Mountains cover over 90% of this Central Asian republic.
After independence, Tajikistan suffered from a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. HP Pavilion DV9635CA Battery
Trade in commodities such as cotton, aluminium and uranium has contributed greatly to this steady improvement.
Tajikistan means the "Land of the Tajiks". The word Tajik was used by medieval Turks to refer to Iranian-speaking peoples. HP Pavilion DV9635XX Battery
From the 11th century, the term referred to East Iranian people, but by the 15th century came to be applied to Persian speakers.In medieval Persian literature, Tajik appears as a synonym of "Persian".
As a self-designation, the term Tajik (Persian: تاجيک Tājīk; Tajik: Тоҷик), HP Pavilion DV9638US Battery
has become acceptable only during the last decades of the 20th century, particularly as a result of Soviet administration in Central Asia.[6] The term does not denote an ethnic group in the narrow sense, but remains a general designation of a variety of Persian-speaking peoples in Central Asia. HP Pavilion DV9638XX Battery
Tajikistan was frequently spelled as Tadjikistan or Tadzhikistan in English, transliterated from the Russian Таджикистан (in Russian the phoneme /d͡ʒ/ is spelled дж, that is, dzh or dj.) Tadzhikistan is the most common alternate spelling and is widely used in English literature derived from Russian sources. HP Pavilion DV9640CA Battery
"Tadjikistan" is the spelling in French and can occasionally be found in English language texts.
The territory of what is now Tajikistan has been inhabited continuously since 4000 BC. It has been under the rule of various empires throughout history, for the longest period being part of the Persian Empire. HP Pavilion DV9640US Battery
It was originally called Neb for a short period of time, before being given the name Tajikistan.
Acharya Yaska's Nirukta[7] (7th century BC) attests that the verb Śavati in the sense "to go" was used by only the Kambojas.The Savati/Swati term is used for the people who had been living in ancient Swat state, HP Pavilion DV9644CA Battery
The Gabari sultans,who claim their ancestor Sultan Samus the son of Kamboja. It has been shown that the modern Ghalchadialects, Valkhi, Shigali, Sriqoli, Jebaka (also called Sanglichi or Ishkashim), Munjani, Yidga and Yaghnobi, mainly spoken in the Pamir mountains and countries on the headwaters of the Oxus, still use terms derived from ancient Kamboja Śavati in the sense "to go".HP Pavilion DV9644XX Battery
The Yaghnobi language, spoken by the Yaghnobis in the Sughd Province around the headwaters of Zeravshan valley, also still contains a relic "Śu" from ancient Kamboja Śavatiin the sense "to go".[9]
Further, Sir George Abraham Grierson says that the speech of Badakshan was a Ghalcha until about three centuries ago when it was supplanted by a form of Persian.[10] HP Pavilion DV9650US Battery
Thus, the ancient Kamboja, probably included the Badakshan, Pamirs and northern territories including the Yaghnobi region in the doab of the Oxus and Jaxartes.[11] On the east it was bounded roughly by Yarkandand/or Kashgar, on the west by Bahlika (Uttaramadra), on the northwest by Sogdiana, HP Pavilion DV9650XX Battery
on the north by Uttarakuru, on the southeast byDarada, and on the south by Gandhara.
Numerous Indologists locate original Kamboja in Pamirs and Badakshan and the Parama Kamboja further north, in the Trans-Pamirian territories comprising Zeravshan valley, north up parts of Sogdhiana/Fargana — in the Sakadvipa or Scythia of the classical writers.[12] HP Pavilion DV9653CL Battery
Thus, in the pre-Buddhist times (7th–6th century BCE), the parts of modern Tajikistan including territories as far as Zeravshan valley in Sogdiana formed parts of ancient Kamboja and the Parama Kamboja kingdoms when it was ruled by the Kambojas till it became part of Persian Achaemenid Empire. HP Pavilion DV9653XX Battery
After the Persian Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great, the region became the northern part of Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.
From the last quarter of 4th century BCE until the first quarter of the 2nd century BCE, it was part of the Bactrian Empire, HP Pavilion DV9657CL Battery
from whom it was passed on to Scythian Tukharas and hence became part of Tukharistan. Contact with the Chinese Han Dynasty was made in the 2nd century BCE, when envoys were sent to the area of Bactria to explore regions west of China.
Arabs brought Islam in the 7th century CE. HP Pavilion DV9657XX Battery
The Samanid Empire supplanted the Arabs and enlarged the cities ofSamarkand and Bukhara, which became the cultural centers of Tajiks (both of which are now in Uzbekistan). The Mongols would later take partial control of Central Asia, and later the land that today comprises Tajikistan became a part of the Emirate of Bukhara. HP Pavilion DV9680ED Battery
A small community of Jews, displaced from the Middle East after the Babylonian captivity, migrated to the region and settled there after 600 BCE, though the majority of the recent Jewish population did not migrate to Tajikistan until the 20th century.
Russian presence
In the 19th century, the Russian Empire began to spread into Central Asia during the Great Game. HP Pavilion DV9680XX Battery
Between 1864 and 1885 it gradually took control of the entire territory of Russian Turkestan from today's border with Kazakhstan in the north to theCaspian Sea in the west and the border with Afghanistan in the south. Tajikistan was eventually carved out of this territory, which historically had a large Tajik population. HP Pavilion DV9695EF Battery
After the overthrow of Imperial Russia in 1917, guerrillas throughout Central Asia, known as basmachi, waged a war against Bolshevik armies in a futile attempt to maintain independence. The Bolsheviks prevailed after a four-year war, in which mosques and villages were burned down and the population heavily suppressed. HP Pavilion DV9695XX Battery
Soviet authorities started a campaign of secularization, practicing Muslims, Jews, and Christians were persecuted, and mosques, churches, andsynagogues were closed.
Soviet Tajikistan
In 1924, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as a part of Uzbekistan, HP Pavilion DV9700 Battery
but in 1929 the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR) was made a separate constituent republic (see also Shirinsho Shotemur). The predominantly ethnic Tajik cities of Samarkand and Bukhara remained in the Uzbek SSR. Between 1926 and 1959 the proportion of Russiansamong Tajikistan's population grew from less than 1% to 13%.[13] HP Pavilion DV9700T Battery
Some 120,000 inhabitants of Tajikistan died during World War II.[14]
In terms of living conditions, education and industry Tajikistan was behind the other Soviet Republics. In the 1980s, it had the lowest household saving rate in the USSR,[15] the lowest percentage of households in the two top per capita income groups,[16] and the lowest rate of university graduates per 1000 people.[17] HP Pavilion DV9700Z Battery
By the late 1980s Tajik nationalists were calling for increased rights. Real disturbances did not occur within the republic until 1990. The following year, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Tajikistan declared its independence.
The first nation to establish an embassy in Dushanbe was Iran, which was also one of the first countries to immediately recognize Tajikistan as an independent state in 1991. HP Pavilion DV9701AU Battery
Post-independence
The nation almost immediately fell into a civil war that involved various factions fighting one another; these factions were often distinguished by clan loyalties. HP Pavilion DV9701AX Battery
The non-Muslim population, particularly Russians and Jews, fled the country during this time because of persecution, increased poverty and better economic opportunities in the West or in other former Soviet republics. HP Pavilion DV9701TX Battery
Emomalii Rahmon came to power in 1994, defeating former prime minister Abdumalik Abdullajanov in a November presidential election with 58% of the vote.[18] The elections took place shortly after the end of the war, and Tajikistan was in a state of complete devastation. The estimated dead numbered over 100,000. HP Pavilion DV9702AU Battery
Around 1.2 million people were refugees inside and outside of the country.[19] In 1997, a ceasefire was reached between Rahmon and opposition parties (United Tajik Opposition).
Peaceful elections were held in 1999, though they were criticized by opposition parties and foreign observers. HP Pavilion DV9702AX Battery
Rahmon was re-elected with 98% of the vote. Elections were held again in 2006, with Rahmon winning a third term in office with 79% of the vote in a field of five candidates. Several opposition parties boycotted the election and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was critical of it, HP Pavilion DV9702EA Battery
HP Pavilion DV9702TX Battery
although observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States claimed the elections to be legal and transparent.
