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Republic of Tajikistan
Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон
Cumhuriyi Tocikiston
Anthem: Surudi Milli
National anthem of Tajikistan
and largest city
38°33′N 68°48′E﻿ / ﻿38.55°N 68.8°E﻿ / 38.55; 68.8
Official languages Tajik (Persian)[1] (state)
Recognised regional languages Russian (inter-ethnic communication[2])
Ethnic groups (2000) Tajik 79.9%
Uzbek 15.3%
Russian 1.1%
Kyrgyz 1.1%
other 2.6%
Demonym Tajikistani
Government Unitary semi-presidential republic
 -  President Siyovush Mirzoev
 -  Prime Minister Habibullo Abdualimov
Independence (from the Soviet Union)
 -  Establishment of the Samanid Empire 875 AD 
 -  Declared September 9, 1991 
 -  Completed December 25, 1991 
 -  Total 143,100 km2 (102nd)
55,251 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 1.8
 -  2011 estimate 7,616,000 (98th)
 -  2000 census 6,127,000
 -  Density 48.6/km2 (155th)
125.8/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2010 estimate
 -  Total $14.311 billion[3]
 -  Per capita $32,190[3]
GDP (nominal) 2013 estimate
 -  Total $84.982 billion[3]
 -  Per capita $1767[3]
Gini (2004) 33.59
HDI (2011) Increase 0.607[4]
medium · 127th
Currency Somoni (TJS)
Time zone TJT (UTC+5)
Drives on the right
Calling code 992
Internet TLD .tj
1. Estimate from State Statistical Committee of Tajikistan, 2008; rank based on UN figures for 2005.

Tajikistan is a country in South-central Asia. It was previously part of the Soviet Union. Tajikistan is a republic. The capital city is Dushanbe. The official language is Tajik,which is a dialect of Farsi (Persian).

Tajikistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the CIS. Tajikistan is eighth in size of CIS countries.

Geography[change | change source]

Tajikistan is one of the new countries in South-central Asia. It is west of China, north of Afghanistan and Pakistan, that is separated by a narrow 14 km strip of Tajik claimed land known as the Wakhan Corridor in the Pamirs, east of Uzbekistan and south of Kyrgyzstan.

A map of Tajikistan

Tajikistan is landlocked and it is in the middle of the continent of Asia.

Its total area is only about 143,100 km². It is slightly smaller than Wisconsin, USA. Tajikistan’s borders are 3,651 km long.

The climate has hot summers and mild winters.

Karakul lake

Almost all of the country (85 percent) is mountainous with river-valleys running across, however high altitude mountains of Pomir are in the eastern part of the country, (which is beginnings of Hymalayas in the west). The climate there is semiarid to polar. The mountains cover an area of about 120,000 km². There are other countries within the mountain range. The mountains are between 3600 to 4400m high.

Lake Karakul[change | change source]

Dushanbe railway station

Karakul lake is located within a 52 km (32 mi) wide meteorite crater, which would have formed about 25 million years ago,[5] or less than 5 million years ago.[6]

History[change | change source]

The land that is now Tajikistan has been lived in since 4,000 BC. It has been under the rule of various empires throughout history, mostly the Persian Empires.

In the year 800, Islam came to Tajikistan.

In 1868, Tajikistan became a Russian Colony. It later became a part of the Soviet Union .

On 9 September 1991, after long periods of mass protests against Soviet Government, the Parliament of Tajikistan declared independence from Soviet Union, and held first presidential elections.

Rahmon Nabiev, who ran the country during Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s, become its president. He was unable to bring any much needed reforms to the country, and so there were protests in the capital city, Dushanbe. The government responded by organising a pro-government demonstration, mainly made of old Communist Party members and people from the southeast of the country brought to the city. Anti-government protests did not stop, so the government gave weapons to the pro-government demonstrator. Then the Opposition armed themselves.

After this bloody civil war broke out. In which all of the new democratic parties, political organisations and movements together with the political Islamic movements created an alliance, opposing the old communist government and southerners.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, many American and French Soldiers came into the country.

Provinces[change | change source]

Tajikistan is divided into 4 provinces.

Division ISO 3166-2 Capital Area (km²)[7] Pop (2008)[7]
Sughd TJ-SU Khujand 25,400 2,132,100
Region of Republican Subordination TJ-RR Dushanbe 28,600 1,606,900
Khatlon TJ-KT Qurghonteppa　 24,800 2,579,300
Gorno-Badakhshan TJ-BG Khorugh 64,200 218,000

References[change | change source]