Some Interesting Facts About Uzbekistan

Public Holidays

Date 2005 Occasion
January 1 New Year's Day*  
January 21 Kurban Khait
March 8 Women's Day*
March 20 -22 Noruz(date depends on vernal equinox)
April 21 Prophet's Birthday
May 1 International Labour Day*
May 9 Day of Memory and Respect
September 1 Independence Day
November 3 -5 End of Ramadan
November 18 Flag Day
December 8 Constitution Day

Electricity

220 volts or 50 Hz; socket are of the standard flat two-pin ‘continental’ type.

Post & Communications

Letters overseas from Uzbekistan to countries other than the neighbouring ones can take anywhere between 14 and 40 days to be delivered. Stamped envelopes are available at post offices. Addresses must be written with the country name first, followed by the city, street, and house number, with the name of the addressee coming last. Telegram services are available at post offices in major towns. There are post offices at many big hotels. Post offices are open from 9 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday; the main post office on Prospect Navoi in Tashkent is open till 7 pm. Many international courier services have counters in Tashkent.

There are cyber cafes only in Tashkent and Internet connectivity speed is erratic. There are no public fax machines; hotels let only guests use their fax facilities.

The country code for Uzbekistan is 998. The city code for Tashkent is 71 for 7 digit telephone numbers and 712 for 6 digit numbers. Local calls within a city are free. To call another CIS country, dial 8 and proceed with the city code and number after you hear the dial tone. Calls from hotel rooms must be routed through the reception. Public phones are available at the main post office of a city.

Weights and measures

Uzbekistan follows the metric system of measurement.

Tipping

 Major hotels and restaurants include a 5% to 10% service charge in the bill. Tipping is a social no-no as it goes against the Islamic notion of hospitality.

English Language Media

There are no locally published English language newspapers in Uzbekistan. The English media is restricted to the radio where you can tune into BBC World Service and Voice of America on the MHz band, to satellite TV, and to the Internet. Foreign publications like Time and Newsweek are sometimes available in the larger cities.