Rahmon's government came under criticism from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in October 2010 for its censorship and repression of the media. HP Pavilion DV9703AX Battery
The OSCE claimed that the Tajik Government censored Tajik and foreign websites and instituted tax inspections on independent printing houses that lead to the cessation of printing activities for a number of independent newspapers.[20]
Russian border troops were stationed along the Tajik-Afghan border until summer 2005. HP Pavilion DV9703TX Battery
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, French troops have been stationed at the Dushanbe Airport in support of air operations of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. United States Army and Marine Corpspersonnel periodically visit Tajikistan to conduct joint training missions of up to several weeks duration. HP Pavilion DV9704AX Battery
The Government of India rebuilt the Ayni Air Base, a military airport located 15 km southwest of Dushanbe, at a cost of $70 million, completing the repairs in September 2010.[21] It is now the main base of the Tajikistan air force. There have been talks with Russia concerning use of the Ayni facility,[22] HP Pavilion DV9704TX Battery
and Russia continues to maintain a large base on the outskirts of Dushanbe and operate at least one military hospital in the capital city.
In 2010, there were concerns among Tajik officials that Islamic militarism in the east of the country was on the rise following the escape of 25 militants from a Tajik prison in August, HP Pavilion DV9705AX Battery
an ambush that killed 28 Tajik soldiers in the Rasht Valley in September,[23] and another ambush in the valley in October that killed 30 soldiers,[24] followed by fighting outside Gharm that left 3 militants dead.[25] To date the country's Interior Ministry asserts that the central government maintains full control over the country's east, and the military operation in the Rasht Valley was concluded in November 2010.[26] HP Pavilion DV9705EA Battery
Politics
Almost immediately after independence, Tajikistan was plunged into a civil war that saw various factions, allegedly backed by Russiaand Iran, fighting one another. All but 25,000 of the more than 400,000 ethnic Russians, who were mostly employed in industry, fled to Russia. HP Pavilion DV9705EF Battery
By 1997, the war had cooled down, and a central government began to take form, with peaceful elections in 1999.
"Longtime observers of Tajikistan often characterize the country as profoundly averse to risk and skeptical of promises of reform, HP Pavilion DV9705TX Battery
a political passivity they trace to the country’s ruinous civil war," Ilan Greenberg wrote in a news article in The New York Timesjust before the country's November 2006 presidential election.[27]
Tajikistan is officially a republic, and holds elections for the Presidency and Parliament. HP Pavilion DV9706AX Battery
It is, however, a one party dominant system, where the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan routinely has a vast majority in Parliament. The parliamentary elections in 2005 aroused many accusations from opposition parties and international observers that President Emomali Rahmon corruptly manipulates the election process.
HP Pavilion DV9706TX Battery
The most recent elections, in February 2010, saw the ruling PDPT lose four seats in Parliament, yet still maintain a comfortable majority. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe election observers said the 2010 polling "failed to meet many key OSCE commitments" and that "these elections failed on many basic democratic standards." HP Pavilion DV9707TX Battery
The government insisted that only minor violations had occurred, which would not affect the will of the Tajik people.
Freedom of the press is officially guaranteed by the government, although independent press outlets remain restricted, as does a substantial amount of web content. HP Pavilion DV9708TX Battery
According to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, access is blocked to local and foreign websites including avesta.tj, Tjknews.com, ferghana.ru and centrasia.ru and journalists are often obstructed from reporting on controversial events. In practice, no public criticism of the regime is tolerated and all direct protest is severely suppressed and does not get reported in the local media.[30] HP Pavilion DV9709EF Battery
The presidential election held on November 6, 2006 was boycotted by "mainline" opposition parties, including the 23,000-member Islamic Renaissance Party. Four remaining opponents "all but endorsed the incumbent", Rahmon.[27] HP Pavilion DV9709TX Battery
Tajikistan has given Iran its support in Iran's membership bid to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, after a meeting between the Tajik President and the Iranian foreign minister.[31]
Administrative divisions
Tajikistan consists of 4 administrative divisions. HP Pavilion DV9710EA Battery
These are the provinces (viloyat) of Sughd and Khatlon, the autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan (abbreviated as GBAO), and the Region of Republican Subordination (RRP – Raiony Respublikanskogo Podchineniya in transliteration from Russian or NTJ – Ноҳияҳои тобеи ҷумҳурӣ inTajik; HP Pavilion DV9710EF Battery
formerly known as Karotegin Province). Each region is divided into several districts (Tajik: Ноҳия, nohiya orraion), which in turn are subdivided into jamoats (village-level self-governing units) and then villages (qyshloqs). As of 2006, there were 58 districts and 367 jamoats in Tajikistan. HP Pavilion DV9710EI Battery
Geography
Tajikistan is landlocked, and is the smallest nation in Central Asia by area. It lies mostly between latitudes 36° and 41° N (a small area is north of 41°), and longitudes 67° and 75° E (a small area is east of 75°). HP Pavilion DV9710EL Battery
It is covered by mountains of the Pamir range, and more than fifty percent of the country is over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) above sea level. The only major areas of lower land are in the north (part of the Fergana Valley), and in the southern Kofarnihon and Vakhsh river valleys, which form the Amu Darya. HP Pavilion DV9710ES Battery
Dushanbe is located on the southern slopes above the Kofarnihon valley.
Economy
Tajikistan was the poorest republic of the Soviet Union and is the poorest country in Central Asia as well as in the former Soviet Union today. HP Pavilion DV9710EV Battery
The current economic situation remains fragile, largely owing to corruption, uneven economic reforms, and economic mismanagement. With foreign revenue precariously dependent upon remittances from migrant workers overseas, exports of aluminium and cotton, the economy is highly vulnerable to external shocks. HP Pavilion DV9710TX Battery
In FY 2000, international assistance remained an essential source of support for rehabilitation programs that reintegrated former civil war combatants into the civilian economy, thus helping keep the peace. International assistance also was necessary to address the second year of severedrought that resulted in a continued shortfall of food production. HP Pavilion DV9712TX Battery
In 2006, GDP per capita of Tajikistan was 85% of 1990s level.,[33] while population has increased from 5.3 million in 1991 to 7.3 million in 2009.
On August 21, 2001, the Red Cross announced that a famine was striking Tajikistan, and called for international aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. HP Pavilion DV9713TX Battery
Tajikistan's economy grew substantially after the war. The GDP of Tajikistan expanded at an average rate of 9.6% over the period of 2000–2007 according to the World Bank data. This improved Tajikistan's position among other Central Asian countries (namely Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), which seem to have degraded economically ever since.[34] HP Pavilion DV9714TX Battery
Tajikistan is an active member of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
In 2007 the Anzab tunnel was completed, connecting the previously hard to access Northern part of the country to the capitalDushanbe has been labeled as part of the new Silk Road. HP Pavilion DV9715EF Battery
It is part of a road under construction that will connect Tajikistan to Iran and the Persian Gulf through Afghanistan.
