Kala and Kath (modern Beruniy), and in 995–1017 the Ma’munid court at Gurganj hosted a circle of scholars that included al-Biruni and Ibn Sina.

Around 1200 the Khorezmshahs built the mightiest empire in Central Asia, only to fall to the Mongols in 1220–1221; Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu remains the symbol of resistance. The Khanate of Khiva emerged in the 16th century, with Khiva as its capital from the early 17th. It became a Russian protectorate in 1873, and the Khorezm People’s Soviet Republic existed from 1920 to 1924. The present region was created on 15 January 1938.

Khorezm is the homeland of the mathematician Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, the polymath al-Biruni, the Sufi master Najm al-Din Kubra, the historian-khan Abulgozi Bahodir Khan and the poets Ogahiy and Feruz.

What to see

The crown jewel is Itchan Kala in Khiva, the walled inner town inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990. Its 26 hectares hold Kalta Minor, the Konya Ark, the Juma Mosque with its two hundred wooden pillars, Toshhovli Palace, the Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum, the Islam Khodja Minaret and dozens of madrasas, while the outer town of Dishan Kala has the Nurullabay Palace and the Kosh Gate.

Beyond Khiva, look for the Sheikh Mukhtar Vali shrine in Yangiariq District, the ancient walls of Hazorasp, the Ulli Hovli fortified compound near Urgench, and the al-Khwarizmi complex and Contemporary Art Museum of Uzbekistan in the regional capital. The desert castles of Ellikqala in Karakalpakstan — Toprak Kala and Ayaz Kala — are about an hour away.

Crafts, culture and food

Khorezmian woodcarving — the patterned pillars and doors of Khiva’s mosques and palaces — is famous nationwide, and blue-and-white majolica, carpet weaving, embroidery and pottery live on in the workshops of Itchan Kala; tall black sheepskin hats (chugirma) are a regional emblem. Khorezm’s lazgi dance was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2019, and the local dialect stands apart from other Uzbek varieties for its Oghuz features.

The cuisine is distinctive: shivit oshi, noodles coloured green with dill; tukhum barak, dumplings filled with egg; fried fish; and Khorezm-style plov. The region is also known for its gurvak melons.

Getting there

Urgench International Airport has flights to Tashkent and abroad and lies about 30 km from Khiva. Trains from Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara run to Urgench and Khiva stations, and the road from Bukhara across the Kyzylkum is roughly 450 km. A trolleybus has linked Urgench and Khiva since 1997, alongside taxis and minibuses. Distances within the region are short: Hazorasp is an hour from Khiva, the Ellikqala fortresses an hour and a half to two.