Editing Central Asia (section)

== Major cultural, scientific and economic centres ==
=== Cities in Central Asia ===
{{Largest cities
| country = Central Asia
| stat_ref =<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stat.uz/ru/ofitsialnaya-statistika/demografiya-i-trud/demograficheskie-pokazateli/2400-chislennost-gorodskogo-i-selskogo-naseleniya-po-regionam-na-nachalo-goda-tysyach-chelovek|title=Численность городского и сельского населения по регионам|publisher=The State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-date=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107103107/https://stat.uz/ru/ofitsialnaya-statistika/demografiya-i-trud/demograficheskie-pokazateli/2400-chislennost-gorodskogo-i-selskogo-naseleniya-po-regionam-na-nachalo-goda-tysyach-chelovek|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.gov.uz/ru/datasets/4967|title=Административно-территориальное деление Наманганской области|publisher=Портал открытых данных Республики Узбекистан|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-date=21 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421125517/https://data.gov.uz/ru/datasets/4967|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://samarkand.uz/towns_districts/samarkand|title=Самарқанд шаҳри|publisher=samarkand.uz|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923054153/https://samarkand.uz/towns_districts/samarkand|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geonames.org/KZ/largest-cities-in-kazakhstan.html|title=Biggest Cities Kazakhstan|access-date=7 December 2021|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103164504/http://www.geonames.org/KZ/largest-cities-in-kazakhstan.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geonames.org/KG/largest-cities-in-kyrgyzstan.html|title=Biggest Cities Kyrgyzstan|access-date=7 December 2021|archive-date=10 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510214511/http://www.geonames.org/KG/largest-cities-in-kyrgyzstan.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geonames.org/TJ/largest-cities-in-tajikistan.html|title=Biggest Cities Tajikistan|access-date=7 December 2021|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727185830/http://www.geonames.org/TJ/largest-cities-in-tajikistan.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geonames.org/TM/largest-cities-in-turkmenistan.html|title=Biggest Cities Turkmenistan|access-date=7 December 2021|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728013401/http://www.geonames.org/TM/largest-cities-in-turkmenistan.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| list_by_pop = <!-- link to the list of cities in the given country, if possible sorted by population -->
| div_name = Country
| div_link = <!-- the template will automatically create a link for "div_name of country" (e.g. Provinces of Chile), if this doesn't work you can use this field -->

| city_1 = Tashkent| div_1 = Uzbekistan| pop_1 = 3,000,000 | img_1 =
| city_2 = Almaty| div_2 = Kazakhstan| pop_2 = 2,156,749| img_2 = Modern Almaty.jpg
| city_3 = Astana| div_3 = Kazakhstan| pop_3 = 1,350,228 | img_3 = Central Downtown Astana 2.jpg
| city_4 = Shymkent| div_4 = Kazakhstan| pop_4 = 1,189,209
| city_5 = Bishkek| div_5 = Kyrgyzstan| pop_5 = 1,074,075 | img_5 = Bishkek.jpg
| city_6 = Ashgabat| div_6 = Turkmenistan| pop_6 = 727,000
| city_7 = Dushanbe| div_7 = Tajikistan| pop_7 = 679,400
| city_8 = Namangan| div_8 = Uzbekistan| pop_8 = 597,000
| city_9 = Aktobe| div_9 = Kazakhstan| pop_9 = 560,820
| city_10 = Samarkand| div_10 = Uzbekistan| pop_10 = 530,000