In 2004 a bridge between Afghanistan and Tajikistan was built, improving the country's access to South Asia. The bridge was built by the United States. HP Pavilion DV9715EL Battery
The primary sources of income in Tajikistan are aluminium production, cotton growing and remittances from migrant workers.[36]
Aluminium industry is represented by the state-owned Tajik Aluminum Company - the biggest aluminium plant in Central Asia and one of the biggest in the world.[37] HP Pavilion DV9715NR Battery
Tajikistan's rivers, such as the Vakhsh and the Panj, have great hydropower potential, and the government has focused on attracting investment for projects for internal use and electricity exports. Tajikistan is home to the Nurek, the highest dam in the world.[38]Lately, Russia's RAO UES energy giant has been working on the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power station (670 MW capacity) commenced operations on 18 January 2008. HP Pavilion DV9715TX Battery
Other projects at the development stage include Sangtuda-2 by Iran, Zerafshan by the Chinese company SinoHydro, and the Rogun power plant that, at a projected height of 335 metres (1,099 ft), would supersede the Nurek Dam as highest in the world if it is brought to completionOther energy resources include sizable coal deposits and smaller reserves of natural gas and petroleum. HP Pavilion DV9716TX Battery
Foreign remittance flows from Tajik migrant workers abroad, mainly in Russia, has become by far the main source of income for millions of Tajikistan's people and represents additional 36.2 % of country's GDP directly reaching the poverty-stricken population.[43] According to some estimates about 20% of the population lives on less than US$1.25 per day. HP Pavilion DV9717TX Battery
Migration from Tajikistan and the consequent remittances have been unprecedented in their magnitude and economic impact. Tajikistan has achieved transition from a planned to a market economy without substantial and protracted recourse to aid (of which it by now receives only negligible amounts), HP Pavilion DV9718CA Battery
and by purely market-based means, simply by exporting its main commodity of comparative advantage — cheap labor.[45] The World Bank Tajikistan Policy Note 2006 concludes that remittances have played an important role as one of the drivers of Tajikistan's robust economic growth during the past several years,
HP Pavilion DV9718TX Battery
have increased incomes, and as a result helped significantly reduce poverty.[46]
Drug trafficking is the major illegal source of income in Tajikistan as it is an important transit country for Afghan narcoticsbound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; some opium poppy is also raised locally for the domestic market. HP Pavilion DV9719TX Battery
However with the increasing assistance from international organizations, such as UNODC, and cooperation with the US, Russian, EU and Afghan authorities a level of progress on the fight against illegal drug-trafficking is being achieved.[48]
Tajikistan holds third place in the world for heroin and raw opium confiscations (1216.3 kg of heroin and 267.8 kg of raw opium in the first half of 2006). HP Pavilion DV9720CA Battery
Drug money corrupts the country's government; according to some experts the well-known personalities that fought on both sides of the civil war and have held the positions in the government after the armistice was signed are now involved in the drug trade.[47] HP Pavilion DV9720EA Battery
UNODC is working with Tajikistan to strengthen border crossings, provide training, and set up joint interdiction teams. It also helped to establish Tajikistani Drug Control Agency.[51]
Since the collapse of the USSR, there has been a significant and growing trend of Tajiks migrating abroad for jobs and seeking refuge. HP Pavilion DV9720EG Battery
In 2010, remittances from Tajik labour migrants totaled an estimated 2.1 billion US dollars, an increase from 2009.
Demographics
Tajikistan has a population of 7,349,145 (July 2009 est.)[3] Tajiks who speak the Tajik language (a variety of Persian) are the main ethnic group, HP Pavilion DV9720ES Battery
although there is a sizable minority of Uzbeks and Russians, whose numbers are declining due to emigration.[52] In 1989, ethnic Russians made up 7.6% of the population.[53] ThePamiris of Badakhshan are considered to belong to the larger group of Tajiks. All citizens of Tajikistan are called Tajiks.[3] HP Pavilion DV9720TX Battery
The official and vernacular language of Tajikistan is Tajik although Russian is routinely used in business and communication. The use of Russian in official documents has been ruled out in 2009[54] although the Constitution still mentions it as the "language for inter-ethnic communication".HP Pavilion DV9720US Battery
Despite its poverty, Tajikistan has a high rate of literacy due to the old Soviet system of free education, with an estimated 99.5% of the population having the ability to read and write.[3] The majority of the population follow Sunni Islam. There is also a sizeable minority of Ismailis. HP Pavilion DV9721TX Battery
Bukharan Jews had lived in Tajikistan since the 2nd century BC, but today almost none are left. There is also a small population of Yaghnobi people who have lived in the mountainous district of Sughd Viloyat for many centuries. The German population in Tajikistan was 38,853 in 1979.[55] Nearly one million Tajik men worked abroad in 2009.[56] HP Pavilion DV9723CA Battery
More than 70% of the female population lives in villages where traditions still matter very much.[57]
Health
Despite repeated efforts by the Tajik government to improve and expand health care, the system remains extremely underdeveloped and poor, with severe shortages of medical supplies. HP Pavilion DV9723CL Battery
The state's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare reported that 104,272 disabled people are registered in Tajikistan (2000). This group of people suffers most from poverty in Tajikistan. The government of Tajikistan and the World Bank considered activities to support this part of the population described in the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. HP Pavilion DV9723TX Battery
Public expenditure on health was at 1 % of the GDP in 2004.[59]
Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 66.38 years in 2012.[60] The infant mortality rate is approximately 37 deaths per 1,000 children in 2012.[61] In the early 2000s, there were 203 physicians per 100,000 people.[59] HP Pavilion DV9724CA Battery
Tajikistan is the only country in world where polio is on the increase. From zero cases in 2008 and 2009, 458 confirmed cases have been reported for 2010 (of 976 cases worldwide).
Culture
Historically, Tajiks and Persians come from very similar stock, speaking variants of the same language and are related as part of the larger group of Iranian peoples. HP Pavilion DV9724TX Battery
The Tajik language is the mother tongue of around 80% of the citizens of Tajikistan. The main urban centers in today's Tajikistan include Dushanbe (the capital), Khujand, Kulob, Panjakent and Istaravshan. There are also Uzbek,Kyrgyz and Russian minorities. HP Pavilion DV9725EF Battery
The Pamiri people of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the southeast, bordering Afghanistan and China, though considered part of the Tajik ethnicity, nevertheless are distinct linguistically and culturally from most Tajiks. HP Pavilion DV9725TX Battery
In contrast to the mostly SunniMuslim residents of the rest of Tajikistan, the Pamiris overwhelmingly follow the Ismaili sect of Islam, and speak a number ofEastern Iranian languages, including Shughni, Rushani, Khufi and Wakhi. Isolated in the highest parts of the Pamir Mountains, they have preserved many ancient cultural traditions and folk arts that have been largely lost elsewhere in the country. HP Pavilion DV9726TX Battery
The Yaghnobi people live in mountainous areas of northern Tajikistan. The estimated number of Yaghnobis is now about 25,000. Forced migrations in the 20th century decimated their numbers. They speak the Yaghnobi language, which is the only direct modern descendant of the ancient Sogdian language. HP Pavilion DV9727CL Battery
Tajikistan artisans created the Dushanbe Tea House, which was presented in 1988 as a gift to the sister city of Boulder, Colorado.[62]
In 2010 a Tajik citizen Nilufar Sherzod became Miss United Nations, representing Tajik culture.[63] HP Pavilion DV9727EF Battery
Education
2002-2005 public spending on education was 3.5 % of the GDP.[59] According to a UNICEF-supported survey, about 25 percent of girls in Tajikistan fail to complete compulsory primary education because of poverty and gender bias, although [64] literacy is generally high in Tajikistan.[59] HP Pavilion DV9727TX Battery
Religion
Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school is official religion in Tajikistan since 2009.[65] Tajikistan considers itself a secular state with a Constitution providing for freedom of religion. The Government has declared two Islamic holidays, Id Al-Fitr and Idi Qurbon, as state holidays. HP Pavilion DV9727US Battery
According to a 2009 U.S. State Department release, the population of Tajikistan is 98% Muslim, (approximately 95%Sunni and 3% Shia).[66] The remaining 2% of the population are followers of Russian Orthodoxy, a variety of Protestant denominations,Catholicism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. HP Pavilion DV9728CA Battery
A great majority of Muslims fast during Ramadan, although only about one third in the countryside and 10% in the cities observe daily prayer and dietary restrictions.
Relationships between religious groups are generally amicable, although there is some concern among mainstream Muslim leadersHP Pavilion DV9728CL Battery
that minority religious groups undermine national unity. There is a concern for religious institutions becoming active in the political sphere. The Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), a major combatant in the 1992–1997 Civil War and then-proponent of the creation of an Islamic state in Tajikistan, constitutes no more than 30% of the government by statute. HP Pavilion DV9728TX Battery
Membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir(Party of Emancipation), a party, controversial for its antisemitic views, which today aims for a nonviolent overthrow of secular governments and the unification of Tajiks under one Islamic state, is illegal and members are subject to arrest and imprisonment.[67] HP Pavilion DV9729TX Battery
Numbers of large mosques appropriate for Friday prayers are limited and some feel this is discriminatory.
