Uzbekistan lies between latitudes 37° and 46° N, and longitudes 56° and 74° E. It stretches  from west to east and  from north to south. Bordering Kazakhstan and the Aralkum Desert (former Aral Sea) to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to the southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is one of the largest Central Asian states and the only Central Asian state to border all the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border (less than ) with Afghanistan to the south.