History of the Jews in Uzbekistan
Total population | |
---|---|
9,865[1] | |
Languages | |
Bukhori,Uzbek,Russian,andYiddish | |
Religion | |
Judaism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
OtherBukharan Jews Russian Jews,Ashkenazi Jews |
Thehistory of the Jews in Uzbekistanrefers to the history of two distinct communities; the more religious and traditionalBukharan Jewishcommunity and theAshkenazicommunity.
There were 94,900JewsinUzbekistanin 1989,[2]but fewer than 10,000 remained in 2021 (around 38% of which lived inTashkent).[3]
There are 12synagoguesin Uzbekistan.[4]
Fergana Jewish community[edit]
Semyon Abdurakhmanov is the head of theFerganaJewish community. There are six synagogues in the Valley. There are several hundred Jews in Fergana,Namangan,andKokand,with about 1,300 total in the area. Abdurakhmanov has said that the biggest problem faced by the Jewish Uzbek community is the economy.
During theAndijan Massacrein May 2005, the Israeli Embassy in Tashkent asked Abdurakhmanov to make a lists of Jews "in case there will be a need to airlift people toIsrael".[4]
Historical demographics[edit]
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1926 | 37,896 | — |
1939 | 50,676 | +33.7% |
1959 | 94,488 | +86.5% |
1970 | 103,058 | +9.1% |
1979 | 100,067 | −2.9% |
1989 | 95,104 | −5.0% |
2021 | 9,865 | −89.6% |
Source:
|
The Jewish population of Uzbekistan (then known as theUzbek SSR) nearly tripled between 1926 and 1970, then slowly declined between 1970 and 1989, followed by a much more rapid decline since 1989, when thecollapse of Communismbegan. According to the Soviet census, there were 103,000 Jews in Uzbekistan in 1970.[8]
Between 1989 and 2021, around ninety percent of Uzbekistan's Jewish populationleft Uzbekistanandmoved to other countries,mostlyto Israel.[9]
In the 2021 census, there were almost 10,000 Jews in Uzbekistan, diffused over the country. Over 1,000 were in Bukhara, and almost 1,500 were in Samarkand; around 1,300 were in Fergana, and over 3,700 were in Tashkent. The remaining 2,300 were spread around the country in smaller numbers.[10]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Uzbek Census 2021".data.egov.uz.
- ^World Jewish Population 2001,American Jewish Yearbook,vol. 101 (2001), p. 561.
- ^"Uzbek Census 2021".data.egov.uz.
- ^abUzbek Jewish worriesArchived2013-01-04 atarchive.todayJTA
- ^"Приложение Демоскопа Weekly".Demoscope.ru. 2013-01-15. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-12.Retrieved2013-04-14.
- ^"Uzbek Census 2021".data.egov.uz.
- ^"YIVO | Population and Migration: Population since World War I".Yivoencyclopedia.org.Retrieved2013-04-14.
- ^"The Jewish Community of Uzbekistan".The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.Retrieved25 June2018.
- ^"tab30.XLS"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2014-07-14.Retrieved2013-04-14.
- ^"Uzbek Census 2021".data.egov.uz.