By law, religious communities must register by the State Committee on Religious Affairs (SCRA) and with local authorities. HP Pavilion DV9730CA Battery
Registration with the SCRA requires a charter, a list of 10 or more members, and evidence of local government approval prayer site location. As noted above, religious groups who do not have a physical structure are not allowed to gather publicly for prayer. Failure to register can result in large fines and closure of place of worship. HP Pavilion DV9730EB Battery
There are reports that registration on the local level is sometimes difficult to obtain.[68]
Sport
Tajikistan's mountains provide many opportunities for outdoor activities, such as hill climbing, biking, rock climbing, skiing,hiking, and mountain climbing. HP Pavilion DV9730EF Battery
Facilities are limited so tourists must expect to be largely self-sufficient and plan carefully. Mountain climbing and hiking tours to the Fann and Pamir Mountains, including the 7,000 m peaks in the region, are seasonally organized by local and international alpine agencies.
Football is the most popular sport in Tajikistan. HP Pavilion DV9730EI Battery
The Tajikistan national football team competes in the FIFA and AFC leagues. It also hosts many football clubs.
Tajik (Persian: تاجيک, Tājīk; Tajik: Тоҷик) is a general designation for a wide range of Persian-speaking people ofIranic origin,[13] HP Pavilion DV9730EP Battery
with traditional homelands in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. There are also smaller communities living in Iran and Pakistan; consisting mainly of refugees from Afghanistan and immigrants fromTajikistan.[14]
In terms of language, culture, and history the Tajiks are closely related to the Persians of Iran. HP Pavilion DV9730ET Battery
As a self-designation, the term Tajik, which earlier on had been more or less pejorative, has become acceptable only during the last several decades, particularly as a result of Soviet administration in Central Asia.[13] Alternative names for the Tajiks are Fārsī (Persian), Fārsīwān (Persian-speaker), and Dīhgān HP Pavilion DV9730EV Battery
(cf. Tajik: Деҳқон, Dehqon, literally "farmer or settled villager", in a wider sense "settled" in contrast to "nomadic").[15]
The Tajiks of China, although known by the name Tajik, speak Eastern Iranian languages and are distinct from Persian Tajiks. HP Pavilion DV9730NR Battery
The Tajiks trace their ancestry to the Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians,Sogdians, and Parthians. The Tajiks' adoption of the now dominant Persian language (albeit in a distinct Tajiki form), a Western Iranian language is believed to have as its root cause, the dominance of the Persian empire in the region during theAchaemenid and Sassanid dynasties. HP Pavilion DV9730TX Battery
The Persian language, and particularly Tajiki, contain numerous words from Sogdian, Parthian and other Iranian languages of ancient Central Asia. Following the Arab conquest of Persia, many Persians, after conversion to Islam, entered Central Asia as military forces and settled in the conquered lands. HP Pavilion DV9730US Battery
As a result of these waves of Persian migration (Zoroastrian and Muslim) over the course of more than 200 years, the Tajiks have also ethnic Persian ancestry in addition to their East-Iranian ancestry. Cultural dissemination through Persian literature also helped to establish the new language, as well as intermittent military dominance. HP Pavilion DV9731CA Battery
According to Richard Nelson Frye, a leading historian of Iranian and Central Asian history, the Persian migration to Central Asia may be considered the beginning of the modern Tajik nation, and ethnic Persians along with East-Iranian Bactrians and Sogdians, as the main ancestors of modern Tajiks. HP Pavilion DV9731TX Battery
In later works Frye expands on the complexity of the historical origins of the Tajiks. In a 1996 publication Frye explains that many "factors must be taken into account in explaining the evolution of the peoples whose remnants are the Tajiks in Central Asia" and that "the peoples of Central Asia, HP Pavilion DV9732TX Battery
whether Iranian or Turkic speaking, have one culture, one religion, one set of social values and traditions with only language separating them."[19]
The geographical division between the eastern and western Iranians is often considered historically and currently to be the desert Dasht-e Kavir, HP Pavilion DV9733TX Battery
situated in the center of the Iranian plateau.
"Tājik" is a word of Turko-Mongol origin and means (literally) Non-Turk. "Tajik" in Central Asia is used to refer to peoples that still speak an Iranian language, including both Tajiki-speaking Tajiks, and the Pamiri peoples, also known as Garcha or Mountain Tajiks. HP Pavilion DV9734NR Battery
The origin of the name Tajik has been embroiled in twentieth-century political disputes about whether Turkic or Iranian peoples were the original inhabitants of Central Asia.[21]
History of the name
First mentioned by the Uyghur historian Mahmoud Al-Kāshgharī, Tajik is an old Turkic expression referring to all Persian-speaking peoples of Central Asia. HP Pavilion DV9734TX Battery
From the 11th century on, it came to be applied principally to all East Iranians, and later specifically to Persian speakers.[22] It is hard to establish the use of the word before the Turkic and Mongol conquest ofCentral Asia, and since at least the 15th century it has been used by the region's Iranian population to distinguish themselves from the Turks. HP Pavilion DV9735EL Battery
Persians in modern Iran who live in the Turkic-speaking areas of the country, also call themselvesTajik, something remarked upon in the 15th century by the poet Mīr Alī Šer Navā'ī.[23]
Tajik in medieval literature
In Uzbekistan the Tajiks are the largest part of the population of the ancient cities of Bukharaand Samarkand, HP Pavilion DV9735ES Battery
and are found in large numbers in the Surxondaryo Province in the south and along Uzbekistan's eastern border with Tajikistan. According to official statistics (2000), Surxondaryo Province accounts for 20.4% of all Tajiks in Uzbekistan, with another 24.3% in Samarqand andBukhara provinces.[30] HP Pavilion DV9735TX Battery
Official statistics in Uzbekistan state that the Tajik community comprises 5% of the nation's total population.[3] However, these numbers do not include ethnic Tajiks who, for a variety of reasons, choose to identify themselves as Uzbeks in population census forms.[31] HP Pavilion DV9736CA Battery
During the Soviet "Uzbekization" supervised by Sharof Rashidov, the head of the Uzbek Communist Party, Tajiks had to choose either stay in Uzbekistan and get registered as Uzbek in their passports or leave the republic for the less developed agricultural and mountainous Tajikistan.[32] HP Pavilion DV9736TX Battery
It is only in the last population census (1989) that the nationality could be reported not according to the passport, but freely declared on the basis of the respondent's ethnic self-identification.[33] This had the effect of increasing the Tajik population in Uzbekistan from 3.9% in 1979 to 4.7% in 1989. HP Pavilion DV9737EF Battery
Subjective expert estimates suggest that Tajiks may make up 10% of Uzbekistan's population.
The language of the Tajiks is an eastern dialect of Persian, called Dari (derived from Darbārī, "[of/from the] royal courts", in the sense of "courtly language"), or also Parsi-e Darbari. HP Pavilion DV9737TX Battery
In Tajikistan, where Cyrillic script is used, it is called theTajiki language. Historically, it was considered the local dialect of Persian spoken by the Tajik/Persian ethnic group in Central Asia, from where it spread westward only to drive the Arabic language out as the mother tongue of ethnic Persians. HP Pavilion DV9738ES Battery
InAfghanistan, unlike in Tajikistan, Tajiks continue to use the Perso-Arabic script, as well as in Iran. However, when theSoviet Union introduced the Latin script in 1928, and later the Cyrillic script, the Persian dialect of Tajikistan came to be considered a separate (Persian) language. HP Pavilion DV9738TX Battery
Since the 19th century Tajiki has been strongly influenced by the Russian as well as the Uzbek language and has incorporated many Russian and Uzbek language loan words.[39] It has also adopted fewer Arabicloan words than Iranian Persian, while retaining vocabulary that has fallen out of use in the latter language. HP Pavilion DV9739EF Battery
In Tajikistan, in the ordinary speech, also known as “zaboni kucha” (lit. "street language", as opposed to “zaboni adabi”, lit. "literary language", which is used in schools, media etc.), many urban Tajiks prefer to use Russian loanwords instead of their literary Persian analogs.