}}
{{Fix|text=Population figures disagree between the table above and the table below.}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! style="width:80px;" | City
! style="width:90px;" | Country
! style="width:60px;" | Population
! style="width:200px;" class=unsortable|Image
! class=unsortable|Information
|-
| [[Astana]]
| Kazakhstan
| {{nts|1,006,574}}<br />(2017)
| [[File:Байтерек - panoramio.jpg|200x200px]]
| The capital and second largest city in Kazakhstan. After Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991, the city and the region were renamed from Tselinograd to Aqmola. The name was often translated as "White Tombstone", but actually means "Holy Place" or "Holy Shrine". The "White Tombstone" literal translation was too appropriate for many visitors to escape notice in almost all guide books and travel accounts. In 1994, the city was designated as the future capital of the newly independent country and again renamed to the Astana after the capital was officially moved from [[Almaty]] in 1997. In 2019 the city was renamed to Nur-Sultan to honor the resigned president, but was reverted to Astana in 2022.
|-
| [[Almaty]]
| Kazakhstan
| {{nts|1,713,220}}<br />(2017)
| [[File:Almaty, Kok-tobe exposition (edit).jpg|200px]]
| It was the capital of Kazakhstan (and its predecessor, the [[Kazakh SSR]]) from 1929 to 1998. Despite losing its status as the capital, Almaty remains the major commercial center of Kazakhstan. It is a recognised financial center of Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region.
|-
| [[Bishkek]]
| Kyrgyzstan
| {{nts|1,027,200}}<br />(2019)
| [[File:Bishkek-capital-of-Kyrgyzstan.jpg|200x200px]]
| The capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative center of [[Chüy Region]], which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the region, but rather a region-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.
|-
| [[Osh]]
| Kyrgyzstan
| {{nts|243,216}}<br />(2009)
| [[File:Osh 03-2016 img27 view from Sulayman Mountain.jpg|200px]]
| The second largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Osh is also the administrative center of [[Osh Region]], which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the region, but rather a region-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.
|-
| [[Dushanbe]]
| Tajikistan
| {{nts|780,000}}<br />(2014)
| [[File:Palace of Nations and the Flagpole, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.JPG|200px]]
| The capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in [[Tajik language|Tajik]] and [[Persian language|Persian]],<ref>D. Saimaddinov, S. D. Kholmatova, and S. Karimov, ''Tajik-Russian Dictionary'', Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, Rudaki Institute of Language and Literature, Scientific Center for Persian-Tajik Culture, Dushanbe, 2006.</ref> and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday [[marketplace]].
|-
| [[Ashgabat]]
| Turkmenistan
| {{nts|1,032,000}}<br />(2014)
| [[File:Neutrality-Road-Ashgabat-2015.JPG|200px]]
| The capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. Ashgabat is a relatively young city, growing out of a village of the same name established by [[Russian Empire|Russians]] in 1818. It is not far from the site of [[Nisa (village)|Nisa]], the ancient capital of the [[Parthia]]ns, and it grew on the ruins of the [[Silk Road]] city of Konjikala, which was first mentioned as a wine-producing village in the 2nd century BC and was leveled by an earthquake in the 1st century BC (a precursor of the [[1948 Ashgabat earthquake]]). Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road, and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century AD. After that, it survived as a small village until the Russians took over in the 19th century.<ref>[http://www.geographicbureau.com/trips/central_asia/turkmenistan/info/brief_description_of_the_main_s.jdx Konjikala] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029043151/http://www.geographicbureau.com/trips/central_asia/turkmenistan/info/brief_description_of_the_main_s.jdx |date=29 October 2014 }}: the Silk Road precursor of Ashgabat</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UGanxmJgQNIC&pg=PA40 Konjikala] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410131044/https://books.google.com/books?id=UGanxmJgQNIC&pg=PA40 |date=10 April 2023 }}, in: MaryLee Knowlton, ''Turkmenistan'', Marshall Cavendish, 2006, pp. 40–41, {{ISBN|0-7614-2014-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7614-2014-9}}.</ref>
|-
| [[Bukhara]]
| Uzbekistan
| {{nts|237,900}}<br />(1999)
| [[File:2012 Bukhara 7515821196.jpg|200px]]
| The nation's fifth-largest city and the capital of the [[Bukhara Region]] of Uzbekistan. Bukhara has been one of the main centers of Persian civilisation from its early days in the 6th century BC, and, since the 12th century AD, Turkic speakers gradually moved in. Its architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art.
|-
| [[Kokand]]
| Uzbekistan
| {{nts|209,389}}<br />(2011)
| [[File:KokandPalace.jpg|200px]]
| Kokand ({{lang-uz-Latn-Cyrl|Qo'qon|Қўқон}}; {{langx|tg|Хӯқанд}}; {{langx|fa|خوقند}}; [[Chagatai language|Chagatai]]: خوقند; {{langx|ru|Коканд}}) is a city in [[Fergana Region]] in eastern [[Uzbekistan]], at the southwestern edge of the [[Fergana Valley]]. It has a population of 192,500 (1999 census estimate). Kokand is 228{{nbs}}km southeast of [[Tashkent]], 115{{nbs}}km west of [[Andijan]], and 88{{nbs}}km west of [[Fergana]]. It is nicknamed "City of Winds", or sometimes "Town of the Boar".
|-
| [[Samarkand]]
| Uzbekistan
| {{nts|596,300}}<br />(2008)
| [[File:Samarkand view from the top.jpg|200px]]
| The second largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of [[Samarqand Region]]. The city is most noted for its central position on the [[Silk Road]] between [[China]] and the West, and for being an Islamic center for scholarly study. It was here that the ruler [[Ulugh Beg]] (1394–1449) built a gigantic astronomical observatory.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ehgamberdiev|first=Shuhrat|date=January 2009|title=Ulugh Beg: the scholar on the throne|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001791/179113e.pdf|journal=A World of Science|volume=7|issue=1|pages=21–23|access-date=1 June 2017|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101431/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001791/179113e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Tashkent]]
| Uzbekistan
| {{nts|2,571,668}}<br />(2020)
|
| The capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the town and the region were known as Chach. Tashkent started as an [[oasis]] on the [[Chirchik River]], near the foothills of the [[Golestan]] Mountains. In ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer "capital" of the [[Kangju]] confederacy.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pulleyblank|first=Edwin G|year=1963|title=The consonantal system of Old Chinese|journal=Asia Major|volume=9|page=94}}</ref>
|}