Uzbekistan Independence Day is being celebrated on 1 September with particular significance this year: the Central Asian country is marking 35 years of independence. I had the opportunity to experience part of the celebrations first-hand in Tashkent, where an extraordinary state ceremony offered not only a spectacular show, but also a revealing glimpse of how Uzbekistan sees its past, present and future.
There are national holidays that are primarily dates in the calendar, and there are others where the meaning of the occasion is impossible to miss once you are actually there. In Uzbekistan, Independence Day clearly belongs to the latter category.
The Uzbek capital was already in a festive mood when I attended the main state ceremony on 28 August. Yet beyond the flags, music, dancers and monumental setting, what stayed with me most was the sense that Uzbekistan’s 35th anniversary is not being presented simply as a celebration of an event that happened in 1991. It is also being used as an opportunity to demonstrate how much the country has changed – particularly during the past decade.
What does Uzbekistan celebrate on Independence Day?
Uzbekistan declared its state independence on 31 August 1991, in the final months of the Soviet Union. The following day, 1 September, was designated Independence Day and subsequently became the country’s main national holiday.
At an extraordinary session of the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR, lawmakers adopted both the resolution proclaiming the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan and legislation establishing the foundations of the new sovereign state. The Uzbek SSR was renamed the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Thirty-five years later, the anniversary is therefore much more than a ceremonial event. For Uzbeks, it represents the restoration of national sovereignty and the ability of the country to determine its own political, economic and cultural direction.
This year’s official celebrations are being held under the theme “One Homeland, One People – Together We Create a New Life and Future!”, a slogan that also says a great deal about the government’s emphasis on development and national renewal.
More than a thousand performers in New Tashkent
I experienced the scale of Uzbekistan Independence Day personally on 28 August, when I attended the major state celebration in New Tashkent.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed the audience before a huge cultural programme began, involving more than a thousand dancers, performers and extras. The sheer scale of the production was striking: carefully choreographed scenes, traditional elements and modern staging combined to tell the story of the country and its people.
The choice of New Tashkent as the venue also carried a clear message. The enormous new urban development is intended to become a centre of education, culture and science and, in Mirziyoyev’s words, a symbol of the strength of the “New Uzbekistan”. The President also highlighted newly completed educational and cultural institutions in the area.
Several messages from his speech stood out.
Mirziyoyev stressed that although modern independence was achieved in 1991, Uzbekistan’s statehood and civilisation extend back thousands of years. He also described human dignity and the ability to live freely as fundamental achievements of independence, while pointing to the sweeping reforms launched during recent years.
Speaking shortly before the main celebration, the president summed up the scale of the transformation in unusually ambitious terms: “Thirty-five years is a short period by historical standards,” he said, while arguing that the scale of the country’s achievements made the period feel considerably longer.
The ceremony itself reinforced that message. This was a celebration of history, but very deliberately also a presentation of what the authorities believe Uzbekistan could become next.
Thirty-five years of transformation – and an extraordinary last decade
This is where my own impressions of Uzbekistan become difficult to separate from the anniversary itself.
From what I have seen, the country has undergone enormous development during the 35 years since independence, both economically and politically. But the transformation over roughly the last decade is particularly visible.
You can see it physically in Tashkent: new roads, major construction projects, public spaces, hotels, business districts and ambitious cultural institutions. You can also sense a country that has become considerably more outward-looking and interested in attracting tourists, businesses, investors and international partners.
Economic statistics support at least part of that impression. World Bank figures show that Uzbekistan’s real GDP grew by 7.7 percent in 2025, following growth of 6.7 percent a year earlier. The country’s current-dollar GDP reached around USD 147 billion in 2025. The World Bank has also described the broad reform programme launched from 2017 onwards as an important factor supporting the country’s economic expansion.
This does not mean every problem has disappeared or that a 35-year transformation can be reduced to new buildings and GDP statistics. But for a visitor, the pace and ambition are difficult to overlook.
Perhaps that is one reason why the concept of “New Uzbekistan” appears so frequently in official speeches. After travelling around the country, the phrase begins to make more sense: Uzbekistan is consciously trying to build a new international image while preserving – and increasingly showcasing – its extraordinary historical inheritance.
Why Uzbekistan is worth the journey from Hungary
And that historical inheritance alone is a compelling reason to visit.
For Hungarian travellers, Uzbekistan may still seem distant. Yet few destinations offer such a concentration of spectacular architecture and Silk Road history.
Samarkand is the obvious starting point. Its Registan Square, with three monumental madrasas surrounding one of the most recognisable public spaces in Central Asia, is even more impressive in person than in photographs. UNESCO describes Samarkand as a crossroads and melting pot of world cultures, with more than two and a half millennia of history.
Then there is Bukhara, a Silk Road city more than 2,000 years old whose historic centre remains one of the best-preserved examples of a medieval Central Asian city.
And Khiva offers yet another experience: entering its old walled city can feel less like visiting an individual monument and more like walking directly into another historical period.
Tashkent itself now has a major new attraction that deserves to be placed alongside these famous Silk Road cities.
If you missed it – Uzbekistan at 35: tourism becomes a powerful symbol of independence, openness and national growth
Tashkent’s extraordinary Center for Islamic Civilization
The Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan, officially opened in Tashkent in March 2026, is one of the country’s most ambitious cultural projects.
The vast complex combines a museum, library, research facilities and exhibitions tracing the intellectual and scientific history of Islamic civilisation in Central Asia. Its collections include manuscripts, historical objects and material relating to some of the scholars whose work influenced mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy far beyond the region.
Its scale is remarkable. By the beginning of June – less than three months after opening – the centre had already received around half a million domestic and international visitors, according to Uzbek government figures.
For anyone interested in history, religion, science or architecture, it is worth allowing several hours rather than treating it as a quick stop on a Tashkent sightseeing tour.
Hospitality may be Uzbekistan’s greatest attraction
Buildings, monuments and economic transformation explain only part of why Uzbekistan leaves such a strong impression.
The other part is the people.
One thing I repeatedly experienced was the genuine hospitality of Uzbeks. Visitors are welcomed warmly, conversations start easily and food has a habit of appearing in quantities that make refusing another plate nearly impossible.
And that brings us to Uzbek gastronomy.
The country’s best-known dish is, of course, plov – rice cooked with meat, carrots, onions and spices, with regional variations across Uzbekistan. But reducing Uzbek cuisine to plov would be unfair. Samsa baked in a traditional oven, shashlik, lagman noodles, soups, fresh fruit, vegetables and the ubiquitous round Uzbek non bread make eating here an attraction in its own right.
Food also has a social role. Meals are long, communal and generous. Tea arrives constantly. The table is not simply somewhere to eat; it is where guests become part of the occasion.
For travellers, this may ultimately be as memorable as Registan Square or the ancient walls of Khiva.
Uzbekistan Independence Day is about more than the past
Standing in New Tashkent as more than a thousand performers filled the enormous stage on 28 August, it was easy to understand why the 35th anniversary carries such weight here.
Uzbekistan Independence Day commemorates a decisive moment in 1991, but today’s Uzbekistan is clearly using the anniversary to look forward as much as backwards.
There is enormous pride in the Silk Road cities, ancient scholars and traditions that shaped this part of the world. At the same time, there is an equally visible determination to build new universities, businesses, transport links, museums, residential districts and an economy far more connected to the outside world.
After seeing both sides of the country – its historical treasures and the extraordinary amount of construction and development taking place today – my strongest impression is that Uzbekistan does not see its first 35 years of independence as the conclusion of a story.
It sees them as the beginning of one.
As we wrote earlier, Tashkent International Media Forum brought global journalists together in 2026
