Tajikistan

• mountainous region dominated by the Trans-Alay Range in the north and the Pamirs in the southeast;
• western Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest

agricultural land:

34.7%;

• arable land 6.1%;
• permanent crops 0.9%;
• permanent pasture 27.7%

forest:

2.9%

other:

62.4% (2011 est.)

• the country's population is concentrated at lower elevations, with perhaps as much as 90% of the people living in valleys;
• overall density increases from east to west

• inadequate sanitation facilities;
• increasing levels of soil salinity;
• industrial pollution;
• excessive pesticides

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Tajikistani(s)

adjective:

Tajikistani

• the country's population is concentrated at lower elevations, with perhaps as much as 90% of the people living in valleys;
• overall density increases from east to west

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.85 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria (2016)

conventional long form:

Republic of Tajikistan

conventional short form:

Tajikistan

local long form:

Jumhurii Tojikiston

local short form:

Tojikiston

former:

Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic

etymology:

the Persian suffix "-stan" means "place of" or "country," so the word Tajikistan literally means "Land of the Tajik [people]"

name:

Dushanbe

geographic coordinates:

38 33 N, 68 46 E

time difference:

UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 2 provinces (viloyatho, singular - viloyat), 1 autonomous province* (viloyati mukhtor), 1 capital region** (viloyati poytakht), and 1 area referred to as Districts Under Republic Administration***;
• Dushanbe**, Khatlon (Qurghonteppa), Kuhistoni Badakhshon [Gorno-Badakhshan]* (Khorugh), Nohiyahoi Tobei Jumhuri***, Sughd (Khujand)

note: the administrative center name follows in parentheses

history:

several previous; latest adopted 6 November 1994

amendments:

• proposed by the president of the republic or by at least one-third of the total membership of both houses of the Supreme Assembly;
• adoption of any amendment requires a referendum, which includes approval by the president or approval by at least at least two-thirds of the Assembly of Representatives membership;
• passage in a referendum requires participation of an absolute majority of eligible voters and an absolute majority of votes;
• note – constitutional articles including Tajikistan’s form of government, its territory, and its democratic nature cannot be amended;
• amended several times, last in 2016 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Tajikistan

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years or 3 years of continuous residence prior to application

chief of state:

President Emomali RAHMON (since 6 November 1994; head of state and Supreme Assembly chairman since 19 November 1992)

head of government:

Prime Minister Qohir RASULZODA (since 23 November 2013)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the Supreme Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term (eligible for 2 terms);
• election last held on 6 November 2013 (next to be held in November 2020);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

Emomali RAHMON reelected president; percent of vote - Emomali RAHMON (PDPT) 83.9%, Ismoil TALBAKOV (CPT) 5%, other 11.1%

description:

bicameral Supreme Assembly or Majlisi Oli consists of the National Assembly or Majlisi Milli (34 seats; 25 members indirectly elected by local representative assemblies or majlisi, 8 appointed by the president, and 1 reserved for the former president; members serve 5-year terms) and the Assembly of Representatives or Majlisi Namoyandagon (63 seats; 41 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by 2-round absolute majority vote and 22 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

National Assembly - last held on 1 March 2015 (next to be held in 2020); Assembly of Representatives - last held on 1 March 2015 (next to be held in 2020)

election results:

• National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• Assembly of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PDPT 65.4%, APT 11.7%, PERT 7.5%, SPT 5.5%, CPT 2.2%, DPT 1.7%, other 6%;
• seats by party - PDPT 51, APT 5, PERT 3, CPT 2, SPT 1, DPT 1

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court (consists of the chairman, deputy chairmen, and 34 judges organized into civil, criminal, and military chambers);
• Constitutional Court (consists of the court chairman, vice president, and 5 judges);
• High Economic Court (consists of 16 judicial positions)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and High Economic Court judges nominated by the president of the republic and approved by the National Assembly;
• judges of all 3 courts appointed for 10-year renewable terms with no limit on terms, but last appointment must occur before the age of 65

subordinate courts:

• regional and district courts;
• Dushanbe City Court;
• viloyat (province level) courts;
• Court of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region

