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. Much of present-day Sughd province was transferred from the Uzbek SSR to the newly formed Tajik SSR in 1929. Ethnic Uzbeks form a substantial minority in Tajikistan. Tajikistan became independent in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and experienced a civil war between regional factions from 1992-97. Tajikistan experienced several security incidents in 2010-12, including a mass prison-break from a Dushanbe detention facility, the country's first suicide car bombing in Khujand, and armed conflict between government forces and local strongmen in the Rasht Valley and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast. The country remains the poorest in the former Soviet sphere. Attention by the international community since the beginning of the NATO intervention in Afghanistan has brought increased economic development and security assistance, which could create jobs and strengthen stability in the long term. Tajikistan was admitted to the WTO in December 2012 and is expected to become a member state in mid-2013; Tajikistan joined NATO's Partnership for Peace in 2002.

Central Asia, west of China, south of Kyrgyzstan

39 00 N, 71 00 E

Asia

slightly smaller than Wisconsin

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

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

7,220 sq km (2003)

99.7 cu km (1997)

earthquakes; 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

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

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

Sunni Muslim 85%, Shia Muslim 5%, other 10% (2003 est.)

7,768,385 (July 2012 est.)

1.823% (2012 est.)

25.93 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

6.49 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-1.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

DUSHANBE (capital) 704,000 (2009)

65 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

2.85 children born/woman (2012 est.)

5.3% of GDP (2009)

2.013 physicians/1,000 population (2006)

5.41 beds/1,000 population (2008)

urban: 95% of population

rural: 94% of population

total: 94% of population

urban: 5% of population

rural: 6% of population

total: 6% of population

0.2% (2009 est.)

9,100 (2009 est.)

fewer than 500 (2009 est.)

14.9% (2005)

3.5% of GDP (2008)

republic

2 provinces (viloyatho, singular - viloyat), 1 autonomous province* (viloyati mukhtor), 1 capital region** (viloyati poytakht), and 1 area referred to as Districts Under Republic Administration***; Dushanbe**, Khatlon (Qurghonteppa), Kuhistoni Badakhshon [Gorno-Badakhshan]* (Khorugh), Nohiyahoi Tobei Jumhuri***, Sughd (Khujand)

9 September 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

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

6 November 1994

civil law system

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Supreme Assembly or Majlisi Oli consists of the National Assembly (upper chamber) or Majlisi Milli (34 seats; 25 members selected by local deputies, 8 appointed by the president; 1 seat reserved for the former president; members serve five-year terms) and the Assembly of Representatives (lower chamber) or Majlisi Namoyandagon (63 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); Constitutional Court, Supreme Economic Court

Agrarian Party of Tajikistan or APT [Amir QARAQULOV]; Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan or IRPT [Muhiddin KABIRI]; Party of Economic Reform or PER [Olimjon BOBOEV]; People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan or PDPT [Emomali RAHMON]; Social Democratic Party or SDPT [Rahmatullo ZOYIROV]; Tajik Communist Party or CPT [Shodi SHABDOLOV]

influential spiritual leader Akbar TURAJONZODA; Tajikistani Youth Union in Russia [Izzat AMON]; Guruhi-24 (Group-24) [Umarali QUVVATOV]; Vatandor (Patriot) Movement [Dodojon ATOVULLOEV]

ADB, CICA, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (membership pending Tajikistan's ratification)

three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe of white, and green; a gold crown surmounted by seven gold, five-pointed stars is located in the center of the white stripe; red represents the sun, victory, and the unity of the nation, white stands for purity, cotton, and mountain snows, while green is the color of Islam and the bounty of nature; the crown symbolizes the Tajik people; the seven stars signify the Tajik magic number "seven" - a symbol of perfection and the embodiment of happiness

