One of only two doubly-landlocked countries in the world (Liechtenstein is the other), Uzbekistan shares a border with five other countries; to north, lie the sprawling plains of Kazakhstan; to the east, there’s Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; to the southwest, Turkmenistan stretches out to the Caspian Sea; and directly to the south, lies Afghanistan. The southernmost tip of Uzbekistan, and also the country’s hottest city, is Termez. There are two popular stories about how the city got it’s name; the more likely is that the word comes the ancient Iranian word “tara-maiθa,” which means “a place of transition,” as it used to be an important crossing over the Amu Darya River; the other (probably apocryphal, but fun) claims that “Termez” comes from the Greek word thermos, which means hot, and was so named by Alexander the Great. Read Less