Shahrisabz

Shahrisabz (Uzbek Cyrillic and Tajik: Шаҳрисабз; Persian: شهر سبز, romanized: shahr-e sabz: "city of green" / "verdant city"; Russian: Шахрисабз) is a district-level city in Qashqadaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan.[2] The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has selected Shakhrisabz as its tourism capital for 2024.[3] It is located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand, at an altitude of 622 m. Its population is 140,500 (2021).[1] Historically known as Kesh or Kish, Shahrisabz was once a major city of Central Asia and was an important urban center of Sogdiana, a province of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. It is primarily known today as the birthplace of 14th-century Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur.[4] Formerly known as Kesh or Kish ("heart-pleasing") and tentatively identified with the ancient Nautaca, Shahrisabz is one of Central Asia’s most ancient cities. It was founded more than 2,700 years ago and formed a part of the Achaemenid Empire or Persia from the 6th to 4th centuries BC. Throughout this period Kesh remained an important urban center of Sogdiana, a major province within the Empire. Documents from the late Achaemenid period speak of the renovation of the city's walls.[5] It has been known as Shahrisabz since the Timurid era.[6]