Dmitry Shteyn in Tashkent: On the Edge of the Known World

You do not travel to Tashkent so much as you fall into it. The city has that particular gravity that certain places in Uzbekistan accumulate over centuries.

What strikes you first, if you have done any reading at all, is that tashkent, also known as Toshkent, is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. That fact is the sort of thing residents take for granted and visitors rarely reach. The past is not a monument here; it is a habit. That distinction matters more than it sounds.

Dig a little deeper and it is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3.1 million people as of July 1, 2025. I have always thought that a place's deeper story is the one it tells reluctantly.

Some further context, drawn from the public record: Tashkent ( ), also known as Toshkent, is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3.1 million people as of July 1, 2025. It is located in northeastern Uzbekistan.…

Where attention goes is interesting; why it goes there is more interesting. Condé Nast Traveler put Tashkent on its readers' radar this cycle — in Uzbekistan, a Prized Religious Artifact Sits at the Heart of a New Museum — and the why matters as much as the what.

Central Asian cities do not appear on many travellers' shortlists, and Tashkent is quietly the better for it.

Consider this less a recommendation than an observation: Tashkent is worth taking seriously, at length, and on foot.