It’s time to take a trip to see the Uzbekistan 2021 stamps. If I were to create a “bucket list” of countries I want to see, Uzbekistan would be pretty near the top. Any spot along the Silk Route ranks high on the list. But Uzbekistan boasts the jewel of the Silk Road – Samarkand, which is celebrated with two stamps for 2021.  

Uzbekistan is one of those wonderful east meets west countries. It has a foot straddled in both regions, and a history that crosses many cultures. So, yea, I get excited when I start reading about Uzbekistan. It’s a true crossroad for the world.

Location of Uzbekistan in the center of Eurasian continent allowed it to play a key role in the transcontinental system of the Great Silk Roads. In fact, main routes of the Great Silk Roads uniting East and West passed through the territory of present-day Uzbekistan, which was one of the places, where the first civilizations emerged and developed. Uzbekistan’s territory is characterized by fertile land that is intensively developed by humans, by diversity of raw resources, presence of developed city culture, high level of handicraft industry and commodity-money relations. And it is these factors that predetermined main routes over which trade and exchange relations took place.  Uzbekistan | Silk Roads Programme (unesco.org)

2021’s stamp program started with some manti & lag’mon and wandered along to poets, power and plants. It was a fun year. Any stamp program starting off with a look at it’s national foods is an excellent one!

Enjoy 
Catpaw 

January

National Cuisine of Uzbekistan

2 stamps
offset

Manti  – steamed dumplings usually filled with meat and onions. 

Lag’mon – a stew made with pulled noodles and rich meat

Uzbek cuisine: traditional meals & food in Uzbekistan (tourstouzbekistan.com)

Artist/designer: Zakirova Kh.

Release date: January 12, 2021

50 years of the YALLA Ensemble 
Series:  Famous figures of science, literature and art

1 stamp on souvenir sheet
offset

VIA “Yalla” was founded in 1970 by an amateur team of the Tashkent Theater and Art Institute. VIA “Yalla” is a legend of Soviet music of the 1970-1980s. Founded in Uzbekistan as an amateur art activity, the band is popular thanks to its talented performers and artistic director Farrukh Zakirov. PRESS RELEASE on the issue of the postage stamp “50 years of the YALLA ensemble” for the series “Famous figures of science, literature and art” (pochta.uz)

Designer: Yusupaliyev U

Release date: January 15, 2021

February

580th anniversary of Alisher Navoi (1441-1501)

1 stamp on souvenir sheet
offset

Poet, linguist, statesman, painter & mystic

Alisher Navoi (1441-1501) was a great poet and thinker, a statesman. His full name was Nizomiddin Mir Alisher. He wrote poetry under the pseudonym Navoi in both Chagatai (ancient Uzbek language) and Farsi (in Persian works). He is the outstanding figure of Uzbek literature, known in the West as Chagatai literature. There is no greater personality than him in the literature of the Turkic peoples.
Alisher Navoi | Famous People of Central Asia | Turkestan Travel is an approachable and interesting biography, written in English. 

Designer: Zakirov Kh.

Release date:  February 9, 2021

April

Birds
definitives

2 stamps
offset

Common Crane (Grus grus) – also called the Eurasian crane Gru – eBird

White stork (Ciconia ciconia) – Cicogna bianca – eBird

Designer: Kanevets E.

Release date: April 1, 2021

June

25 years of the .UZ domain

1 stamp on souvenir sheet
offset

On April 29, 1994, the Uzbek national domain appeared on the World Wide Web. For many years in a row, the .UZ domain continues to be a dynamically growing domain on projects in the Asian region. Now more than 85 thousand domain names are registered in the .UZ domain. PRESS RELEASE on the issue of a special postage stamp “25 years of the .UZ domain” (pochta.uz)

Designer: Zakirov Kh.

Release date: June 29, 2021

80 Years Since the Birth of the Hero of Uzbekistan, National Poet Abdulla Oripov

1 stamp on souvenir sheet
offset

Life and work of the late poet Abdulla Oripov (kun.uz) 

Designer: Mulla-Akhunov D.

