Islamic patriarchs laid the foundation of that road centuries ago. To find truth, Karakalpaks today must break up the hard roadbed that both forces have packed down for so long. Karakalpaks are an ethnic group who live in Karakalpakstan, a republic in the northwest corner of Uzbekistan. They are neighbors to both Russia and China, countries with diverse and intense religious histories. Traditionally a nomadic people, most Karakalpaks live along rivers and irrigation channels in small, clay-walled cottages with dirt floors.
Agriculture supports the economy.
Karakalpak is considered the national language in the republic, though other dialects exist as well. The Human Side Imagine living in a society that is constantly deteriorating. Karakalpakstan has the highest death rate among surrounding territories. For decades past, Soviets channeled water intended for the Aral Sea into irrigation sources. Because the water was used to cultivate crops, the sea shrank by at least 40 percent.