Geography of Uzbekistan has been working to help improve the health conditions in Uzbekistan since the 1990s. This has led to improvements in drinking water. The World Bank and United Nations have also been involved in preparing possible solutions for the environmental problems in Uzbekistan. The World Bank worked with the countries in the Aral Sea Basin to form the Aral Sea Basin Assistance Program (ASBP) in the early 1990s. The main roles of the ASBP were the rehabilitation of the Aral Sea area that was destroyed through evaporation, the planning and management of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, and the
Seto Inland Sea Channel, which in turn connects to the Pacific Ocean. The western part of the Seto Inland Sea connects to the Sea of Japan through the Kanmon Straits and to the Pacific through the Bungo Channel. Each part of the Seto Inland Sea has a separate name in Japanese. For example, refers to the strait between Ehime, Yamaguchi, and Ōita prefectures in the western portion of the sea; is the open expanse west of the Geiyo Islands, near Hiroshima prefecture; and refers to the expanse between Yamaguchi prefecture and Suō-Ōshima. There are also many straits located between the major islands, as