Samarkand is arguably the most famous city in Uzbekistan. Similar to Bukhara, Samarkand was once a stop on the Silk Road, and it is one of the longest continually inhabited cities in Central Asia. Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s first president, was from Samarkand and spent significant energy on restoring the beauty of some of the city’s most famous monuments. Tajik is also a commonly spoken language in Samarkand.