Tashkent

Why it's the capital

Tashkent, an old Silk Road city, was taken by the Russian Empire in 1865 and became the capital of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1918. Since 1930 it has been the capital of Uzbekistan, first as a Soviet republic and later as an independent country.

Fun facts

1. The name comes from the Turkic word tash and the Persian word kent and means "Stone City".
2. A powerful earthquake on 26 April 1966 destroyed much of the old city and left more than 300,000 people homeless.
3. The Tashkent Metro, opened in 1977, was the first metro in Central Asia, and each station is decorated around its own theme.