Release date: June 29, 2021

Tashkent Botanical Garden
Series: Flora of Uzbekistan

4 stamps on souvenir sheet
offset

• scarlet firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea) 
• Primula fedtschenkoi
• Fritillaria karelinii
• Lace-cap Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)

The Botanical Gardens were created in 1922 and named after academic F. N. Rusanov.  

The Botanical Garden has 43 hectares of arboretum, 5 hectares of ornamental nurseries currently used for landscaping, 1 hectare of gene pool of tropical and subtropical plants, as well as greenhouses, and 16 hectares of protected trees around the area. Dendropark is based on the division of the plant world on the natural earth (Engler systematics).

The Botanical Garden has more than 10 km of main corridors. Consisting of 6 blocks, together with the laboratory building, the Fund Greenhouse, which occupies an area of 1,200 m2, maintains its greenery even in winter with a collection of tropical and subtropical plants.

Currently, the Botanical Garden has 3 scientific laboratories with 110 employees. Of these, 20 are researchers, 2 doctors of sciences, 10 candidates of sciences, 7 junior researchers. In the last 3 years, 1 doctoral and 4 candidate dissertations have been defended, and these researchers are effectively continuing their research work. Information about the Botanical Garden (tashkentgarden.uz)

Designer: Zakirova Kh.

Release date: June 29, 2021

September

State awards of Uzbekistan
Series: Medals

4 stamps + label
offset

• Sodik Hizmatlari Uchun – For Faithful Service
• Jasorat – Courage
• Shukhrat – Glory
• Kelajak Bunyodkori – Creator of the Future

Designer: Kanevets E.

Release date: September 15, 2021

October

30th Anniversary – Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications

1 stamp on souvenir sheet

Designer: Yusupaliyev U.

Release date: October 20, 2021

Samarkand  
Series: Regions 

2 stamps
offset

Samarkand is part of the legendary Silk Road. The city of Samarkand is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The city of Samarkand has been at the crossroads of world cultures for over two and a half millennia, and is one of the most important sites on the Silk Routes traversing Central Asia. Located in the Zerafshan River valley, in north-eastern Uzbekistan, the city enjoys the benefits of abundant natural resources and settlement in the region can be traced back to 1,500 BC. Samarkand | Silk Roads Programme (unesco.org)

Story of Samarkand

Designer – Yusupaliyev U.

Release date: October 26, 2021

Cats
Series: Fauna of Uzbekistan 

 2 stamp
offset

Bengal & Persian 

Artist: Kim A
Designer: Mulla-Akhunov D.

Release date: October 26, 2021

November

Hydroelectric power plants of Uzbekistan

6 stamps on sheet
offset

• Okhangaran
• Tuyabugiz
• HYDROELECTRIC power station Kamchik
• Big Fergana Canal
• Uzbekhydroenergo
• Reservoir Topolon
• Zarzhob
• Topolong
• Kadiriya

 If you are interested in learning more about their plants and future plans, check out The New Program on Hydro-power Development to Improve Sustainability of Uzbekistan’s Energy Sector? – ERI (eurasian-research.org). It’s quite interesting, 

650 rivers, thousands of irrigation canals and a number of reservoirs in Uzbekistan provide some prospects for the development of hydro-power sector in the country. However, while the estimated technical hydro-power potential of the country accounts for around 27 billion kWh per year, the maximum installed capacity allows producing only up to roughly 6.3 billion kWh (23 percent).  Hydroelectricity in Uzbekistan is mainly generated in 28 HPPs in 5 cascades operated by Uzbekenergo and 6 HPPs managed by Uzsuvenergo. While there is yet unexploited hydro-power potential, the total share of renewable and clean hydroelectricity accounts for less than 10 percent of the overall power production balance. (from the link above)

Designer: Yusupaliyev U.

Release date: November 22, 2021

December

80 years Since the Birth of the People’s Writer of Uzbekistan Utkir Khashimov (1941-2013)

1 stamp
offset

Designer – Yusupaliyev U.

Release date: December 27, 2021