Some 9,000 Muslims from Uzbekistan will make annual pilgrimage to Mecca for the hajj this year, press service of the Committee for Religion under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan said.

"Meetings have been held with the Ministry for Hajj of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The parties have agreed that in 2007, 4,000 people from Uzbekistan will be allowed into Saudi Arabia for umrah (small pilgrimage) and 5,000 people – for hajj," press service said.

To agree on the conditions and the number of pilgrims, the Chairman of the Committee for Religion Artyk Yusupov and the Chairman of the Department of Muslims of Uzbekistan, Mufti Usman Alemov visited Saudi Arabia.

Today, over 2,200 religious organizations of 16 confessions are registered by the Ministry of Justice in Uzbekistan. The majority of them 2,042 (92%) are Islamic organizations, as 88% of the country’s total population believe themselves to be Muslims. At the same time, 164 Christian organizations, 8 Jewish communities, 6 Baha’i communities, one Krishnaist community and 1 Buddhist temple.