Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country. It is slightly larger than the United States' California with 447,400 km~2 of territory. Uzbekistan shares borders with all the other central Asian states and is at the center of the region's transportation and power systems. Although one of the poorest states of the former Soviet Union, Uzbekistan is potentially very rich. It is the world's fifth largest cotton producer and second largest exporter. It is also the world's seventh largest gold producer, currently producing about 70 t of the yellow metal per year. To put that in perspective, only 25% of the proven gold deposits are in production. Other important minerals found in the country include uranium, copper, lead, zinc, tungsten and molybdenum.
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