The Tajik people came under Russian rule in the 1860s and 1870s, but Russia's hold on Central Asia weakened following the Revolution of 1917. Bolshevik control of the area was fiercely contested and not fully reestablished until 1925. Tajikistan became independent in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and it is now in the process of strengthening its democracy and transitioning to a free market economy after its 1992-1997 civil war. There have been no major security incidents in recent years, although the country remains the poorest in the former Soviet sphere. Attention by the international community in the wake of the war in Afghanistan has brought increased economic development assistance, which could create jobs and increase stability in the long term. Tajikistan is in the early stages of seeking World Trade Organization membership and has joined NATO's Partnership for Peace.

Central Asia, west of China

39 00 N, 71 00 E

total: 143,100 sq km
land: 142,700 sq km
water: 400 sq km

total: 3,651 km
border countries: Afghanistan 1,206 km, China 414 km, Kyrgyzstan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,161 km

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

midlatitude continental, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains

Pamir and Alay Mountains dominate landscape; western Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest

lowest point: Syr Darya (Sirdaryo) 300 m
highest point: Qullai Ismoili Somoni 7,495 m

hydropower, some petroleum, uranium, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten, silver, gold

arable land: 6.52%
permanent crops: 0.89%
other: 92.59% (2005)

7,220 sq km (2003)

earthquakes and floods

inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides

landlocked; mountainous region dominated by the Trans-Alay Range in the north and the Pamirs in the southeast; highest point, Qullai Ismoili Somoni (formerly Communism Peak), was the tallest mountain in the former USSR

7,320,815 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 37.9% (male 1,396,349/female 1,375,168)
15-64 years: 57.4% (male 2,091,476/female 2,108,889)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 154,162/female 194,771) (2006 est.)

total: 20 years
male: 19.7 years
female: 20.4 years (2006 est.)

2.19% (2006 est.)

32.65 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

8.25 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

-2.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 106.49 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 117.83 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 94.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 64.94 years
male: 62.03 years
female: 68 years (2006 est.)

4 children born/woman (2006 est.)

less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

less than 200 (2003 est.)

less than 100 (2001 est.)

noun: Tajikistani(s)
adjective: Tajikistani

Tajik 79.9%, Uzbek 15.3%, Russian 1.1%, Kyrgyz 1.1%, other 2.6% (2000 census)

Sunni Muslim 85%, Shi'a Muslim 5%, other 10% (2003 est.)

Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.4%
male: 99.6%
female: 99.1% (2003 est.)

conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan
conventional short form: Tajikistan
local long form: Jumhurii Tojikiston
local short form: Tojikiston
former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic

republic

Dushanbe

2 provinces (viloyatho, singular - viloyat) and 1 autonomous province* (viloyati mukhtor); Viloyati Khatlon (Qurghonteppa), Viloyati Mukhtori Kuhistoni Badakhshon* [Gorno-Badakhshan] (Khorugh), Viloyati Sughd (Khujand)
note: the administrative center name follows in parentheses

9 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Independence Day (or National Day), 9 September (1991)

6 November 1994

based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Supreme Assembly or Majlisi Oli consists of the Assembly of Representatives (lower chamber) or Majlisi Namoyandagon (63 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the National Assembly (upper chamber) or Majlisi Milliy (34 seats; members are indirectly elected, 25 selected by local deputies, 8 appointed by the president; 1 seat reserved for the former president; all serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 27 February and 13 March 2005 for the Assembly of Representatives (next to be held February 2010) and 25 March 2005 for the National Assembly (next to be held February 2010)
election results: Assembly of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PDPT 74.9%, CPT 13.6%, Islamic Revival Party 8.9%, other 2.5%; seats by party - PDPT 51, CPT 5, Islamic Revival Party 2, independents 5; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PDPT 29, CPT 2, independents 3

Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among the 15 former Soviet republics. Only 6% of the land area is arable; cotton is the most important crop. Mineral resources, varied but limited in amount, include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten. Industry consists only of a large aluminum plant, hydropower facilities, and small obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing. The civil war (1992-97) severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. Even though 64% of its people continue to live in abject poverty, Tajikistan has experienced steady economic growth since 1997, but experienced a slight drop in its growth rate to 8% in 2005 from 10.6% in 2004. Continued privatization of medium and large state-owned enterprises would further increase productivity. Tajikistan's economic situation, however, remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural reforms, weak governance, widespread unemployment, and the external debt burden. A debt restructuring agreement was reached with Russia in December 2002, including a $250 million write-off of Tajikistan's $300 million debt to Russia. Tajikistan ranks third in the world in terms of water resources per head. A proposed investment to finish the hydropower dams Rogun and Sangtuda would substantially add to electricity production. If finished, Rogun will be the world's tallest dam.

$8.826 billion (2005 est.)

$1.943 billion (2005 est.)

8% (2005 est.)

$1,200 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 24%
industry: 21%
services: 55% (2005 est.)

3.7 million (2003)

agriculture: 67.2%
industry: 7.5%
services: 25.3% (2000 est.)

12% (2004 est.)

64% (2004 est.)

lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1998)

34.7 (1998)

8% (2005 est.)

19.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

revenues: $442.3 million
expenditures: $542.6 million; including capital expenditures of $86 million (2005 est.)

cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats

aluminum, zinc, lead; chemicals and fertilizers, cement, vegetable oil, metal-cutting machine tools, refrigerators and freezers

8.2% (2002 est.)

16.5 billion kWh (2004)

15.05 billion kWh (2003)

3.874 billion kWh (2003)

4.81 billion kWh (2004)

354.8 bbl/day (2003 est.)

25,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

30 million cu m (2004 est.)

1.4 billion cu m (2004 est.)

1.4 billion cu m (2004 est.)

-$92 million (2005 est.)

$950 million f.o.b. (2005 est.)

aluminum, electricity, cotton, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles

Netherlands 41.4%, Turkey 15.3%, Uzbekistan 7.2%, Latvia 7.1%, Switzerland 6.9%, Russia 6.6% (2004)

$1.25 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

electricity, petroleum products, aluminum oxide, machinery and equipment, foodstuffs

Russia 20.2%, Uzbekistan 14.2%, Kazakhstan 12.8%, Azerbaijan 7.2%, US 6.7%, China 4.8%, Ukraine 4.5% (2004)

$195 million (2005 est.)

$888 million (2004 est.)

$67 million from US (2005)

somoni

calendar year

245,200 (2004)

47,600 (2003)

general assessment: poorly developed and not well maintained; many towns are not linked to the national network
domestic: cable and microwave radio relay
international: country code - 992; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; Dushanbe linked by Intelsat to international gateway switch in Ankara (Turkey); satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 2 Intelsat

AM 8, FM 10, shortwave 2 (2002)

13 (2001)

.tj

63 (2005)

5,000 (2005)

45 (2005)

total: 17
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 3 (2005)

total: 28
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 26 (2005)

gas 541 km; oil 38 km (2004)

total: 482 km
broad gauge: 482 km 1.520-m gauge (2004)

total: 27,767 km (2000)

200 km (along Vakhsh River) (2006)

Ground Troops, Air and Air Defense Troops, Mobile Troops (2005)

boundary agreements signed in 2002 cede 1,000 sq km of Pamir Mountain range to China in return for China relinquishing claims to 28,000 sq km of Tajikistani lands, but neither state has published maps of ceded areas and demarcation has not yet commenced; talks continue with Uzbekistan to delimit border and remove minefields; disputes in Isfara Valley delay delimitation with Kyrgyzstan

major transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of opium poppy for domestic consumption; Tajikistan seizes roughly 80% of all drugs captured in Central Asia and stands third worldwide in seizures of opiates (heroin and raw opium)