• Agrarian Party of Tajikistan or APT [Rustam LATIFZODA]
• Communist Party of Tajikistan or CPT [Miroj ABDULLOYEV]
• Democratic Party of Tajikistan or DPT [SaidjafFar USMONZODA]
• Party of Economic Reform of Tajikistan or PERT [Olimjon BOBOEV]
• Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Ovezmammed MAMMEDOV]
• People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan or PDPT [Emomali RAHMON]
• Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan or SDPT [Rahmatullo ZOIROV]
• Socialist Party of Tajikistan or SPT [Abduhalim GHAFFOROV]

• Group 24 [Suhrob ZAFAR] (banned)
• New Tajikistan Party [Zayd SAIDOV (jailed since 2013)] (unregistered)
• Vatandor (Patriot) Movement [Dodojon ATOVULLOEV]
• Youth for the Revival of Tajikistan [Maqsud IBROHIMOV - jailed in 2015] (banned)
• Youth Party of Tajikistan [Izzat AMON] (unregistered)
• Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan or IRPT [Muhiddin KABIRI - in exile] (banned)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Farhod SALIM (since 21 May 2014)

chancery:

1005 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037

telephone:

[1] (202) 223-6090

FAX:

[1] (202) 223-6091

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Kevin COVERT (since 31 August 2017)

embassy:

109-A Ismoili Somoni Avenue, Dushanbe 734019

mailing address:

7090 Dushanbe Place, Dulles, VA 20189

telephone:

[992] (37) 229-20-00

FAX:

[992] (37) 229-20-50

• three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe of white, and green;
• a gold crown surmounted by seven gold, five-pointed stars is located in the center of the white stripe;
• red represents the sun, victory, and the unity of the nation, white stands for purity, cotton, and mountain snows, while green is the color of Islam and the bounty of nature;
• the crown symbolizes the Tajik people;
• the seven stars signify the Tajik magic number "seven" - a symbol of perfection and the embodiment of happiness

name:

"Surudi milli" (National Anthem)

lyrics/music:

Gulnazar KELDI/Sulaimon YUDAKOV

note: adopted 1991; after the fall of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan kept the music of the anthem from its time as a Soviet republic but adopted new lyrics

agriculture:

43%

industry:

10.6%

services:

46.4% (2016 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA% (2009 est.)

general assessment:

• foreign investment in the telephone system has resulted in major improvements;
• conversion of the existing fixed network from analogue to digital was completed in 2012

domestic:

• fixed line availability has not changed significantly since 1998, while mobile cellular subscribership, aided by competition among multiple operators, has expanded rapidly;
• coverage now extends to all major cities and towns

international:

• country code - 992;
• linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch;
• Dushanbe linked by Intelsat to international gateway switch in Ankara (Turkey);
• satellite earth stations - 3 (2 Intelsat and 1 Orbita);
• established a single gateway for Internet traffic in December 2015, which is expected to limit the connectivity of nonstate-owned telecom, Internet, and mobile companies (2016)

• state-run TV broadcasters transmit nationally on 9 TV and 10 radio stations, and regionally on 4 stations;
• 31 independent TV and 20 radio stations broadcast locally and regionally;
• many households are able to receive Russian and other foreign stations via cable and satellite (2016)

number of registered air carriers:

2; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 10

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

802,470

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

105,376 mt-km (2015)

total:

680 km

broad gauge:

680 km 1.520-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 103

• 18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service;
• 2-year conscript service obligation;
• males required to undergo compulsory military training between ages 16 and 55;
• males can enroll in military schools from at least age 15 (2012)

• in 2006, China and Tajikistan pledged to commence demarcation of the revised boundary agreed to in the delimitation of 2002;
• talks continue with Uzbekistan to delimit border and remove minefields;
• disputes in Isfara Valley delay delimitation with Kyrgyzstan

• Tajikistan sits on one of the world's highest volume illicit drug trafficking routes, between Afghan opiate production to the south and the illicit drug markets of Russia and Eastern Europe to the north;
• limited illicit cultivation of opium poppy for domestic consumption;
• significant consumer of opiates