Republic of Tajikistan

TAJIKISTAN. Republic of Tajikistan

A state in the southeast of Central Asia. Area - 142.1 thousand km², over 90% - mountains, belonging to the systems of the Tian Shan, Gissaro-Alai, and Pamir. Capital - Dushanbe (560 thousand), major cities: Khujand, Kurgan-Tyube, Kulyab, Khorog. Administratively, it is divided into Sughd and Khatlon regions (including 45 districts) and the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. Population - 6.1 million (2000). The country is home to representatives of more than 80 nationalities, including Tajiks - 80%, Uzbeks - 15.3%, Russians - about 1.1%, Tatars - 0.3%, Kyrgyz - 1.3%. The official language is Tajik. The interethnic communication language is Russian. Religion: Sunni Islam is widely practiced, and part of the population adheres to another branch of Islam - Shia. There are Ismaili Muslim communities in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (about 100 thousand). There are 6 parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church. The currency is the somoni.

It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established on April 8, 1992). It is a member of the CIS.

A member of the UN since 1992.

National holiday - September 9 - Independence Day (1991).

According to the constitution (adopted on November 6, 1994, with amendments in 1999 and 2003), Tajikistan is a republic. The head of state and executive power is the president (since November 6, 1999 - E. Sh. Rahmonov). The highest legislative body is the Majlisi Oli (since 1999 - bicameral). The Prime Minister is A. G. Akilov.

Main political parties: People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Communist Party, Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Socialist Party, and Social Democratic Party.

In the territory of Tajikistan, in the first half of the 1st millennium BC, the state of Bactria existed. It was under the rule of Iranian rulers, Alexander the Great. It was subjected to invasions (Turkic, Mongol-Tatar, and others).

The Tajik ethnicity mainly formed in the 9th-10th centuries when the territory of modern Tajikistan was part of the Samanid state. From the 16th century, the territory of Tajikistan was part of the Bukhara Khanate. In 1868, the northern part of Tajikistan (part of the Fergana and Samarkand regions) was annexed to Russia, while the southern part - the Bukhara Khanate - was in vassal dependence on Russia. With the establishment of Soviet power in Northern Tajikistan in November 1917 - February 1918, its territory became part of the Turkmen ASSR. After the revolution in Bukhara in 1920, the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic was proclaimed. On October 14, 1924, the Tajik ASSR was formed as part of the Uzbek SSR, and on December 5, 1929, it was transformed into the Tajik SSR within the USSR. The declaration of state sovereignty was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the republic on August 24, 1991. On September 9, 1991, at a session of the Supreme Soviet, the former name Tajik SSR was changed to the Republic of Tajikistan, and its independence was proclaimed.

From 1991 to 1993, Tajikistan experienced a sharp political conflict based on regional-clan contradictions, leading to a civil war. Long inter-Tajik negotiations under the auspices of the UN, which began in April 1994, concluded with the signing on June 27, 1997, in Moscow, by the country's president E. Sh. Rahmonov and the leader of the United Tajik Opposition A. Nuri of the General Agreement on Establishing Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan. Within the framework of the agreement, a Commission for National Reconciliation operated, with the main tasks of conducting general parliamentary elections. With their conduct in February - March 2000, the General Agreement ceased to be in effect, and the commission dissolved itself. In November 1998, an anti-government uprising was suppressed in the north of the country.

Tajikistan is an agrarian-industrial country. As a result of the civil conflict and the collapse of economic ties with the republics of the former USSR, the country faced significant economic difficulties. The economy declares a course towards transitioning to market forms of management; however, directive state regulation still persists. Tajikistan supports integration processes within the CIS. Approximately 1.8 million people are employed in all areas of activity.

The country has deposits of oil, gas, coal, antimony, silver, arsenic, polymetals, although their reserves are relatively small. There are uranium deposits. The republic has rich hydropower resources.

Leading industries include light (cotton, silk, sewing, carpet weaving), food, chemical, non-ferrous metallurgy, and machine engineering (production of agricultural machinery, transformers, metal-cutting machines), and construction materials. Due to its own energy base, the country meets only 50% of its needs. There are 6 hydropower plants, the most powerful of which are the Nurek HPP (2700 MW) and the Golovnaya HPP on the Vakhsh River (210 MW), as well as several large thermal power plants. According to bilateral agreements signed on October 16, 2004, the Russian side participates in the implementation of projects for the completion of the Sangtuda HPP-1 (by 2008 - 670 MW) and the Rogun HPP (by 2009 - 4000 MW). The main branch of the fuel industry is coal (Shurabad brown coal deposit). Low-quality oil is extracted in the north and south, and gas is found in the Vakhsh and Gissar valleys. Gas pipelines have been laid from gas fields to Dushanbe. The north of the country is supplied with Uzbek gas.

Tajikistan is one of the leading cotton-growing regions in the CIS, with thin-fiber varieties accounting for a large part of the cotton produced (43% of its production in the CIS). Silk production, vegetable growing, fruit growing, and viticulture are well developed.

In 2004, GDP growth was 10.6% compared to 2003, and the monthly inflation rate was 6.8%. The average salary (2004) is about $21. Gas, oil products, ferrous metals, timber, machinery products, grain, and food are imported; aluminum (unprocessed), cotton fiber, vegetable oil, and agricultural products are exported. The country has a negative balance in foreign trade.

The main mode of transport is road transport, while rail and air transport are poorly developed. There are 2 major airports in the country - in Dushanbe and Khujand.

The republic has about 3.5 thousand general education schools (including 1.5 thousand classes in schools with Russian language instruction and Russian-speaking classes in mixed schools), 9 higher educational institutions - Tajik and Khujand State Universities, Dushanbe Medical University, and others, as well as the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University.

There are newspapers and magazines published in Tajik and Russian. The largest newspaper is "Jumhuriyat" in Tajik. The state information agency "Khovar" operates. There is a state radio and television company.