Tajikistan

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Tajikistan

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Jumhurii Tojikston/Republic of Tajikistan Area 143,100 sq km/55,250 sq mi Capital Dushanbe Language Tajik (related to Farsi; official), Russian Religion Sunni Muslim; small Russian Orthodox and Jewish communities Time difference GMT +5 Major holidays 1 January, 8, 21 March, 9 May, 9 September, 14 October; variable: end of Ramadan


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Khojand, Qurghonteppa, Kulob, Uroteppa, Kofarnihon Physical features mountainous, more than half of its territory lying above 3,000 m/10,000 ft; huge mountain glaciers, which are the source of many rapid rivers Airports one international airport and three major domestic airports; total passengers carried: 413,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 482 km/300 mi; total passenger journeys: 643,000 (1999) Roads total road network: 27,767 km/17,254 mi (2000 est); passenger cars: 25.9 per 1,000 people (1999 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Imamali Rakhmanov from 1994 Head of government Akil Akilov from 1999 Political system authoritarian nationalist Political executive unlimited presidency Administrative divisions two provinces and one autonomous region (Gornyi Badakhstan) Political parties Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT), pro-Rakhmanov; Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DP), anticommunist (banned from 1993); Party of Popular Unity and Justice, anticommunist Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces 7,600; plus paramilitary forces of 5,300 (2006 est) Conscription military service is compulsory for 24 months Defence spend (% GDP) 2.1 (2004 est) Education spend (% GDP) 2.8 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 0.9 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency Tajik rouble GDP (US$) 2.2 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 8 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 2.2 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 1,260 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 7.8% (2006 est) Unemployment 2.3% (2005 est) Labour force 67.6% agriculture, 7.7% industry, 24.7% services (2003) Foreign debt (US$) 773 million (2004 est) Major trading partners the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Switzerland, USA Resources coal, aluminium, lead, zinc, iron, tin, uranium, radium, arsenic, bismuth, gold, mica, asbestos, lapis lazuli; small reserves of petroleum and natural gas Industries mining, aluminium production, engineering, food processing, textiles (including silk), carpet making, clothing, footwear, fertilizers Exports aluminium, electricity, cotton fibre. Principal market: the Netherlands 41.4% (2004) Imports industrial products and machinery (principally for aluminium plants), unprocessed agricultural products, food and beverages, petroleum and chemical products, natural gas, consumer goods. Principal source: Russia 24.2% (2004) Arable land 6.5% (2006 est) Agricultural products cotton, jute, rice, millet, fruit, vegetables; livestock rearing (cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs)


POPULATION

Population 6,590,800 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.4% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 46 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 24 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 39%, 15–59 56%, 60+ 5% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 62% ethnic Tajik, 24% Uzbek, 8% ethnic Russian, 1% Tatar, 1% Kyrgyz, and 1% Ukrainian Life expectancy 62 (men); 67 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 118 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 21.8 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 6.1 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.1 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <100 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 93 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 3.8 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 4.1 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 142 (1997) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 375 (2004 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 0.1 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

c. 330 Formed an eastern part of empire of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. 8th century Tajiks established as distinct ethnic group, with semi-independent territories under the tutelage of the Uzbeks, to the west; spread of Islam. 13th century Conquered by Genghis Khan and became part of Mongol Empire. 1860–1900 Northern Tajikistan came under tsarist Russian rule, while the south was annexed by Emirate of Bukhara, to the west. 1917–18 Attempts to establish Soviet control after Bolshevik revolution in Russia resisted initially by armed guerrillas (basmachi). 1921 Became part of Turkestan Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic. 1924 Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic formed. 1929 Became constituent republic of Soviet Union (USSR). 1930s Stalinist era of collectivization led to widespread repression of Tajiks. 1978 13,000 participated in anti-Russian riots. late 1980s Resurgence in Tajik consciousness, stimulated by the glasnost initiative of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. 1989 Rastokhez (‘Revival’) Popular Front established and Tajik declared state language. New mosques constructed. 1990 Violent interethnic Tajik–Armenian clashes in Dushanbe; state of emergency imposed. 1991 President Kakhar Makhkamov, local communist leader since 1985, forced to resign after supporting failed anti-Gorbachev coup in Moscow. Independence declared. Rakhman Nabiyev, communist leader 1982–85, elected president. Joined new Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). 1992 Joined Muslim Economic Cooperation Organization, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE; now Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE), and United Nations (UN). Violent demonstrations by Islamic and pro-democracy groups forced Nabiyev to resign. Civil war between pro- and anti-Nabiyev forces claimed 20,000 lives, made 600,000 refugees, and wrecked economy. Imamali Rakhmanov, communist sympathetic to Nabiyev, took over as head of state. 1993 Government forces regained control of most of country. CIS peacekeeping forces drafted in to patrol border with Afghanistan, base of pro-Islamic rebels. 1994 Ceasefire agreed. Rakhmanov popularly elected president under new constitution. 1995 Parliamentary elections won by Rakhmanov's supporters. Renewed fighting on Afghan border. 1996 Pro-Islamic rebels captured towns in southwest. UN-sponsored ceasefire between government and pro-Islamic rebels. 1997 Four-stage peace plan signed. Peace accord with Islamic rebel group United Tajik Opposition (UTO). 1998 Members of UTO appointed to government as part of peace plan. UN military observer mission (UNMOT) suspended operations, following killing of four UN workers. More than 200 people killed in clashes in Leninabad between army and rebel forces loyal to renegade Tajik army commander Col Makhmud Khudoberdiyev; deputy leader of Islamic-led UTO, Ali Akbar Turadzhonzada, appointed first deputy prime minister. 1999 Constitutional changes approved creation of two-chamber legislature. President Rakhmanov re-elected; Akil Akilov appointed prime minister. 2000 New bicameral parliament set up; new currency (somoni) introduced. Visas for travel between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan introduced. 2001 Deputy Interior Minister Habib Sanginov assassinated in Dushanbe; two other senior officials assassinated. Tajikistan offered its support to US-led anti-terror coalition. 2002 Number of guards along border with Afghanistan doubled to keep out al-Qaeda members. Deputy leader of opposition Islamic Rebirth Party, Shamsiddin Shamsiddinov, arrested and charged with murder; his party claimed move politically motivated. Referendum allowed President Rahmonov to run for further two consecutive seven-year terms; opposition claimed referendum a travesty of democracy. 2003 Opposition leader Shamsiddin Shamsiddinov sentenced by Supreme Court to 16 years in prison. 2004 Moratorium on death penalty approved by parliament. Russia opened military base in Tajikistan; resumed control over former Soviet space monitoring centre. Tajikistan requested arrest in Moscow of leader of opposition Democratic Party Mahmadruzi Iskandarov. Tajik authorities requested his extradition for number of alleged offences; supporters claimed arrest politically motivated. 2005 Series of car bomb and other attacks in capital blamed on Islamic militants. Ruling party won overwhelmingly in parliamentary elections; international observers stated poll failed to meet acceptable standards. Extradition request for Iskandarov turned down by Moscow; after his release he was kidnapped and rearrested in Tajikistan. Russian border guards completed handover of patrol to Tajik forces. Iskandarov sentenced to 23 years in prison on corruption and terrorism charges. 2006 Former top military commander Gaffor Mirzoyev sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of terrorism and plotting coup; supporters claimed his arrest and trial politically motivated. President Rakhmonov won third seven-year term in office; poll described by international observers as neither fair nor free.


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