Tashkent Metro

The Tashkent Metro (Uzbek: ''Toshkent metropoliteni'') is the rapid transit system serving the city of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. It is one of only two subway systems currently operating in Central Asia, the other one being the Almaty Metro. It was the seventh metro to be built in the former USSR, opening in 1977. Its stations are among the most ornate in the world. Like most ex-Soviet metros, the stations are very deep underground.

The Tashkent Metro consists of three lines, operating on 36.2 kilometres (22.5 mi) of route and serving 29 stations. In 2013, the metro carried 59.2 million passengers, which corresponds to a daily average of approximately 162,200 riders.

History

Planning for the Tashkent Metro started in 1968, two years after a major earthquake struck the city in 1966. Construction on the first line began in 1972 and it opened on November 6, 1977 with nine stations. This line was extended in 1980, and the second line was added in 1984. The most recent line is the Yunusobod Line, the first section of which opened in 2001.

Tashkent

Tashkent (/ˌtæʃˈkɛnt/; Uzbek: Toshkent, Тошкент [tɒʃˈkent]; Russian: Ташкент, [tɐʂˈkʲɛnt]; literally "Stone City") is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. The officially registered population of the city in 2012 was about 2,309,300.

Due to its position in Central Asia, Tashkent came under Sogdian and Turkic influence early in its history, before Islam in the 8th century AD. After its destruction by Genghis Khan in 1219, the city was rebuilt and profited from the Silk Road. In 1865 it was conquered by the Russian Empire, and in Soviet times witnessed major growth and demographic changes due to forced deportations from throughout the Soviet Union. Today, as the capital of an independent Uzbekistan, Tashkent retains a multi-ethnic population with ethnic Uzbeks as the majority.

History

During its long history, Tashkent has had various changes in names and political and religious affiliations.

Early history

Tashkent was settled by ancient people as an oasis on the Chirchik River, near the foothills of the West Tian Shan Mountains. In ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer "capital" of the Kangju confederacy.