Qoraqalpoghiston or Karakalpakstan, autonomous republic of Uzbekistan, constituting the western third of the country. It borders on Kazakhstan in the north, east, and west and on Turkmenistan in the south. The Aral Sea forms part of its northeastern border. Located north of the Khiva oasis, Qoraqalpoghiston encompasses portions of the Qyzylqum desert in the east and the Ustyurt plateau in the west. The Amu Darya river flows northward through the central part of the republic before it empties into the Aral Sea, which is actually a saltwater lake. Qoraqalpoghiston covers an area of 164,900 sq km (63,700 sq mi). Average temperatures range from -6° to -8° C (18° to 21° F) in January, and from 26° to 28° C (79° to 82° F) in July. Average annual precipitation is about 110 mm (about 4.5 in), although in some years it may be as high as 200 mm (8 in) or more. Since little or no rain falls during the summer months, water is drawn from the Amu Darya to support the republic’s agricultural development. These and other irrigation works have caused the Aral Sea to shrink to less than half its original area, making the climate near the lake more extreme, with hotter summers and colder winters. Natural vegetation in Qoraqalpoghiston includes desert scrub and grasses as well as dense stands of brush, called tugai, along the banks of the Amu Darya.

The population of Qoraqalpoghiston is 1,273,800. The capital and largest city is Nukus; other major cities include Khŭjayli, Takhiatash, Beruni, Turtkul, Kungrad, and Chimbay. Qoraqalpoghs (or Karakalpaks) account for 31 percent of the population, Uzbeks 32 percent, Kazakhs 27 percent, and Turkmens and Russians most of the remaining 10 percent. Sunni Islam is the predominant religion in the republic. Educational institutions include Nukus State University (founded in 1979) and a branch of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences, both located in Nukus, as well as several small technical colleges and a research institute of medicine.

Agriculture dominates the republic’s economy. Cotton, the principal crop, is grown mainly in the southern part of the delta plain. Alfalfa and other feed crops, which help prevent soil erosion, also are grown. Grain, mostly rice and some sorghum and wheat, is grown in the north and northeast. All shipping and commercial fishing has ceased in the formerly abundant Aral Sea, and many of Qoraqalpoghiston’s fish-canning industries have shut down. The republic is bisected by oil and gas pipelines and by the Trans-Amu Darya railroad, which follows the course of the Amu Darya from Kungrad to Chardzhou, Turkmenistan.

Similar both ethnically and linguistically to Kazakhs, a mixture of Mongol and Turkic peoples, Qoraqalpoghs were historically a nomadic people. They were first mentioned in historical accounts of the late 16th century, when they lived in the delta regions of the Syr Darya, a river to the north of the Amu Darya. By the 18th century, they had largely resettled in the Amu Darya delta. In 1811 this area became part of the khanate (state) of Khiva and in 1873 part of the region was annexed by the Russian Empire. The Qoraqalpoghs were given political recognition in 1925 when Qoraqalpoghiston was constituted as an autonomous oblast, or district, within the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (SFSR) of the Soviet Union. In 1932 it was separated from the Kazakh ASSR and became the Karakalpak ASSR within the Russian SFSR. The Karakalpak ASSR was transferred to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) in 1936. In the mid-1950s the Soviet Union implemented a program to expand crop production in the republics of Central Asia. The diversion of water from the region’s rivers since then has led to a serious decline in the quality of life in Qoraqalpoghiston. The dried up portions of the Aral Sea lake bed contain salt and dust polluted with pesticides and other chemicals, which become airborne in nearby villages and cities during windstorms. In addition, the water supply has become increasingly saline and contaminated.