Namangan

Namangan is a city in eastern Uzbekistan's northern Fergana Valley, close to the Kyrgyzstan border, and serves as the administrative, economic and cultural center of Namangan Region. Its name comes from a Persian word for a salt mine, and it grew after residents of the earthquake-damaged ancient city of Akhsikat resettled there in 1610; it became a craft and trade center from the 17th century before Russian forces occupied it in 1875. Now Uzbekistan's third-largest city after Tashkent and Samarkand, with about 713,500 residents by 2026 data, Namangan is chiefly a center for light industry, particularly food processing.