from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Tajikistan
Introduction
Background: 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.
Geography
Location: Central Asia, west of China
Geographic 39 00 N, 71 00 E
coordinates:
Map Asia
references:
Area: total: 143,100 sq km
land: 142,700 sq km
water: 400 sq km
Area - slightly smaller than Wisconsin
comparative:
Land total: 3,651 km
boundaries: border countries: Afghanistan 1,206 km, China 414 km,
Kyrgyzstan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,161 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime none (landlocked)
claims:
Climate: midlatitude continental, hot summers, mild winters;
semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains
Terrain: Pamir and Alay Mountains dominate landscape; western
Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys
in southwest
Elevation lowest point: Syr Darya (Sirdaryo) 300 m
extremes: highest point: Qullai Ismoili Somoni 7,495 m
Natural hydropower, some petroleum, uranium, mercury, brown
resources: coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten, silver, gold
Land use: arable land: 6.52%
permanent crops: 0.89%
other: 92.59% (2005)
Irrigated 7,220 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural earthquakes and floods
hazards:
Environment - inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of
current soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive
issues: pesticides
Environment - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change,
international Desertification, Environmental Modification, Ozone
agreements: Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements
Geography - landlocked; mountainous region dominated by the
note: 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
People
Population: 7,320,815 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 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.)
Median age: total: 20 years
male: 19.7 years
female: 20.4 years (2006 est.)
Population 2.19% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 32.65 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 8.25 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration -2.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: 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.)
Infant total: 106.49 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 117.83 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 94.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 64.94 years
expectancy at male: 62.03 years
birth: female: 68 years (2006 est.)
Total 4 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - less than 200 (2003 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - less than 100 (2001 est.)
deaths:
Nationality: noun: Tajikistani(s)
adjective: Tajikistani
Ethnic groups: Tajik 79.9%, Uzbek 15.3%, Russian 1.1%, Kyrgyz 1.1%,
other 2.6% (2000 census)
Religions: Sunni Muslim 85%, Shi'a Muslim 5%, other 10% (2003
est.)
Languages: Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and
business
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.4%
male: 99.6%
female: 99.1% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan
conventional short form: Tajikistan
local long form: Jumhurii Tojikiston
local short form: Tojikiston
former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
Government republic
type:
Capital: name: Dushanbe
geographic coordinates: 38 35 N, 68 48 E
time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington,
DC during Standard Time)
Administrative 2 provinces (viloyatho, singular - viloyat) and 1
divisions: 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
Independence: 9 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National Independence Day (or National Day), 9 September (1991)
holiday:
Constitution: 6 November 1994
Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of
legislative acts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive chief of state: President Emomali RAHMONOV (since 6
branch: November 1994; head of state and Supreme Assembly
chairman since 19 November 1992)
head of government: Prime Minister Oqil OQILOV (since
20 January 1999)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the
president, approved by the Supreme Assembly
elections: president elected by popular vote for a
seven-year term (eligible for a second term); election
last held 6 November 2006 (next to be held November
2013); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Emomali RAHMONOV reelected president;
percent of vote - Emomali RAHMONOV 76.4%, Olimzon
BOBOYEV 7.2%, other 16.4%
Legislative bicameral Supreme Assembly or Majlisi Oli consists of
branch: 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
Judicial Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
branch:
Political Agrarian Party of Tajikistan or APT [Amir KARAKULOV];
parties and Democratic Party or DPT [Mahmadruzi ISKANDAROV];
leaders: Islamic Revival Party [Said Abdullo NURI]; Party of
Economic Reform or PER [Olimjon BOBOYEV]; People's
Democratic Party of Tajikistan or PDPT [Emomali
RAHMONOV]; Social Democratic Party or SDPT [Rahmatullo
ZOYIROV]; Socialist Party or SPT [Abdualim GHAFFOROV];
Tajik Communist Party or CPT [Shodi SHABDOLOV]
Political unregistered political parties: Agrarian Party
pressure [Hikmatullo NASREDDINOV]; Party of Justice [Abdurahim
groups and KARIMOV]; People's Unity Party [Abdumalik
leaders: ABDULLOJONOV]; Progressive Party [Sulton QUVVATOV];
Socialist Party [Mirhuseyn NAZRIYEV]; note - this is
the SPT that was disbanded, another pro-government SPT
(listed above under political parties) replaced it;
Unity Party [Hikmatullo SAIDOV]
International AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
organization ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
participation: Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITU, MIGA, OIC, OPCW, OSCE,
PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Khamrokhon ZARIPOV
representation chancery: 1005 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC
in the US: 20037
telephone: [1] (202) 223-6090
FAX: [1] (202) 223-6091
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey Ann JACOBSON
representation embassy: 109-A Ismoili Somoni Ave., Dushanbe 734003
from the US: mailing address: 7090 Dushanbe Place, Dulles, VA 20189
telephone: [992] (37) 229-20-00
FAX: [992] (37) 229-20-50
Flag three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe
description: of white, and green; a gold crown surmounted by seven
gold, five-pointed stars is located in the center of
the white stripe
Economy
Economy - Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among
overview: 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.