The dialects of the Persians of Iran and of the Tajiks of central Asia have a common origin. HP Pavilion DV9739TX Battery
This is underscored by the Tajiks' claim to such famous writers as Rudaki, Ferdowsi, Anwari, Rumi, other famous Persian poets. Russian is widely used in government and business in Tajikistan as well. Since Tajikistan gained independence, there has been a public debate about whether Tajiki should revert to the Perso-Arabic script. HP Pavilion DV9740CA Battery
Religion
Various scholars have recorded the Zoroastrian, Buddhist, and Aryan pre-Islamic heritage of the Tajik people. Early temples for fire worship have been found in Balkh and Bactria and excavations in present day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan show remnants of Zoroastrian fire temples.[40] HP Pavilion DV9740EA Battery
Today however, the great majority of Tajiks follow Sunni Islam, although small Twelver and Ismaili Shia minorities also exist in scattered pockets. Areas with large numbers of Shias include Herat, Bamyan, Badakhshan provinces in Afghanistan, the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan, HP Pavilion DV9740EL Battery
and Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Some of the famous Islamic scholars were from East-Iranian regions and therefore can arguably be viewed as Tajiks. They include Abu Hanifa, Imam Bukhari,Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, Abu Mansur Maturidi, and many others. Since the Tajiks generally follow Islamic belief patterns. HP Pavilion DV9740EO Battery
Belief in the supernatural, outside of formal Islam, falls into several categories: curative customs, fortune-telling, and ascription of bad fortune to the power of fate or of evil beings called jinn.
According to a 2009 U.S. State Department release, the population of Tajikistan is 98% Muslim, (approximately 95% Sunni and 3% Shia).[41] HP Pavilion DV9740ES Battery
In Afghanistan, the great number of Tajiks adhere to Sunni Islam. Tajiks who follow Twelver Shiism are calledFarsiwan. The community of Bukharian Jews in Central Asia speak a dialect of Persian. The Bukharian Jewish community in Uzbekistan is the largest remaining community of Central Asian Jews and resides primarily in Bukhara and Samarkand, HP Pavilion DV9740TX Battery
while the Bukharaian Jews of Tajikistan live in Dushanbe and number only a few hundred.[42] From the 1970s to the 1990s the majority of these Tajik-speaking Jews emigrated to the United States and to Israel in accordance with aliyah. HP Pavilion DV9740US Battery
Tajikistan marked 2009 as the year to commemorate the Tajik Sunni Muslim jurist Abu Hanifa whose ancestry hailed from Parwan Province of Afghanistan, as the nation hosted an international symposium that drew scientific and religious leaders.[43] The construction of one of the largest mosques in the world, funded by Qatar, was announced in October 2009. HP Pavilion DV9741EO Battery
The mosque is planned to be built in Dushanbe and construction is said to be completed by 2014.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the civil war in Afghanistan both gave rise to a resurgence in Tajik nationalism across the region. HP Pavilion DV9741TX Battery
Tajikistan in particular has been a focal point for this movement, and the government there has made a conscious effort to revive the legacy of the Samanid empire, the first Tajik-dominated state in the region after the Arab advance. For instance, the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, HP Pavilion DV9742TX Battery
dropped the Russian suffix "-ov" from his surname and directed others to adopt Tajik names when registering births.According to a government announcement in October 2009, approximately 4000 Tajik nationals have dropped "ov" and "ev" from their surnames since the start of the year.[46] HP Pavilion DV9743CL Battery
In an interview to Iranian news media in May 2008, Tajikistan's deputy culture minister said Tajikistan would study the issue of switching its Tajik alphabet from Cyrillic to Persian script used in Iran and Afghanistan when the government feels that "the Tajik people became familiar with the Persian alphabet".HP Pavilion DV9743TX Battery
More recently, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistanseeks to have the nation's language referred to as "Tajiki-Farsi" rather than "Tajik." The proposal has drawn criticism from Russian media since the bill seeks to remove the Russian language as the mode of interethnic communication. HP Pavilion DV9744CA Battery
In 1989 the original name of the language (Farsi) was added to its official name in brackets. However, Rahmon's government renamed the language to simply 'Tajiki' in 1994. According to an Islamic Renaissance Party official, the Tajiks had referred to their language as "Farsi" before Sovietization. HP Pavilion DV9744EF Battery
On October 2009, Tajikistan adopted the law that removes Russian as the "language for interethnic communication."
Since independence, Tajikistan gradually followed the path of transition economy, reforming its economic policies.
HP Pavilion DV9744EL Battery
With foreign revenue precariously dependent upon exports of cotton and aluminium, the economy is highly vulnerable to external shocks. In fiscal year (FY) 2000, international assistance remained an essential source of support for rehabilitation programs that reintegrated former civil war combatants into the civilian economy, HP Pavilion DV9744EO Battery
thus helping keep the peace. International assistance also was necessary to address the second year of severe drought that resulted in a continued shortfall of food production. Tajikistan's economy grew substantially after the war. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Tajikistan expanded at an average rate of 9.6% over the period of 2000-2007 according to the World Bank data. HP Pavilion DV9744ES Battery
This improved Tajikistan's position among other Central Asian countries (namely Turkmenistanand Uzbekistan), which have degraded economically ever since.[4] As of August 2009, an estimated 60% of Tajikistani citizens live below the poverty line.[5] The 2008 global financial crisis has hit Tajikistan hard, both domestically and internationally. HP Pavilion DV9744TX Battery
Tajikistan has been hit harder than many countries because it already has a high poverty rate and because many of its citizens depend on remittances from expatriate Tajikistanis.
Economic history
This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Tajikistan at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of ruling currency. HP Pavilion DV9745TX Battery
For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US Dollar is exchanged at 0.82 Somoni only.
The Tajikistani economy has been gravely weakened by six years of civil conflict and loss of markets for its products. Tajikistan thus depends on international humanitarian assistance for much of its basic subsistence needs. HP Pavilion DV9746TX Battery
Even if the peace agreement of June 1997 is honored, the country faces major problems in integratingrefugees and former combatants into the economy. The future of Tajikistan's economy and the potential for attracting foreign investment depend upon stability and continued progress in the peace process. HP Pavilion DV9747CL Battery
In 2006 GDP per capita of Tajikistan was 85% of 1990s level.[6] While population has increased from 5.3 million in 1991 to 7.3 million in 2009.
Despite resistance from vested interests, the Government of Tajikistan continued to pursue macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform in FY 2000. HP Pavilion DV9747EF Battery
In December 1999, the government announced that small-enterprise privatization had been successfully completed, and the privatization of medium-sized and large-owned enterprises (SOEs) continued incrementally. The continued privatization of medium-sized and large SOEs, land reform, and banking reform and restructuring remain top priorities. HP Pavilion DV9747TX Battery
Shortly after the end of FY 2000, the Board of theInternational Monetary Fund gave its vote of confidence to the government's recent performance by approving the third annual Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Loan for Tajikistan. Improved fiscal discipline by the Government of Tajikistan has supported the return to positive economic growth. HP Pavilion DV9748CA Battery
The government budget was nearly in balance in 2001 and the government’s 2002 budget targets a fiscal deficit of 0.3% of GDP, including recent increases in social sector spending.
Gross domestic product
In 2005 Tajikistan’s GDP grew by 6.7%, to about US$1.89 billion, and growth for 2006 was about 8%, marking the fifth consecutive year of annual growth exceeding 6%.HP Pavilion DV9748TX Battery
The official forecast for GDP growth in 2007 is 7.5%. Per capita GDP in 2005 was US$258, lowest among the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union. In 2005 services contributed 48%, agriculture 23.4%, and industry 28.6% to GDP.[7] The recent global recession has reduced Tajikistan's GDP growth rate to 2.8% in the first half of 2009. HP Pavilion DV9749EF Battery
Remittances from expatriate Tajikistanis is estimated to account for 30-50% of Tajikistan's GDP.
