Karakalpakstan

Republic of Karakalpakstan Qaraqalpaqstan Respublikası Қарақалпақстан Республикасы Республика Каракалпакстан
Flag Coat of arms
Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan
Capital	Nukus
Official languages	Karakalpak Uzbek
Demonym	Karakalpak
Sovereign state	Uzbekistan
Government	Autonomous republic of Uzbekistan
• President	Musa Yerniyazov
Sovereign within Uzbekistan
• First mention of Karakalpaks	16th century
• Ceded to Russian Empire	1867
• Karakalpak ASSR	5 December 1936
• Sovereignty declared	14 December 1990
• Independence from the Soviet Union	21 December 1991 25 December 1991
Area
• Total	164,900 km2 (63,700 sq mi)
Population
• 2013 estimate	1,711,800
• Density	7.5/km2 (19.4/sq mi)

Coordinates: 43°10′N 58°45′E / 43.167°N 58.750°E / 43.167; 58.750

Karakalpakstan (Karakalpak: Qaraqalpaqstan / Қарақалпақстан), officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Karakalpak: Qaraqalpaqstan Respublikası / Қарақалпақстан Республикасы) is an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern end of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (Noʻkis / Нөкис). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 sq mi). Its territory covers the classical land of Khwarezm, though in classical Persian literature the area was known as Kāt (کات).

From about 500 BC to 500 AD, the region of Karakalpakstan was a thriving agricultural area supported by extensive irrigation. The Karakalpak people, who used to be nomadic herders and fishers, were first recorded 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 Russia before becoming part of Uzbekistan in 1936. The region was probably at its most prosperous in the 1960s and 1970s, when irrigation from the Amu Darya was being expanded. Today, however, the drainage of the Aral Sea has rendered Karakalpakstan one of Uzbekistan's poorest regions. The region is suffering from extensive drought, partly due to weather patterns, but also largely because the Amu and Syr Darya rivers are exploited mostly in the eastern part of the country. 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.