Abstract: In the modern world economic development, the tertiary sector plays an important role in the life of different countries. Tourist-reaction services are gaining importance in this regard. The main goal of this study was to analyze the potential of the cultural and historical tourism resource of the Kashkadarya region and to identify its regional features. Conditions of tourism formation in Uzbekistan have been analyzed. Attention was paid to existing recreational potential and the effectiveness of its use. The specificity of the classification of tourism recreational resources based on the research of scientists has been clarified. The potential of the Kashkadarya region tourist recreational resources, which plays a special role by its resource potential in the development of tourism in Uzbekistan, has been analyzed as an example of monuments of material and cultural heritage, at the scale of urban and rural areas. It was found that the Kashkadarya region has immense potential due to cultural heritage and natural recreational potential.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are two leading countries of Central Asia, mutually beneficially cooperating in the field of cross-border tourism. In this study, the tourism potential of the border areas was determined on the basis of tourism infrastructure and settlement density data. The geographic coverage of the study included nine regions located within the limits of the Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan border. We proposed the application of a rating assessment of the estimated tourism resource potential of Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan border regions, which provides the basis for comparative analysis of tourism development and promising opportunities for the large territory. The method allows one to achieve an understanding of the availability and volume of tourist and recreational resources in order to assess the tourism potential in the Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan border area in the framework of sustainable development. The study results generally allow the availability level of border region tourism resources to be determined and areas with more favorable and attractive conditions for cross-border tourism development to be identified.

The key factors in the production development and location, including industrial production, in any region, are the territorial structure of natural resources and the level of production infrastructure development. At present, the industry is one of the leading sectors of the developed countries' economy. Therefore, the Government of Uzbekistan, from the first days of state independence, prioritises the industry development, its modernisation and diversification when reforming the national economy. Due to this, over the past ten years, the industrial production share in the country's GDP has grown significantly and amounts to almost 1/3 of it. However, the participation of regions in gross industrial output is very uneven, and a number of them, in the presence of high natural resource potential, still retain agricultural specialisation. The paper presents an economic and geographical analysis of natural resources as a factor of industrial development in the Tashkent economic district. The general characteristic of mineral and raw material balance of the Tashkent region in the context of administrative districts (rural areas) is given. The paper describes the current development state of the territorial and sectoral structure of the Tashkent region and Tashkent city. The study analyses reserves and the involvement level of mineral resources in the context of administrative districts. The authors of this paper considered the issues and prospects of territorial and sectoral structure establishment and development in Tashkent economic district industry.

Spatial analysis of the population ethnic structure is a poorly developed area of socio-geographical research in Uzbekistan. The authors of the article are the first to develop a multi-level scheme of ethno-geographical zoning of Uzbekistan based on the current statistical data on the ethnic composition of the population in the republic. These statistical materials are the only source of information on the ethnic structure of the population of the country and its regions, taking into account the fact that the census in Uzbekistan has not been conducted after 1989. In the course of research, the methodological foundations of ethno-geographical zoning of Uzbekistan were developed, in particular, its principles, criteria, and taxonomic units. Ethno-geographical zoning was carried out in accordance with the grid of administrative-territorial division based on spatial grouping of rural areas and cities of regional and republican subordination; 33 types of ethnic environments were distinguished. Zoning is three-level and includes three taxonomic stages: 4 ethnogeographic provinces, 6 ethnogeographic districts and 32 ethnogeographic areas. In addition, there were identified ‘through’ spatial units − ethnogeographic tiers: upper (mountain), middle (foothill-plain) and lower (desert-oasis). The main ethnogeographic boundaries within the territory of Uzbekistan, tied to the orographic and landscape boundaries, were determined. The features of the population ethnic structure in all the ethnogeographic provinces, districts and areas are characterized. An ethno-geographical zoning map of the republic has been compiled.