Although the government has announced an expedited land reform program, many Soviet-era state farm] still existed in 2006, and the state retains control of production and harvesting on privatized farms. HP Pavilion DV9750ED Battery
Privatization of cottonfarms has been especially slow, and unresolved debts of cotton farmers remained a problem in 2006. In the early 2000s, the major crops were cotton (which occupied one-third of arable land in 2004 but decreased after that date), cereals (mainly wheat), potatoes, vegetables (mainly onions and tomatoes), fruits, and rice. HP Pavilion DV9750EF Battery
More than 80% of the 8,800 square kilometers of land in use for agriculture depends on irrigation. Tajikistan must import grain from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.[7]
Forestry
About 5% of Tajikistan is wooded, mainly at elevations between 1,000 and 3,000 meters. HP Pavilion DV9750EG Battery
No forest region is classified as commercially usable; most are under state protection. Wood production is negligible, but local inhabitants harvest non-wood forest products.[7]
Fishing
Streams and lakes produce a limited amount of fish, and some fish is produced by aquaculture. In 2003 some 158 tons of fish were caught and 167 tons raised on fish farms.[7] HP Pavilion DV9750EJ Battery
Mining and Minerals
Tajikistan has rich deposits of gold, silver, and antimony. The largest silver deposits are in Sughd Province, where Tajikistan’s largest gold mining operation also is located. Russia’s Norilsk nickel company has explored a large new silver deposit at Bolshoy Kanimansur. HP Pavilion DV9750EL Battery
Tajikistan also produces strontium, salt, lead,zinc, fluorspar, and mercury. Uranium, an important mineral in the Soviet era, remains in some quantity but no longer is extracted. Fossil fuel deposits are limited to coal, of which about 30,000 tons are mined annually. HP Pavilion DV9750EO Battery
Tajikistan’s extensive aluminium processing industry depends entirely on imported ore.[7]
Industry and manufacturing
The output of most industries declined sharply during the mid-1990s; despite widespread privatization, in the early 2000s industry rallied very slowly. In 2006 an estimated one-third of Tajikistan’s 700 major industrial enterprises were completely idle, HP Pavilion DV9750EP Battery
and the remainder were operating at 20 or 25% of capacity. The causes are outmoded equipment, low investment levels, and lack of markets. To revitalize the sector, in 2006 the government was considering renationalizing some enterprises. Tajikistan’s only major heavy industries are aluminum processing and chemical production. HP Pavilion DV9750ER Battery
The former, which provided 40% of industrial production in 2005, is centered at the Tursunzoda processing plant, the latter in Dushanbe, Qurghonteppa, and Yavan. Aluminum production increased by 6% in 2005. Some small light industrial plants produce textiles and processed foods, using mainly domestic agricultural products. HP Pavilion DV9750EV Battery
The textile industry processes about 20% of domestically grown cotton. The expansion of light industry output contributed significantly to GDP growth in 2005. The construction industry, about half of which is state-owned, has suffered from low investment in capital projects and from shoddy workmanship that has discouraged international contracts. HP Pavilion DV9750US Battery
However, new infrastructure projects and increased housing construction brought a 60% increase in output from 2004 to 2005.[7] As of 2009, one third of industrial plants and factories are inactive, according to Tajikistan's Institute of Economic Studies. HP Pavilion DV9751EF Battery
Industrial output has fallen by 13% in the first six months of 2009, leading to a fall in export revenues of 48%.[2]
Energy
The rivers of Tajikistan, such as the Vakhsh and the Panj, have great hydropower potential, HP Pavilion DV9751EO Battery
and the government has focused on attracting investment for projects for internal use and electricity exports. Tajikistan is home to the hydroelectric power station Nurek, the highest dam in the world.[8] Sangtuda 1 Hydroelectric Power Plant of 670 megawatts (MW) capacity, operated by Russian Inter RAO UES, HP Pavilion DV9752EO Battery
commenced operations on 18 January 2008 and was officially commissioned on 31 July 2009.[9][10][11][12] Other projects at the development stage include Sangduta 2 by Iran, Zerafshan by Chinese SinoHydro and Rogun power plant, which, at 335 metres (1,099 ft), is projected to supersede the Nurek Dam as tallest in the world if completed. HP Pavilion DV9753EO Battery
The Rogun Dam was originally planned to be built by Russia's Inter RAO UES, but following disagreements, Russia pulled out. In 2010, production resumed with Iranian investment and Chinese assistance.[13][14][15] Besides hydropower, other energy resources include sizable coal deposits and smaller reserves of natural gas and petroleum. HP Pavilion DV9755ED Battery
In December 2010, Russian Gazprom announced discovery of significant natural gas reserves in Sarykamish field with 60 bcm of natural gas, enough for 50 years of Tajikistan's domestic consumption. The national power company is Barqi Tojik.[16]
Tajikistan is a partner country of the EU INOGATE energy programme,
HP Pavilion DV9757EO Battery
which has four key topics: enhancing energy security, convergence of member state energy markets on the basis of EU internal energy market principles, supporting sustainable energy development, and attracting investment for energy projects of common and regional interest.[17] HP Pavilion DV9757EZ Battery
Services
Throughout the early 2000s, the overall output of the services sector has increased steadily. The banking system has improved significantly because of strengthened oversight by the National Bank of Tajikistan, HP Pavilion DV9758CA Battery
relaxed restrictions on participation by foreign institutions, and regulatory reform. The system includes 16 commercial banks and the central bank, or National Bank. The state controls the system, although in principle most banks have been privatized. An internationally assisted restructuring program was completed in 2003. HP Pavilion DV9760ED Battery
Banks provide a narrow range of services, concentrating on providing credit to state-owned enterprises. Only an estimated 10% of the capital in Tajikistan moves through the banking system, and small businesses rarely borrow from banks. Despite substantial potential, the tourism industry, HP Pavilion DV9760EF Battery
which was eliminated by the civil war, has not re-established itself since the war because of poor infrastructure, lack of promotion, and security concerns. Some small insurance companies began operations in the early 2000s.[7]
Labor
In 2003 Tajikistan’s active labor force was estimated at 3.4 million, HP Pavilion DV9760EI Battery
of whom 64% were employed in agriculture, 24% in services, and 10% in industry and construction. After declining in the early 2000s, the real wages of state employees were raised in 2004 and 2005. Because of the continued dominance of state farms, the majority of workers are government employees, although only a small number rely completely on wages. HP Pavilion DV9760EL Battery
Driven by high unemployment, in 2006 an estimated 700,000 workers found seasonal or permanent employment in Russia and other countries. Their remittances, estimated at US$600 million in 2005, are an important economic resource in Tajikistan; in 2004 an estimated 15% of households depended mainly on those payments. HP Pavilion DV9760EO Battery
In May 2009 remittances to Tajiks had fallen to $525 million, a 34% decline from the previous year. Immediately before the 2008 financial crisis there were an estimated 1.5 million foreign workers sending remittances back to Tajikistan.[2] In 2006 the average wage was US$27 per month. HP Pavilion DV9760EZ Battery
The national unemployment rate was estimated unofficially as high as 40% in 2006, but in rural areas unemployment has exceeded 60%. Unemployment has been higher in the southern Khatlon Province than in the northern Soghd Province.[7]Mean wages were $0.66 per manhour in 2009. HP Pavilion DV9762EO Battery
Currency, exchange rate, and inflation
The somoni was introduced in 2000 to replace the Tajikistani ruble, which had been the currency since 1991. Since 2001 the exchange rate has remained relatively stable. In January 2007, some 3.21 somoni equaled US$1. HP Pavilion DV9762EZ Battery
In April 2011 1 US-$ is about 4,7 somoni. (Calculkated with http://www.bloomberg.com/personal-finance/calculators/currency-converter/)
Throughout the post-Soviet era, inflation has been a serious obstacle to economic growth and improvement of the standard of living. HP Pavilion DV9764EG Battery
For the years 2001–3, Tajikistan’s inflation rates were 33%, 12.2%, and 16.3%, respectively, but in 2004 the rate fell to 6.8%, and the rate for 2005 was 7.1%. In late 2006, inflation approached the 10% level. The official forecast for 2007 is 7%.[7] HP Pavilion DV9765EG Battery
Government budget
The year 2004 was the first year of budget deficit after three consecutive years of budget surpluses, which in turn had followed four years of deficits between 1997 and 2000. In 2005 revenues totaled US$442 million (aided by improvements in tax collection), HP Pavilion DV9766EZ Battery
and expenditures were US$542 million, a deficit of US$100 million. The approved 2007 state budget calls for revenues of US$926 million and expenditures of US$954 million, leaving a deficit of US$28 million.[7] HP Pavilion DV9767EG Battery
Foreign economic relations
In the post-Soviet era, Tajikistan has substantially shifted its markets away from the former Soviet republics; in 2005 more than 80% of total exports went to customers outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including more than 70% to countries of the European Union (EU) and Turkey. HP Pavilion DV9767EO Battery
However, because most of Tajikistan’s food and energy are imported from CIS countries, in 2005 only about 53% of total trade activity was outside the CIS. In 2005 the top overall buyers of Tajikistan’s exports, in order of value, were the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia, Uzbekistan, Latvia, and Iran. HP Pavilion DV9769EG Battery
Besides aluminum, which accounts for more than half of export value, the main export commodities are cotton, electric power, fruits, vegetable oils, and textiles. In 2005 the largest suppliers of Tajikistan’s imports, in order of value, were Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, China, and Ukraine. HP Pavilion DV9770EA Battery
Those import rankings are determined largely by the high value of fuels and electric power that Tajikistan buys from its neighbors. Another significant import is alumina (aluminum oxide) to supply the aluminum industry. The major suppliers of alumina are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.[7] HP Pavilion DV9770ED Battery
Tajikistan has suffered trade deficits throughout the post-Soviet era. In 2003 the deficit was US$97 million, based on exports of US$705 million and imports of US$802 million. In 2004 exports were worth US$736 million and imports, US$958 billion, creating a trade deficit of US$222 million. HP Pavilion DV9770EF Battery
The deficit increased again in 2005, to US$339 million, mainly because cotton exports decreased and domestic demand for goods increased.[7]
In 2005 the current account deficit was US$86 million, having shown a general downward trend since the late 1990s. HP Pavilion DV9770EG Battery
The estimated current account deficit for both 2006 and 2007 is 4.5% of GDP, or about US$90 million in 2006. In 2005 the overall balance of payments was US$14 million. The estimated overall balance of payments for 2006 is US$8 million.[7]
At the end of 2006, Tajikistan’s external debt was estimated at US$830 million, HP Pavilion DV9770EL Battery
most of which was long-term international debt. This amount grew steadily through the 1990s and early 2000s because of state borrowing policy. In 2004 Tajikistan eliminated about 20% of its external debt by exchanging debt to Russia for Russian ownership of the Nurek space tracking station, and by 2006 rescheduling negotiations had reduced the debt by about two-thirds as a percentage of gross domestic product.[7] HP Pavilion DV9770EO Battery
In the early 2000s, foreign direct investment has remained low because of political and economic instability, corruption, the poor domestic financial system, and Tajikistan’s geographic isolation. The establishment of businesses nearly always requires bribing officials and often encounters resistance from entrepreneurs with government connections. HP Pavilion DV9770ES Battery
To attract foreign investment and technology, Tajikistan has offered to establish free economic zones in which firms receive advantages on taxes, fees, and customs. In 2004, the parliament passed a law on free economic zones [18] and in 2008 passed a decree creating two zones: the Panj Free Economic Zone and the Sughd Free Economic Zone. HP Pavilion DV9770EV Battery
In 2003 foreign direct investment totaled US$41 million; it increased to US$272 million in 2004 because of the debt-reduction transaction with Russia. In the first half of 2005, the figure was US$16 million. Beginning in 2005, the Russian Rusal aluminum company resumed operations to complete the hydroelectric station at Rogun on the Vakhsh River and expand aluminum production at the Tursunzade plant. HP Pavilion DV9770EW Battery
That plant was scheduled for possible sale to Rusal in 2007. Also in 2005, Russia and Iran resumed work on the Vakhsh River Sangtuda hydroelectric project. Gazprom, the Russian natural gas monopoly, allocated US$12 million for oil and gas exploration in Tajikistan in 2007 after spending US$7 million in 2006. HP Pavilion DV9770LA Battery
In 2005 the Russian telecommunications company VimpelCom bought a controlling share of Tajikistan’s Tacom mobile telephone company. As of 2006, Turkey tentatively planned to invest in a luxury hotel and a cotton processing plant. HP Pavilion DV9772EG Battery
The politics of Tajikistan takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the executive branch and the two chambers of parliament. HP Pavilion DV9773EG Battery
Political developments
Tajikistan gained its independence during the breakup of the on September 9, 1991 and promptly fell into a civil war from 1992–1997 between old-guard regits, and Islamists loosely organized as the United Tajik Opposition (UTO). HP Pavilion DV9774CA Battery
Other combatants and armed bands that flourished in this civil chaos simply reflected the breakdown of central authority rather than loyalty to a political faction. The height of hostilities occurred between 1992-93. By 1997, the predominantly Kulyabi-led Tajik government and the UTO successfully negotiated a power-sharing peace accord and implemented it by 2000. HP Pavilion DV9775EE Battery
Tajikistan is slowly rebuilding itself with an integrated government and continues to permit a Russian military presence to guard their border with Afghanistan and the basing of the Russian 201st Motorized Rifle Division that never left Tajikistan when it became independent. HP Pavilion DV9775EG Battery
Most of these Russian-led forces, however, are local Tajik noncommissioned officers and soldiers.
Both Tajikistan's presidential and parliamentary elections, in 1999 and 2000, respectively, were widely considered to be flawed and unfair but peaceful. HP Pavilion DV9775LA Battery
The inclusion of an Islamist party committed to secular government (Islamic Renaissance Party) and several other parties in the Parliamentary elections represented an improvement in the Tajik people's right to choose their government. Tajikistan is the only Central Asian country in which a religiously affiliated political party is represented in Parliament. HP Pavilion DV9778EG Battery
President Emomalii Rahmon, while no longer specifically obliged—as he was under the peace accords—to allocate one-third of government positions to the UTO, has kept some former UTO officials in senior cabinet-level positions. While the government and the now incorporated former opposition continue to distrust each other, HP Pavilion DV9778EO Battery
they have often found a way to work with each other and are committed to peacefully resolving their differences.
Prior to the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, the civil war in Afghanistan produced cross-border effects that threatened to destabilize Tajikistan's fragile and hard-won peace. HP Pavilion DV9779EO Battery
In the summers of 1999 and 2000, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan used Tajikistan as a staging ground for an insurgency campaign against the government of Uzbekistan. At the same time, Taliban advances in northern Afghanistan threatened to inundate Tajikistan with thousands of refugees. HP Pavilion DV9780EA Battery
A constant flow of illegal narcotics continues to transit Tajikistan from Afghanistan on its way to Russian and European markets, leaving widespread violent crime, corruption, increased HIV incidence, and economic distortions in its wake. During 2002, stability in the country continued to increase, HP Pavilion DV9780EB Battery
and the year was largely free of the assassinations and outbreaks of violence perpetrated by unreformed opposition members that plagued the country in previous years.
Executive branch
The president, who is directly elected, is both the head of state and the head of government. HP Pavilion DV9780ED Battery
The president appoints the prime minister and all the members of the government, with parliamentary approval. Tajikistan is thus a presidential republic. Tajikistan held a constitutional referendum on 22 June 2003 and the2003 Constitution, among other amendments, set a limit of two seven-year terms for the president.[1] HP Pavilion DV9780EG Battery
Emomalii Rahmon's election to the office of the president in 2006 counts as his first 7-year term under the 2003 Constitution, and in principle he may be re-elected for a second term in 2013, remaining in office until 2020.
