Samarkand is a major city located in southeastern Uzbekistan and is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. With a population of 882,000 inhabitants in 2026, it is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan after Tashkent. It is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlements of Kimyogarlar, Farkhod and Khishrav. Earlier it also served as the initial capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic from 1925 until 1930.