IMU, Islamic Group of Uzbekistan, Islamic Party of Turkestan - a terrorist group of Islamic militants formed in 1996; opposes Uzbekistan's secular regime and wants to establish an Islamic state in central Asia; is a conduit for drugs from Afghanistan to central Asian countries

CIS, Commonwealth of Independent States - an alliance made up of states that had been Soviet Socialist Republics in the Soviet Union prior to its dissolution in Dec 1991

Asian country, Asian nation - countries occupying the Asian continent

capital of Uzbek, Tashkent, Taskent - the capital of Uzbekistan

Samarcand, Samarkand - city in southern Uzbekistan; Tamerlane's opulent capital in the 14th century

Asia - the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to Europe on the west to form Eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations