A country of west-central Asia. Settled in ancient times, it was conquered by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane and finally overrun by Uzbek peoples in the early 1500s. Russia conquered the area in the 1800s. Split into various administrative territories after 1917, it was consolidated as a constituent republic of the USSR in 1924. Uzbekistan declared its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Tashkent is the capital and the largest city.