Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan border
A long border from the Ustyurt plateau past the Aral Sea to the edge of Tashkent. Delimited in 2001–02, it was finally demarcated under a 2022 treaty, the first of its kind in Central Asia to be registered with the UN.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 28 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:Kazakhstan →Uzbekistan →
Delimitation
Work on the border began in the early 2000s. By 2001, 96 percent of the line had been agreed, but three sections stayed contested: the area of Bagys, a village in Kazakhstan’s Turkistan region; the former village of Arnasai; and the Uzbek village of Nsan, each with the land around it. Delimitation was completed in September 2002.[1]
Marking the line on the ground took far longer. According to Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry, a joint demarcation commission met for 100 rounds of negotiations over 19 years, and the final documents run to more than 8,000 pages, with 1,301 markers along the 2,357 km border.[1]
The 2022 treaty
Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, signed the demarcation agreement with Uzbekistan’s president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during a state visit to Tashkent that ended on 22 December 2022, alongside a treaty on allied relations and an agreement to create an international centre for industrial cooperation. Tokayev called the border agreement historic.[2]
The treaty came into force on 4 July 2023, completing the legal registration of Kazakhstan’s southern border.[1] On 25 September 2024 the two countries submitted it to the UN Secretariat under Article 102 of the UN Charter; their foreign ministers called this an unprecedented step for Central Asian countries.[3]
“completes the international legal registration of the state border of Kazakhstan on its southern borders”[2]
Timeline
2001
Most of the line agreed
96 percent of the border is delimited.[1]
2002
Delimitation complete
The last sections are delimited in September.[1]
202222 December 2022
Demarcation treaty
Tokayev and Mirziyoyev sign in Tashkent.[2]
20234 July 2023
In force
The demarcation treaty takes effect.[1]
202425 September 2024
Filed at the UN
The treaty is submitted to the UN Secretariat.[3]
More borders
Kazakhstan
Sources
- [1]Border Demarcation Agreement Between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Comes into Force · The Astana Times · 12 July 2023
- [2]
- [3]Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Submit State Border Demarcation Treaty to UN Secretariat · The Astana Times · 26 September 2024
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.