Background: Tajikistan experienced three changes of government and a five-year civil war after gaining independence in 1991. A peace agreement between the warring parties was signed in 1997, its entry into force was announced at the end of 1999. The agreement provided for the legalization of opposition political parties until elections in 1999, which took place, but these parties did not achieve significant participation in government. The rampant criminal and political violence in the country remains a factor hindering Tajikistan’s ability to cooperate with foreign countries.
Geography
Location: Central Asia, west of China.
Geographic coordinates: 39° 00′ N. latitude, 71° 00′ E
Reference map: Commonwealth of Independent States.
Area: total: 143,100 square kilometers; land surface area: 142,700 km2; water surface area: 400 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Wisconsin.
Land borders: total: 3,651 km; with neighboring states: with Afghanistan 1,206 km, with China 414 km, with Kyrgyzstan 870 km, with Uzbekistan 1,161 km.
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked).
Maritime claims: none (landlocked).
Climate: continental temperate latitudes, hot summers, mild winters; varies from popuz-dry to arctic in the Pamirs.
Relief: The Pamir and Alai mountains define the relief; the western part of the Ferghana Valley in the north, the Kofarnihon and Vakhsh valleys in the southwest.
Maximum and minimum heights: lowest point: Syrdarya river 300 m; highest point: Ismail Samani Peak (former Communism Peak) 7,495 m.
Natural resources: hydropower, some reserves of oil, uranium, mercury, lignite, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten.
Land use: arable land: 6%; crop land: 0%; pastures: 25%; forests and plantations: 4%; others: 65% (1993 est.).
Irrigated land: 6,390 km2 (1993 est.).
Natural Hazards: no data.
Actual environmental problems: unsatisfactory sanitary conditions; growing soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive use of pesticides; The Aral Sea suffers from overuse for irrigation of the waters of the rivers flowing into it and the associated pollution.
International agreements on environmental protection: member: Biodiversity, Climate change, Desertification, Environmental change, Ozone layer protection; signed but not ratified: no.
Note to the section “Geography”: has no access to the sea.
Population
Population: 6,578,681 (July 2001 est.).
Age structure: under 14: 41.18% (male 1,367,194; female 1,341,967); 15 to 64 years old: 54.22% (male 1,773,605; female 1,793,345); over 65: 4.6% (male 131,009; female 171,561) (2001 est.).
Population growth: 2.12% (2001 est.).
Birth rate: 33.23 newborns / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Mortality: 8.57 deaths / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Migration: -3.49 people / 1000 people (2001 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male/female; up to 15 years: 1.02 male/female; 15 to 64 years old: 0.99 male/female; over 65: 0.76 male/female; for the general population: 0.99 male/female (2001 oc)
Child mortality: 116.09 deaths/1000 births (2001 est.).
Life expectancy: for the general population: 64.18 years; men: 61.09 years; women: 67.42 years (2001 est.).
General birth rate: 4.29 children/wives. (2001 est.).
Proportion of adults infected with HIV: less than 0.01% (1999 est.).
Number of people infected with HIV: less than 100 (1999 est.).
AIDS deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.).
Nationality: noun: Tajik, Tajik, Tajiks; adjective: Tajik.
Ethnic groups: Tajiks 64.9%, Uzbeks 25%, Russians 3.5% (continue to emigrate), others 6.6%.
Believers: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shia Muslim 5%.
Languages): Tajik (official), Russian is widely used in government agencies and in business.
Literacy: definition: persons aged 15 and over who can read and write; for the general population: 98%; men: 99%; women: 97% (1989 est.).
Politics
Common long form: Republic of Tajikistan;
Common short form: Tajikistan; local long form: Jumhurii Tojikiston; local short form: no; former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
State structure: republic. See politicsezine.com to know more about Tajikistan Political System.
Capital: Dushanbe.
Administrative division: 2 regions (viloyat) and one autonomous region* (viloyati mukhto-ri): Mukhtori-Kukhistoni-Badakhshoni* (Khorog), Khat-lon (Kurgonteppa – former Kurgan-Tube), Leninabad (Khojent – former Lenin – note : the names of administrative centers are given in brackets
Independence: from September 9, 1991 (until 1991 – part of the USSR)
National holiday: Independence Day, September 9 (1991).
Constitution: adopted November 6, 1994
Legal system: based on the civil law system; judicial review of legal acts is impossible.
Suffrage: from 18 years old; universal.
head of state: President Emomali RAHMONOV (since 6 November 1994; head of state and chairman of the Supreme Council since 19 November 1992);
head of government: Prime Minister Ogil OQILOV (since 20 January 1999);
government: the council of ministers is appointed by the president, approved by the Supreme Council; elections: the president is elected by popular vote for a 7-year term; elections last held 6 November 1999 (next to be held in 2006); the prime minister is appointed by the president; election results: Emomali RAKHMONOV elected president; Percentage of votes received: Emomali RAKHMONOV 97%, Davlat USMONOV 2%.
Legislature: the bicameral Supreme Council (Majlisi Oli) consists of the Assembly of Representatives (Majlisi Namoyandagon) (lower house; 63 members are elected by popular vote for 5 years) and the National Assembly (Majlisi Milliy) (upper house; 33 members, of which 25 are elected by local deputies, and 8 are appointed by the president); elections: last held 27 February and 12 March 2000 for the Assembly of Representatives (next to be held in 2005) and 23 March 2000 for the National Assembly (next to be held in 2005); election results: Assembly of Representatives, distribution of votes by party: PDPT 65%, Communist Party 20%, Islamic Renaissance Party 7.5%, other 7.5%; distribution of seats among parties: no data; National Assembly, distribution of votes by party: no data; distribution of seats among parties: no data.
Judiciary: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the president.
Political parties and leaders: National Unity Congress of Tajikistan (Saiffidin TURAYEV); Democratic Party (TDP) (Mah-madruzi ISKANDDAROV, chairman); Islamic Renaissance Party (Muhammadsharif HIMMAT-ZODA, chairman); Movement “Pali Badakhshan” (Ato-bek AMIRBEKOV [Atobek AMIRBEKOV]); National Movement Party (Hakim MUHHABATOV); Party of Justice and Development (Rahmatullo ZOIROV [Rahmatullo Z0IROV]); People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT) (Emomali RAKHMONOV); Movement “Rastokhez” (Renaissance) (Tohiri ABDU-ZHABBAR [Tohiri ABDUJABBOR]); Socialist Party (Sherali KENJAEV); Tajik Communist Party (CPT) (Shodi SHABDOLOV); Party “Adolat”
Political influence groups and their leaders:
Participation in international organizations: AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, IOC, IOM, ITU, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer).
Diplomatic representation in the US: Tajikistan does not have an embassy in the US, but has a permanent mission to the UN; Address: 136 East 67th Street, New York, NY 10021; phone: ft] (212) 472-7645; fax: ft] (212) 628-0252; Permanent Representative to the UN Rashid ALIMOV.
US Diplomatic Mission: Chief of Mission: Ambassador Robert FINN; embassy: temporarily located at the US Embassy in Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan); postal address: the address of the embassy is used; phone: no data; fax: no data.
Description of the flag: three horizontal stripes of red (top), white (greater width) and green; a golden crown in the center of the white band topped with seven golden five-pointed stars.
