Kara-Kalpak

Large autonomous region in northwest Uzbekistan; area 158,000 sq km/61,000 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,343,000. The capital is Nukus and Munyak is another city in the region. The north of the region consists mainly of lowland around the delta of the Amu Darya, which formerly flowed into the Aral Sea, the southern half of which is within the region. There are plentiful salt deposits. Industries include heavily irrigated cultivation of cotton, rice, and wheat; there is also some viticulture and manufacture of leather goods.

History
The region is named after the Kara-Kalpak (‘black hood’) people, who live south of the Aral Sea and were conquered by Russia in 1867. An autonomous Kara-Kalpak region was formed in 1926 within Kazakhstan, transferred to the Soviet republic in 1930, became an autonomous republic (incorporating part of the Uzbek SSR) in 1932, and was annexed to Uzbekistan in 1936. Under Soviet rule the former nomadic, animal-herding population became increasingly settled. Soviet agricultural planning foresaw major grain production here, but large-scale irrigation schemes and excessive use of chemical fertilizers have deprived the Amu Darya and Aral Sea of water, and reduced the region to a dust bowl.