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A former Soviet republic, Tajikistan plunged into civil war almost as soon as it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. A rugged, mountainous country, with lush valleys to the south and north, it is Central Asia's poorest nation.
Overview
Tajiks are the country's largest ethnic group, with Uzbeks making up a quarter of the population, over half of which is employed in agriculture and just one-fifth in industry. Nearly half of Tajikistan's population is under 14 years of age.
Lake Sarez, high up in Taijkistan's rugged Pamir mountains
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The Tajik language is very close to Persian, spoken in Iran, and to Dari, spoken in Afghanistan. The five-year civil war between the Moscow-backed government and the Islamist-led opposition, in which up to 50,000 people were killed and over one-tenth of the population fled the country, ended in 1997 with a United Nations-brokered peace agreement. The country's economy has never really recovered from the civil war, and poverty is widespread. Almost half of Tajikistan's GDP is earned by migrants working abroad, especially in Russia, but the recession in 2009 threatened that income. The country is also dependent on oil and gas imports. Economic hardship is seen as a contributing to a renewed interest in Islam - including more radical forms - among young Tajiks. Tajikistan has been accused by its neighbours of tolerating the presence of training camps for Islamist rebels on its territory, an accusation which it has strongly denied. Tajikistan has relied heavily on Russian assistance to counter continuing security problems and cope with the dire economic situation. Russian forces guarded sections of the border with Afghanistan until mid-2005 when their withdrawal was completed and the task handed over to Tajik border guards. Skirmishes with drug smugglers crossing illegally from Afghanistan occur regularly, as Tajikistan is the first stop on the drugs route from there to Russia and the West. In October 2004 Russia formally opened a military base in Dushanbe where several thousand troops will be stationed. It also took back control over a former Soviet space monitoring centre at Nurek. These developments were widely seen as a sign of Russia's wish to counter increased US influence in Central Asia.
Facts
- Population: 7 million (UN, 2010)
- Capital: Dushanbe
- Area: 143,100 sq km (55,251 sq miles)
- Major languages: Tajik, Uzbek, Russian
- Major religion: Islam
- Life expectancy: 65 years (men), 70 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: 1 Tajik somoni = 100 dirams
- Main exports: Aluminium, electricity, cotton, fruit, textiles
- GNI per capita: US $700 (World Bank, 2009)
- Internet domain: .tj
- International dialling code: +992
Leaders
President: Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmon (Rakhmonov) Emomali Rakhmon, a former cotton farm boss, was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of Tajikistan in 1992 after the country's first post-Soviet leader, Rahmon Nabiyev, was forced to resign.
Emomali Rakhmon - now in third term as president
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He was elected president in 1994 and re-elected in 1999 when his term was extended to seven years. In 2006 he won a third term in office in an election which international observers said was neither free nor fair. Opposition parties boycotted the vote, dismissing it as a Soviet-style staged attempt at democracy. Mr Rakhmon was instrumental in the pro-Communist effort to remove Islamist rebels from Dushanbe in the early 1990s. He led troops from southern Kulob District and supported the intervention of forces from other former Soviet republics. After years of civil war and violence, some stability returned to Tajikistan. The president has a firm grip on power. His People's Democratic Party holds virtually all seats in parliament. Western observers said legislative elections in 2005 and 2010 failed to meet international standards. Mr Rakhmon does retain substantial public support. Tajikistan is still very poor, but many people are thankful they no longer have to face the civil war of the 1990s which killed tens of thousands and caused more than 10% of the population to flee the country. Mr Rakhmon was born in 1952. His surname was Rakhmonov until 2007 when he ordered his countrymen to drop Russian-style surnames, in a break with the nation's Soviet past. He removed the Russian suffix "-ov" from his surname.
Media
Television is the most-popular medium. Alongside the state broadcaster there are more than a dozen private TVs, most of them entertainment-based. Russian channels are widely-watched. There are more than 200 registered papers, but no dailies. Some titles are government-owned, and others are linked to political movements. Privately-owned papers have a very small readership. Radio is the only broadcast medium that can be received in all areas of the country. Private stations operate alongside state-run networks. Media rights organisations report that, although provided for in the constitution, press freedom is not widely respected. Freedom House says independent journalists face harassment and intimidation, and the penal code criminalizes defamation. The government controls most printing presses and broadcasting facilities, it adds. There were some 600,000 internet users by September 2009 (InternetWorldStats). Competition among providers is low, and access charges remain high. The press - Minbar-i Khalq - published by People's Democratic Party
- Jumhuriyat - government-owned, published in Tajik three times a week
- Khalq Ovozi - government-owned, published in Uzbek three times a week
- Narodnaya Gazeta - government-owned, published in Russian three times a week
- Neru-i Sukhan - privately-owned, weekly
- Nido-i Ranjbar - Tajik-language weekly, published by the Communist Party
- Golos Tajikistana - Russian-language weekly, published by the Communist Party
- Tojikiston - privately-owned Tajik-language weekly
- Najot - weekly, published by Islamic Rebirth Party
Television - Tajik TV - state-run; operates Tajik TV first channel, Safina youth channel, news channel Jahonnamo, children's network Bahoriston and regional channels
- Soghd TV - state-run regional station in north
- Khatlon TV - state-run regional station in south
- SMT (Independent Television of Tajikistan) - private, Dushanbe
Radio - Tajik Radio - state-run, operates Radio Tajikistan, Radio Sado-i Dushanbe (Voice of Dushanbe), culture network Radio Farhang, external service Ovoz-i Tojik
- Radio Imruz - private, available in all regions
- Radio Vatan - Dushanbe, private
- Radio Tiroz - Khujand, private
- Radio Asia-Plus - Dushanbe, private
News agencies
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