Andijon

City and capital of Andijon wiloyat (region), Uzbekistan, on the Andijon River, a tributary of the Syr Darya, 250 km/155 mi southeast of Tashkent; population (1999) 323,900. The city is an important road and rail junction, and stands at the southeastern edge of the cotton-growing region of the Fergana Valley; the surrounding province is also Uzbekistan's principal area for oil production. Its industries include textile mills (weaving cotton and silk), engineering works (producing agricultural equipment for the oil industry, and for irrigation), and food-processing plants.

There has been a settlement at Andijon since the 9th century; it was a main centre for trade on the Silk Route into western China in ancient and medieval times. The town was ruled by the Kokand khanate in the 18th and 19th centuries, before being captured by Russian forces in 1876. It was devastated by an earthquake in 1902.

Prince Zahiruddin Babur was born in Andijon in 1483. During the a period of unrest in the 16th century, he went to Kabul, where he established himself as king. In 1526 he defeated the emperor of Delhi, and established the Mogul dynasty, which at various times took in most of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate and ethnic tensions arose, an anti-Jewish pogrom took place in the town in 1989.

Andijon

Wiloyat (region) in eastern Uzbekistan; area 4,300 sq km/1,660 sq mi; population (1996) 1,795,000. The main cities are Andijon (capital), Kokand, Namangan, and Fergana. The region contains the fertile Fergana Valley; some 75% of the cultivated land yields cotton under irrigation. There are also major deposits of petroleum and natural gas, the extraction of which comprises the region's main industries. Textiles and silk are also produced, and there is cultivation of cotton and foodstuffs (particularly fruit).