Namangan

Capital city of Namangan wiloyat (region), eastern Uzbekistan, 80 km/50 mi northeast of Kokand; population (1994 est) 341,000. Namangan is located in the Fergana Valley; its traditional industries included textile manufacture and food processing. It has also become a centre for oil exploration in the region.

Namangan was first recorded as a town in the 15th century. It later became part of the Kokand Khanate, until annexation by Russia in 1876. It was the scene of a major earthquake in 1926.

Namangan

Wiloyat (region) in eastern Uzbekistan; area 7,800 sq km/3,012 sq mi; population (1996) 1,558,000. The capital is Namangan. The region is located in the north of the highly fertile Fergana Valley, near the border with Kyrgyzstan. It has a largely dry climate. The principal river is the Syr Darya, formed by the confluence of the Qoradaryo and Naryn rivers near the capital. Industry in the region is mainly agricultural, centred on the cultivation of irrigated crops, principally cotton. There is also oil exploration and refining. Namangan wiloyat was formed in 1967, having previously existed between 1941–60.