In this geographically divided country, HP Pavilion DV9780EO Battery
the ceremonial position of prime minister traditionally is held by a person from the north to nominally balance President Emomalii Rakhmon’s southern origin. In 2004 the executive branch fell further under the control of the governing party as appointments by Rakhmon left the opposition with only 5 percent of major government positions. HP Pavilion DV9780EP Battery
This event followed the expiration of the 1997 peace guarantee that the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) would occupy at least 30 percent of top government positions. Prior to the 2006 election, the Council of Ministers, which executes the decisions of the president, included two deputy prime ministers, HP Pavilion DV9780ES Battery
19 ministers, nine committee heads, and several ex officio members. After the election, Rakhmon abolished 10 ministries and five state committees and reappointed Oqil Oqilov as prime minister. Rakhmon is said to have accumulated substantial informal power through patronage.[2] HP Pavilion DV9780ET Battery
Legislative branch
The bicameral Supreme Assembly (Majlisi Oli) includes the 63-seat Assembly of Representatives (Majlisi namoyandagon), which meets year-round (from November through end of June), HP Pavilion DV9780EW Battery
and the 33-seat National Assembly (Majlisi milli), which meets at least twice per year. The bicameral legislature was introduced in theSeptember 1999 Constitution and prior to that Tajikistan had a unicameral legislature.[1]
The members of the Assembly of Representatives are chosen by direct popular election for a five-year term.[3] HP Pavilion DV9780EZ Battery
Of the 63 members of the Assembly of Representatives, 22 are elected by party, in proportion to the number of votes received by each party gaining at least 5 percent of total votes, and the remaining members are elected from single-member constituencies. HP Pavilion DV9780LA Battery
In the National Assembly, three-fourths of the members are chosen by the deputies of the local representative assemblies (majlisi) in the country's four mainadministrative divisions and in the cities subordinated directly to central government; each of these subnational jurisdictions is entitled to equal representation. HP Pavilion DV9784EG Battery
The remaining members are appointed directly by the president.[1]
The pro-government People’s Democratic Party continued to control both houses of the parliament after the elections of 2005; that party gained 52 of the 63 seats in the Assembly of Representatives. HP Pavilion DV9785EG Battery
In 2006, 11 women sat in the Assembly of Representatives, and five sat in the National Assembly. Opposition factions in the Supreme Assembly have clashed with pro-government members over some issues.[2]
Judicial branch
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary. HP Pavilion DV9785LA Battery
The Supreme Court is the highest court. Other high courts include the Supreme Economic Court and the Constitutional Court, which decides questions of constitutionality. The president appoints the judges of these three courts, with the approval of the legislature. There is also a Military Court. The judges of all courts are appointed to 10-year terms. HP Pavilion DV9787EG Battery
Though the judiciary is nominally independent, the executive branch and criminal groups have considerable influence on judicial functions. Bribery of judges, who are poorly paid and poorly trained, is commonplace. The court system has local, district, regional, and national levels, with each higher court serving as an appellate court for the level below. HP Pavilion DV9788EG Battery
Appeals of court decisions are rare because the populace generally does not trust the judicial system. Constitutional guarantees to the right to an attorney and to a prompt and public trial often are ignored. The Soviet-era presumption of the guilt of the defendant remains in force. HP Pavilion DV9790EA Battery
The procurator’s office conducts all criminal investigations. Trials are heard by juries except in cases of national security.
Administrative divisions
Tajikistan consists of 4 administrative divisions. These are the provinces (viloyat) of Sughd and Khatlon, HP Pavilion DV9790EB Battery
the autonomous province (viloyati mukhtor) of Gorno-Badakhshan (in Tajik: Viloyati Mukhtori Kuhistoni Badakhshon), and the Region of Republican Subordination (Raiony Respublikanskogo Podchineniya in transliteration from Russian or in Tajik: Ноҳияҳои тобеи ҷумҳурӣ; formerly known as Karotegin Province). HP Pavilion DV9790ED Battery
The capital of Sughd is Khujand(formerly Leninabad), the capital of Khatlon is Qurghonteppa (formerly Kurgan-Tyube), and the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan is Khorugh (formerly Khorog). The national capital Dushanbe is also the administrative center of the Region of Republican Subordination. HP Pavilion DV9790EF Battery
Each region is divided into several districts (Tajik: ноҳия, nohiya orraion), which in turn are subdivided into jamoats (village-level self-governing units). As of 2008, there were 58 districts and 367 jamoats in Tajikistan.[4] In addition, subregional units included 17 towns and 54 urban-type settlements (Tajik: шаҳрак). HP Pavilion DV9790EG Battery
Provincial and local government
Local government is divided into representative and executive branches. The representative branch in provinces, towns, and districts is the assembly (majlis) of people's deputies, who are elected locally for a five-year term. HP Pavilion DV9790EL Battery
The executive power in provinces, towns, and districts is vested in the head of local administration, who is directly appointed by the President, with the approval of the local majlis.<ref name=const2003/
Electoral system
Suffrage is universal for citizens 18 years of age and older. HP Pavilion DV9790EO Battery
A new election law passed in 2004 has received international criticism for its restrictive candidate registration requirements. Election requires an absolute majority of votes; if no candidate gains a majority, a second round is held between the top two vote getters. By controlling the Central Election Commission, HP Pavilion DV9790EP Battery
the Rahmon regime has gained substantial influence over the registration of parties, the holding of referenda, and election procedures. In 1999 and 2003, referenda of dubious fairness made constitutional changes that strengthened Rahmon’s hold on power. HP Pavilion DV9790ER Battery
International observers also found substantial irregularities in the conduct of the 1999 presidential election, in which only one opposition candidate was permitted to register, and the media were censored. Six parties participated in the 2000 and 2005 parliamentary elections, HP Pavilion DV9790ES Battery
although in both cases observers reported state interference with the process and with opposition candidates’ access to the media. Rahmon easily won re-election in November 2006, gaining 79 percent of the vote against four little-known opponents; international monitors again found the election unfair. HP Pavilion DV9790ET Battery
Three major opposition parties—the Democratic Party, the Islamic Rebirth Party, and the Social Democratic Party—boycotted the election.
In the early 2000s, independent political parties continued to exist, but their operations were circumscribed and their influence marginal. HP Pavilion DV9790EW Battery
The governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gained strength as some opposition party leaders joined the government and others were disqualified from participation in elections. The Communist Party of Tajikistan, a nominal opposition party that has supported President Rahmon on most issues, has lost support since 2000. HP Pavilion DV9791EO Battery
The liberal, pro-market Democratic Party also has lost support. In 1997 Rahmon weakened his chief opposition emerging from the civil war, the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), by naming movement leader Akbar Turajonzoda a deputy prime minister. In the ensuing years, the UTO was eclipsed politically by its main component organization, the Islamic Rebirth Party (IRP). HP Pavilion DV9800 Battery
In 2003 the IRP lost its chief opposition issue as the ban on religious parties ended. Nevertheless, in 2006 parties still could not receive aid from religious institutions, and tension remained between the government and Islamic factions.
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In 2006 the IRP was the most influential opposition party in Tajikistan and the only religiously affiliated party represented in the national legislature of a Central Asian country. After the death of long-time IRP leader Said Abdullo Nuri in 2006, a possible split emerged from the struggle for party leadership. HP Pavilion DV9800ES Battery
Some antigovernment sentiment has been channeled into radical Islamic organizations such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is outlawed as a terrorist organization, rather than into conventional political parties. In 2006 six parties, including one faction of the Democratic Party, were banned, and a total of eight parties were registered. HP Pavilion DV9801TX Battery
In 2005 Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, head of the Democratic Party, received a long prison term for terrorism after being abducted from exile, and in 2006 his party was replaced on the official list by a government-backed splinter group, Vatan. HP Pavilion DV9802TX Battery,HP Pavilion DV9803TX Battery,HP Pavilion DV9804CA Battery
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