[2] According to the 1897 census, the overwhelming majority of Poles in Uzbek lands lived in the cities, with the largest populations in Tashkent (2,206), Samarkand (1,072), Fergana (727), Toʻrtkoʻl (299), Kokand (215), Kattakurgan (211), Andijan (194) and Namangan (191).

[3][4][5] The Poles built the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Tashkent, also known as the Polish Church, now a cultural heritage site of the Uzbek capital.

During World War I, ethnic Polish conscripts and legionnaires from the Austrian and German armies were held by the Russians in a prisoner-of-war camp in Fergana.

[9] The Poles suffered from epidemics and famine, so they opened temporary feeding centers, orphanages, clinics and small hospitals, yet 2,500 soldiers and many more civilians still died.

[10][11][12] A remnant of this period are Polish military cemeteries located in 15 cities in Uzbekistan, including Chiroqchi, Gʻuzor, Jizzakh, Karmana, Kenimekh, Kitob, Margilan, Olmazor, Qarshi, Shahrisabz, Tashkent, Yakkabogʻ, Yangiyoʻl.