Tajikistan

Republic of Tajikistan
ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон
Republic of Tajikistan ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон
	Flag Coat of Arms
	Motto: None
	Anthem: Surudi Milli
Capital and largest city	Dushanbe
Official languages	Persian/Tajik
Government	Republic
• President	Emomali Rahmonov
• Prime Minister	Okil Okilov
Independence
• Declared	September 9, 1991
• Completed	December 25, 1991
• Establishment of the Samanid Empire	875 AD
• Water (%)	0.3
Population
• July 2005 estimate	6,507,000 1 (100th 1)
• 2000 census	6,127,000
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$8.802 billion (139th)
• Per capita	$1,388 (159th)
Currency	Somoni (TJS)
Time zone	UTC+5
Calling code	992
ISO 3166 code	TJ
Internet TLD	.tj
	1.) Rank based on U.N. 2005 figures. Estimate based on CIA figures for 2006.

The Republic of Tajikistan (Persian/Tajik: ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон (Cyrillic), جمهوری تاجیکستان (Perso-Arabic), Çumhurii Toçikiston (Latin)) is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. It borders Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. It is home to the Tajiks, who share culture and history with the Iranians, and speak Tajik, a language closely related to Persian. Once the location of the famous Samanid Empire, Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic.

After independence, however, Tajikistan suffered from a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly-established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. Its natural resources such as cotton and aluminum have contributed greatly to this steady improvement.

Name

"Tajikistan" means the "Land of the Tajiks". Some believe that the name Tajik is a geographic reference to the crown (Taj) of the Pamir Knot.

Tajikistan frequently appears as Tadjikistan or Tadzhikistan in English. This is due to a transliteration from the Russian Таджикистан. In Russian there is no single letter j to represent the phoneme /ʤ/ and дж, or dzh, is used. Tadzhikistan is the most common alternate spelling and is widely used in English literature derived from Russian sources. Tadjikistan is the spelling in French and can occasionally be found in English language texts. The way of writing Tajikistan in the Perso-Arabic script is: .تاجکستان

Controversy surrounds the correct term used to identify people from Tajikistan. The word Tajik has been the traditional term used to describe people from Tajikistan and appears widely in literature. But the ethnic politics of Central Asia have made the word Tajik a controversial word, as it implies that Tajikistan is only a nation for ethnic Tajiks and not ethnic Uzbeks, Russians etc. In addition, the Pamiri population in Gorno-Badakhshan also have sought to create an ethnic identity separate from that of the Tajiks. There is a growing consensus that Tajikistani, which is not ethnic specific and is inclusive of ethnic Tajiks and non-Tajiks alike, is the correct term to call people from Tajikistan.

| Ismail Samani Peak (highest) |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(143, 177, 172);" |7,495 m |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(143, 177, 172);" |24,590 ft |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(143, 177, 172);" | North of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province |- |Avicenna Peak |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(188, 137, 190);" |6,974 m |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(188, 137, 190);" |22,881 ft |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(188, 137, 190);" | North of Ismail Samani Peak |- |Peak Korzhenievski |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(201, 185, 116);" |7,105 m |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(201, 185, 116);" |23,310 ft |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(201, 185, 116);" | Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province |- |Qatorkuhi Akademiyai Fanho |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(151, 199, 137);" |6,785 m |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(151, 199, 137);" |22,260 ft |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(151, 199, 137);" | Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province |- |Concord Peak |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(208, 172, 132);" |5,469 m |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(208, 172, 132);" |17,943 ft |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(208, 172, 132);" | Southern border in the northern ridge of the Karakoram Range |- |Qullai Karl Marks |style="text-align: center;" |6,726 m |style="text-align: center;" |22,067 ft |style="text-align: center;" | Southern border in the northern ridge of the Karakoram Range |- | Qullai Mayakovskiy |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(192, 154, 124);" |6,096 m |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(192, 154, 124);" |20,000 ft |style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(192, 154, 124);" | Along the border to Afghanistan. |}