crown surmounted by seven, five-pointed stars

Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among the 15 former Soviet republics. Because of a lack of employment opportunities in Tajikistan, as many as a million Tajik citizens work abroad, almost all of them in Russia, supporting families in Tajikistan through remittances. Less than 7% of the land area is arable. Cotton is the most important crop, and its production is closely monitored, and in many cases controlled, by the government. In the wake of the National Bank of Tajikistan's admission in December 2007 that it had improperly lent money to investors in the cotton sector, the IMF canceled its program in Tajikistan. A reform agenda is underway, according to which over half a billion dollars in farmer debt is being forgiven, and IMF assistance has been reinstated. Mineral resources 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. Tajikistan's economic situation remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural reforms, corruption, weak governance, seasonal power shortages, and the external debt burden. Electricity output expanded with the completion of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower dam - finished in 2009 with Russian investment. The smaller Sangtuda-2, built with Iranian investment, began operating in 2011. The government of Tajikistan is pinning major hopes on the massive Roghun dam which, if finished according to Tajik plans, will be the tallest dam in the world and significantly expand electricity output. The World Bank has agreed to fund two feasibility studies for the dam (technical-economic, and social-enviromental), scheduled to be completed in mid-2013. In January 2010, the government began selling shares in the Roghun enterprise to its population, ultimately raising over $180 million but Tajikistan will still need significant investment to complete the dam. According to numerous reports, many Tajik individuals and businesses were forced to buy shares. The coerced share sales finally ended in mid-2010 under intense criticism from donors, particularly the IMF, and all sales of Roghun shares in 2012. Food and fuel prices in 2011 increased to the highest levels seen since 2002 due in part to an increase in rail transport tariffs through Uzbekistan. Tajikistan imports approximately 60% of its food and 90% of that comes by rail. Uzbekistan closed one of the rail lines into Tajikistan in late 2011, hampering the transit of goods.

$17.61 billion (2012 est.)

$16.48 billion (2011 est.)

$15.35 billion (2010 est.)

$7.263 billion (2012 est.)

6.8% (2012 est.)

7.4% (2011 est.)

6.5% (2010 est.)

$2,200 (2012 est.)

$2,100 (2011 est.)

$2,000 (2010 est.)

2.1 million (2009)

2.2% (2009 est.)

2.3% (2008 est.)

46.7% (2009 est.)

32.6 (2006)

34.7 (1998)

16.4% of GDP (2012 est.)

28.2% of GDP (2012 est.)

-0.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

6.3% (2012 est.)

12.4% (2011 est.)

5% (31 December 2010 est.)

8% (31 December 2009 est.)

21.2% (31 December 2012 est.)

26.3% (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.213 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$989.1 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.979 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.248 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.285 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$1.009 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$NA

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

7.5% (2010 est.)

-$401 million (2012 est.)

-$303.9 million (2011 est.)

$1.746 billion (2012 est.)

$1.739 billion (2011 est.)

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

Turkey 30.2%, Russia 8.3%, Iran 7%, China 6.7%, South Korea 6.7%, Afghanistan 6%, Italy 5.1% (2011)

$3.733 billion (2012 est.)

$3.54 billion (2011 est.)

petroleum products, aluminum oxide, machinery and equipment, foodstuffs

China 45.9%, Russia 16.4%, Kazakhstan 6.8%, US 4.1% (2011)

$596.5 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$532.4 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.771 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$2.589 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$100.3 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$93.05 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$18.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$16.3 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Tajikistani somoni (TJS) per US dollar -

4.791 (2012 est.)

4.6103 (2011 est.)

4.379 (2010 est.)

4.1428 (2009)

3.4563 (2008)

calendar year

15.95 billion kWh (2009 est.)

13.29 billion kWh (2009 est.)

4.247 billion kWh (2009 est.)

338.5 million kWh (2010 est.)

4.426 million kW (2009 est.)

8.8% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

91.2% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

215 bbl/day (2011 est.)

80 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

12 million bbl (1 January 2013 est.)

225 bbl/day (2008 est.)

45,810 bbl/day (2011 est.)

225.2 bbl/day (2008 est.)

10,770 bbl/day (2008 est.)

41 million cu m (2010 est.)

226 million cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

185 million cu m (2010 est.)

5.663 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

6.678 million Mt (2010 est.)

380,000 (2011)

6.324 million (2011)

state-run TV broadcaster transmits nationally on 4 stations and regionally on 4 stations; 11 independent TV stations broadcast locally and regionally; some households are able to receive Russian and other foreign stations via cable and satellite; state-run radio broadcaster operates Radio Tajikistan, Voice of Dushanbe, and several regional stations; a small number of independent radio stations (2010)

.tj

6,258 (2012)

700,000 (2009)

24 (2012)

gas 549 km; oil 38 km (2010)

200 km (along Vakhsh River) (2011)

Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Mobile Forces (2010)

18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year conscript service obligation (2009)

1.5% of GDP (2010)

in 2006, China and Tajikistan pledged to commence demarcation of the revised boundary agreed to in the delimitation of 2002; 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); significant consumer of opiates