Samarkand
city in southeastern Uzbekistan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samarkand [1] It is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province.
Samarkand World Heritage Site | |
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Coordinates: 39°39′15″N 66°57′35″E | |
Elevation | 702 m (2,303 ft) |
Population | |
• City | 596,300 |
• Urban | 643,970 |
• Metro | 708,000 |
Website | http://www.samarkand.info |
The city is on the old Silk Road between China and the West, and is an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century, it became the capital of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane), and is the site of his mausoleum, the Gur-e Amir. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the city's most famous landmarks. The Registan was the ancient centre of the city.
Most of the inhabitants of this city are Persian-speaking and speak the Tajik Persian dialect. This city is one of the historical centers of the Tajik people in Central Asia, which in the past was one of the important cities of the great empires of Iran.[2]
In 2001, UNESCO added the 2,750-year-old city to its World Heritage Site list as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.