Karakalpakstan at a glance
Karakalpakstan is the autonomous republic in Uzbekistan’s far west, with Nukus as its capital. It covers about 37% of Uzbekistan’s territory, more than a third, and borders Kazakhstan in the west and north and Turkmenistan in the south; the Urgench area is already outside it. Most people are Karakalpaks, Uzbeks and Kazakhs. The Karakalpak language belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic family, like Kazakh, while Uzbek is in the Karluk branch, so the Karakalpaks are closer to the Kazakhs in language and culture.
- Where: Uzbekistan’s far west, from Khiva to the Aral Sea.
- Getting there: fly Tashkent–Nukus (several flights a day, about 1 h 35–1 h 40), or come overland from Khiva (about 3 hours to Nukus).
- Highlights: the Savitsky Museum, the desert fortresses, Chilpik, Mizdakhan, Muynak and the Aral Sea.
- Time needed: 2 days from Khiva for the fortresses and Nukus; 4 days with the Aral Sea.
Karakalpakstan tours
Karakalpakstan is on our 11-day Full Uzbekistan Tour, which crosses the desert from Khiva past the fortresses of Ayaz-Kala and Toprak-Kala to Nukus and the Savitsky Museum, then spends a night in a yurt camp above the Aral Sea.
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Must-sees in Karakalpakstan
The Savitsky Museum in Nukus, officially the State Museum of Arts of Karakalpakstan, was founded in 1966 by Igor Savitsky and is often called the “Louvre of the desert”. Its more than 80,000 items include Soviet-era avant-garde art that was banned in its time, Karakalpak applied art and archaeology.
The desert fortresses are the ruined kalas of ancient Khorezm in the desert north of the Amu Darya, such as Ayaz-Kala on its hill and the walled town of Toprak-Kala (1st–5th century AD). You can stay overnight in the yurt camp below Ayaz-Kala, about 100–110 km from Khiva (open March–November).
Chilpik is a Zoroastrian tower of silence on a hill about 40 km south of Nukus, on the road between Khiva and Nukus.
Mizdakhan is a vast necropolis with mausoleums and the ruins of Gyaur-Kala, near Khodjeyli, about 20 km from Nukus.
Muynak, the former fishing port of the Aral Sea, is now far from the water, with rusting ships on the dry seabed and the Aral Sea museum, about 200 km (3 hours) north of Nukus.
The western shore of the Aral Sea lies below the cliffs of the Ustyurt plateau, about 140–150 km beyond Muynak. Trips stay overnight in yurt camps on the cliffs, about 3 km above the water.
The Amu Darya delta and salt lakes such as Sudochye are also good for birdwatching, especially in spring and autumn.
Karakalpak People
There are theories of Karakalpaks being related to the Chorni Klobuky (black hat) soldiers of the Kievan Rus’ from the 11th and 12th centuries, though apart from the common meaning of their names, there is no evidence linking these two groups. According to the constitution, Karakalpakstan is formally a sovereign state. The state is regulated by treaties and agreements with Uzbekistan.
The Karakalpak area was once an autonomous region within Soviet Kazakhstan during the New Economic Policy era of the 1920s before its administration was transferred to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1930 and finally to Soviet Uzbekistan in 1936. The name “Karakalpak” translates as “black hat,” from Turkic languages but its origin is not known. Only a few thousand Karakalpaks live in Kazakhstan, far fewer than in Uzbekistan, which makes Karakalpakstan the true home of the Karakalpaks.
The vast expanses of Karakalpakstan are thinly populated: the inhabited centre along the Amu Darya is surrounded by the Kyzylkum desert, the Ustyurt plateau and the Aralkum, the new desert on the dry bed of the Aral Sea. Deserts cover more than 80% of the land, and because of Soviet-era irrigation projects Karakalpakstan has become the centre of the Aral Sea disaster.
The economy once lived on the fisheries of the Aral Sea; today it depends on farming cotton, rice and melons. Fishing has almost disappeared as the sea shrank and the water became saltier. Tourism is slowly growing, but it does not yet make up for the lost jobs.
Karakalpak culture
The Karakalpaks have kept many of their customs and traditions, and their craftsmen are known for wood carving, leather embossing, weaving and embroidery. The country is also an open-air archaeological reserve, with dozens of ancient fortresses (kalas) and other sites left by the Khorezm civilisation.
Karakalpak culture took shape among Turkic tribes that roamed Central Asia for centuries, with ties to the Pechenegs, Oghuz, Kipchaks, the Golden Horde and the Kazakh, Turkmen and Uzbek tribal alliances. Yet the Karakalpaks combined irrigated farming with sheep-herding and fishing, growing wheat, rice, millet, sorghum, sesame and cotton. Farming is harder today, as the soil has become salty since the Aral Sea shrank.
Karakalpak identity lives on in folklore, dance, music and ceremonies, and above all in traditional handicrafts, whose simple ornaments go back to the arts of the ancient and medieval nomads of Central Asia. Most crafts were made for the yurt, from wool, leather, bone, wood and cotton. In the early 20th century women still made ornamental floor mats, felts to decorate the yurt, woven rugs, carpets and patchwork, and most knew embroidery, while men built yurts and musical instruments and worked as woodcarvers, jewellers and leatherworkers. You can see Karakalpak applied art at the Savitsky Museum in Nukus.
Traditional Karakalpak clothing
Traditional Karakalpak clothing for men is formed by a long-sleeved shirt, a waistcoat, and baggy trousers. Women usually wear long dresses with headscarves. Karakalpak clothes are usually made of natural materials such as wool or cotton, and are often decorated with intricate embroidery. The traditional clothes are mostly worn only during celebrations or performances. One can still sometimes see a Karakalpak man wearing a large black & very hairy looking hat made from sheep wool that protects both from heat and cold.
Sample routes in Karakalpakstan
- Khiva → fortresses → Nukus (2 days): Toprak-Kala and Ayaz-Kala with a night in the Ayaz-Kala yurt camp, then Chilpik on the way to the Savitsky Museum in Nukus.
- Nukus → Aral Sea → Nukus (2 days): the ship graveyard in Muynak, a night in a yurt camp on the Ustyurt cliffs above the sea, and Mizdakhan on the way back. See our Aral Sea guide.
- All of it (4–5 days) at the end of a classic Uzbekistan trip through Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
Our Full Uzbekistan Tour follows much of this route. For a private trip on any of these routes, contact us.
Sights and destinations in Karakalpakstan
Our guides to the main sights of Karakalpakstan. For the Savitsky Museum, see our Nukus guide; for the sea itself, our Aral Sea guide.
Mizdakhan Complex and Gyaur Qala
Chilpik Dakhma "Tower of Silence"
The Fortresses (qalas) of Karakalpakstan
Dozens of ancient fortresses survive in the desert of old Khorezm, and nobody knows how many are still undiscovered. About eight of the major forts are intact enough to interest a casual visitor, and they are the main sight of the area. In ancient times the fortresses warned each other of danger with signal fires.
Other Sights & Destinations near Karakalpakstan
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