The Tajikistan Portal

Flag of Tajikistan
Flag of Tajikistan
Emblem of Tajikistan
Emblem of Tajikistan
Location on the world map

Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital and most populous city. Tajikistan is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. It is separated from Pakistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor. It has a population of approximately 10.6 million people.

The territory was previously home to cultures of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, including the city of Sarazm, and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of various faiths and cultures including the Oxus civilization, Andronovo culture, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Islam. The area has been ruled by empires and dynasties including the Achaemenid Empire, Sasanian Empire, Hephthalite Empire, Samanid Empire, and Mongol Empire. After being ruled by the Timurid Empire and Khanate of Bukhara, the Timurid Renaissance flourished. The region was later conquered by the Russian Empire, before becoming part of the Soviet Union. Within the Soviet Union, the country's borders were drawn when it was part of Uzbekistan as an autonomous republic before becoming a constituent republic of the Soviet Union on 5 December 1929. (Full article...)

Environmental issues in Tajikistan include concentrations of agricultural chemicals and salts in the soil and groundwater, poor management of water resources, and soil erosion. Additionally, because of inadequate sanitation facilities, untreated industrial waste (particularly from aluminum production) and sewage combine with agricultural runoff to cause water pollution in the Aral Sea Basin. Soviet-Era mining operations in Tajikistan extracted and processed uranium, gold, antimony, tungsten, mercury, and molybdenum, each of which is known to leave toxic waste that also threatens water quality. Pockets of high air pollution caused by industry and motor vehicles have resulted in Tajikistan ranking 133rd in the world in greenhouse gas emissions. Air pollution is a particular problem during times of the year when atmospheric conditions hold industrial and vehicle emissions close to the surface in urban areas. In summer, dust and sand from the deserts of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan cause air pollution across the entire southwestern lowland region.

Although a destructive civil war, budget shortfalls, poverty, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union reduced industrial and agricultural activity, these issues, as well as the destruction of infrastructure and loss of Soviet programs (such as the Committee on Nature Protection, state-owned agriculture, and region-wide networks of hydro posts) have amplified environmental concerns. Additionally, the Tajik government is hesitant to acknowledge these concerns, which has tensed its regional relationships. (Full article...)

Did you know? - show a different entry

... costing $3.5 million to construct and at a height of 165 m (541 ft), the Dushanbe Flagpole, first flown in 2011 is the tallest free-standing flagpole in the world.
Other "Did you know" facts... Read more...

Subcategories

General images

The following are images from various Tajikistan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Religions in Tajikistan


Post Soviet states


Other countries

Topics

Things you can do

Selected image

Credit: User:VargaA
Dushanbe, Capital of Tajikistan

WikiProjects

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache