Bukhara

Bukhara is the capital of Bukhara Region in southeastern Uzbekistan, on the Zeravshan River about 140 miles west of Samarkand, with a population of 305,500 as of 2026, making it the country's seventh largest city. Bukhara flourished as one of the most prosperous cities of Transoxiana on Silk Road trade routes and became a major center of Islamic scholarship during the Islamic Golden Age, the birthplace of the hadith scholar Imam Bukhari. Its historic core, with about 140 surviving architectural monuments including the Kalan Minaret, the Samanid Mausoleum and the Ark fortress, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.