Exclaves

There are three Tajik exclaves [1], all of them located in the Fergana Valley region where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet. The largest is Vorukh (exclave area between 95–130 km²/37–50 sq mi, population estimated between 23,000 and 29,000, 95% Tajiks and 5% Kyrgyz, distributed among 17 villages), located 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of Isfara on the right bank of the Karafshin river, in Kyrgyz territory. Another exclave in Kyrgyzstan is a small settlement near the Kyrgyz railway station of Kairagach. The last is the village of Sarvan, which includes a narrow, long strip of land (about 15 km (9 mi) long by 1 km (over ½ mi) wide) alongside the road from Angren to Kokand; it is surrounded by Uzbek territory.

There are no enclaves within Tajikistan.

Economy

Tajikistan was the poorest country in Central Asia following a civil war after it became independent in 1991. With foreign revenue precariously dependent upon exports of cotton and aluminium, the economy is highly vulnerable to external shocks. In FY 2000, international assistance remained an essential source of support for rehabilitation programs that reintegrated former civil war combatants into the civilian economy, thus helping keep the peace. International assistance also was necessary to address the second year of severe drought that resulted in a continued shortfall of food production. On August 21, 2001, the Red Cross announced that a famine was striking Tajikistan, and called for international aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan's economy grew substantially after the war. The GDP of Tajikistan expanded at an average rate of 9.6% over the period of 2000-2004 according to the World Bank data. This improved Tajikistan's position among other Central Asian countries (namely Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), which seem to have degraded economically ever since. BBC's Guide to Central Asia.

Demographics

Tajikistan has a population of 7,011,556 (July 2004). The major ethnic group is the Tajik, although there is a sizeable minority of Uzbeks, and a small population of Russians, whose numbers are declining due to emigration. Pamiris of Badakhshan are considered to belong to larger group of Tajiks. Likewise, the official language of Tajikistan is Tajik Persian, while Russian is largely spoken in business and for government purposes. Although the Tajik and Uzbek are now classified as separate ethnic groups, on account of their languages, this is a relatively new phenomenon and originates from the conquest of Central Asia by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Despite its poverty, Tajikistan has a high rate of literacy with an estimated 98% of the population having the ability to read and write. Most of the population follows Sunni Islam, although a sizeable number of Shi'a are present as well. Bukharan Jews had lived in Tajikistan since the 2nd century BC, but today only a few hundred remain. There is also a small population of Yaghnobi people.

The Tajik Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare reported that 104,272 disabled people are registered in Tajikistan (2000). This group of people suffers most from poverty in Tajikistan. The Tajik government and the World Bank considered activities to support this part of the population (described in the [2]) Poverty Reduction Paper.

Culture

The culture of Tajikistan was originally shared with that of Uzbekistan, but during Communist rule, the cultural fabric of the region was disrupted by the Soviet leadership imposing artificial boundaries and the notion of nation-state - alien to the region - on the area. This has not been completely detrimental though, as Tajikistan was known for its theater and famous novelists during the Soviet era. Among these writers were individuals who strove to purify the Tajik language by tying it in more with Dari and eliminating Russian words and Arabic words.

Most citizens of Tajikistan are Sunni Muslim. The impact of Islam has grown in recent years, and was a strong bonding force during Tajikistan's fight against Soviet rule and during its civil war. Historically, a lot of Tajik culture ties it to the Persian past of the region, and Persian writers, scientists and poets such as Ibn Sina, Firdausi, Rudaki, and Omar Khayyám are especially revered.

Tajikistan is home to a small Jewish community and used to have a synagogue, the Dushanbe synagogue.

The Yaghnobi people live in mountainous areas of northern Tajikistan. The estimated number of Yagnobians is now about 2500. Forced migrations have decimated their numbers. They speak the Yaghnobi language, which has its roots in the Sogdian language.