Population of Uzbekistan close to 30 million

TASHKENT. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The population of Uzbekistan neared 30 million as of January 1, 2013, the republican state statistics committee said.

"As of January 1, 2013, Uzbekistan had a permanent population of 29,994,600," the report said.

The population grew by 1.5% or 439,200 last year.

Some 15,315,300 live in cities and 14,679,300 live in the countryside.

The country registered 299,100 marriages and 17,900 divorces in January-December 2012.

Some 169,100 people arrived in the republic, and 208,800 left within that period.