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FACTBOX: Facts about Uzbekistan
(Reuters) - Following are 10 facts about Uzbekistan, which holds a presidential election on Sunday.
* Landlocked Uzbekistan, around the same size as Sweden, borders Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
* It is the most populous of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia, with some 27 million inhabitants.
* Ethnic Uzbeks make up more than 80 percent, while other groups including Russians, Tajiks and Kazakhs account for the rest.
* Since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan has been ruled by President Islam Karimov, a former Communist Party boss who enjoys wide powers.
* Uzbekistan has been criticized in the West for human rights abuses.
* International financial organizations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund have effectively stopped their activities in Uzbekistan, citing official reluctance to carry out reforms.
* Human rights bodies say there are at least 5,000 religious and political prisoners in Uzbekistan, where only state-sponsored Islam is allowed.
* Uzbekistan drew international condemnation in 2005 when state troops opened fire on protesters in the town of Andizhan. Witnesses said hundreds of people were killed. The government has put the death toll at 187, saying most of the victims were terrorists or security forces.
* Uzbekistan, previously an ally of the U.S. war against international terrorism, expelled U.S. troops from an airbase after those events.
* With large gas and oil reserves, Uzbekistan is self-sufficient in energy. It is also among the world's top 10 gold producers and the No.2 cotton exporter.
