Uzbekistan

Unequal Wealth Distribution

Independence brought wealth to many people in the country, as Uzbekistan has large deposits of oil, natural gas, gold and silver, copper, and uranium. It remains the fourth largest producer of cotton, and is the seventh largest exporter of gold. In spite of this, however, 17 percent of the population still lives on less than $1 per day, and there is widespread poverty. Although the vast majority of children go to school, which is compulsory, there is little or no sex education. Fortunately, Uzbekistan's isolation has meant that the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains low in international terms. Traditionally, Tajiks had large families. Currently, with the country's fertility rate is 2.88 children per woman, with Uzbek families being slightly larger than average; the fertility rates of Russian women in Uzbekistan are 1.35.

A regional breakdown of family size in Uzbekistan shows that Tashkent averages 1.96 children, compared to 3.43 in the central region of the country. The legal age for marriage in 2006 was 17 for women and 18 for men. The marriage rate in 2001 was 6.75 per 1,000, and the divorce rate was 0.6 [Page 1239]per 1,000. In 2006, the employment-to-population ratio for women age 15 and older was 51 percent, while for males it was 64.6 percent. Literacy was nearly universal at 99.6 percent for men and 99 percent for women.

Currently, health care for mothers is relatively good in Tashkent, the country's capital, and mid-wives are available in all cities and most towns. However, in rural areas, many people rely on help from family and neighbors, benefiting from the wide kinship group they maintain. Some 82 percent of the population have access to clean drinking water, and deaths from communicable diseases as a percentage of the population is nearly half of that of neighboring Tajikistan. Family planning was followed during some of the Communist period; abortion was legalized throughout the Soviet Union in 1920, but was declared illegal in 1936 when Joseph Stalin wished to increase the population of the country. Currently, abortion on demand is available in Uzbekistan. In 2004, the abortion rate for women 15–44 was 7.8 per 1,000. In 2002, 67.7 percent of women age 1549 reported using methods of contraception (62.8 percent with modern methods).

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