GDP $8.617 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $1.887 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 6.7% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $1,200 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 23.4%
composition by industry: 28.6%
sector: services: 48% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 3.7 million (2003)
Labor force - agriculture: 67.2%
by occupation: industry: 7.5%
services: 25.3% (2000 est.)
Unemployment 12% (2004 est.)
rate:
Population 64% (2004 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 3.2%
income or highest 10%: 25.2% (1998)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 34.7 (1998)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 7.1% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 19.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $442.3 million
expenditures: $542.6 million; including capital
expenditures of $86 million (2005 est.)
Agriculture - cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle,
products: sheep, goats
Industries: aluminum, zinc, lead; chemicals and fertilizers,
cement, vegetable oil, metal-cutting machine tools,
refrigerators and freezers
Industrial 8.2% (2002 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 16.5 billion kWh (2004)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 1.9%
production by hydro: 98.1%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - 15.05 billion kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 3.874 billion kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 4.81 billion kWh (2004)
imports:
Oil - 354.8 bbl/day (2003 est.)
production:
Oil - 25,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Natural gas - 30 million cu m (2004 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 1.4 billion cu m (2004 est.)
consumption:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2004 est.)
exports:
Natural gas - 1.4 billion cu m (2004 est.)
imports:
Current $-44 million (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $950 million f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - aluminum, electricity, cotton, fruits, vegetable oil,
commodities: textiles
Exports - Netherlands 46.6%, Turkey 15.8%, Russia 9.1%,
partners: Uzbekistan 7.3%, Latvia 4.9%, Iran 4% (2005)
Imports: $1.25 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - electricity, petroleum products, aluminum oxide,
commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs
Imports - Russia 19.3%, Kazakhstan 12.7%, Uzbekistan 11.5%,
partners: Azerbaijan 8.6%, China 7%, Ukraine 6.2%, Romania 4.6%,
Turkmenistan 4% (2005)
Reserves of $186.8 million (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $888 million (2004 est.)
external:
Economic aid - $67 million from US (2005)
recipient:
Currency somoni
(code):
Currency code: TJS
Exchange Tajikistani somoni per US dollar - 3.1166 (2005),
rates: 2.9705 (2004), 3.0614 (2003), 2.7641 (2002), 2.3722
(2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 245,200 (2004)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 265,000 (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: poorly developed and not well
system: 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
Radio AM 8, FM 10, shortwave 2 (2002)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 1.291 million (1991)
Television 13 (2001)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 820,000 (1997)
Internet .tj
country code:
Internet 98 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 4 (2002)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 5,000 (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 40 (2006)
Airports - total: 17
with paved over 3,047 m: 2
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 3 (2006)
Airports - total: 23
with unpaved 914 to 1,523 m: 1
runways: under 914 m: 22 (2006)
Pipelines: gas 549 km; oil 38 km (2006)
Railways: total: 482 km
broad gauge: 482 km 1.520-m gauge (2005)
Roadways: total: 27,767 km (2000)
Waterways: 200 km (along Vakhsh River) (2006)
Military
Military Ground Troops, Air and Air Defense Troops, Mobile
branches: Troops (2005)
Military 18 years of age for compulsory military service;
service age conscript service obligation - two years (2004)
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 18-49: 1,556,415
available for females age 18-49: 1,568,780 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 1,244,941
for military females age 18-49: 1,297,891 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 87,846
reaching females age 18-49: 85,869 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military $35.4 million (FY01)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 3.9% (FY01)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - boundary agreements signed in 2002 cede 1,000 sq km of
international: 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
Illicit drugs: 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)