Background: Tajikistan has experienced three changes in government and a five-year civil war since it gained independence in 1991 from the USSR. A peace agreement among rival factions was signed in 1997 and implemented in 2000. The central government's less than total control over some areas of the country has forced it to compromise and forge alliances among factions. Attention by the international community in the wake of the war in Afghanistan has brought increased economic development assistance which could create jobs and increase stability in the long term. Tajikistan is in the early stages of seeking World Trade Organization membership and has joined NATO's Partnership for Peace.

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N 71 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 143,100 km²
Water: 400 km²
Land: 142,700 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Wisconsin

Land boundaries
Total: 3,651 km
Border countries: (4) Afghanistan 1,206 km; , China 414 km; , Kyrgyzstan 870 km; , Uzbekistan 1,161 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: midlatitude continental hot summers mild winters; semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains

Terrain: Pamir and Alay Mountains dominate landscape; western Fergana Valley in north Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Syr Darya (Sirdaryo) 300 m
Extremes highest point: Qullai Ismoili Somoni 7,495 m

Natural resources: hydropower some petroleum uranium mercury brown coal lead zinc antimony tungsten silver gold

Land use
Arable land: 5.41%
Permanent crops: 0.92%
Other: 93.67% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 7,200 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: earthquakes and floods

Geography
Note: landlocked; mountainous region dominated by the Trans-Alay Range in the north and the Pamirs in the southeast; highest point Qullai Ismoili Somoni (formerly Communism Peak) was the tallest mountain in the former USSR

Population: 6,719,567 (July 2002 est.)
Growth rate: 2.12% (2002 est.)
Below poverty line: 80% (2001 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Tajikistani
Adjective: Tajikistani

Ethnic groups: Tajik 64.9% Uzbek 25% Russian 3.5% (declining because of emigration) other 6.6%

Languages: Tajik (official) Russian widely used in government and business

Religions: Sunni Muslim 85% Shi'a Muslim 5%

Age structure
0-14 years: 40.4% (male 1,370,314; female 1,346,465)
15-64 years: 54.9% (male 1,835,573; female 1,854,677)
65 years and over: 4.7% (male 136,033; female 176,505) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.12% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 32.99 births/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 8.51 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.27 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 est.)

Environment
Current issues: inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.02 male/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male/female
Total population: 0.99 male/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 114.77 deaths/1000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 64.28 years
Female: 67.46 years (2002 est.)
Male: 61.24 years

Total fertility rate: 4.23 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.01% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: less than 100 (1999 est.)
Deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98%
Male: 99%
Female: 97% (1989 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan
Conventional short form: Tajikistan
Local short form: Tojikiston
Former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
Local long form: Jumhurii Tojikiston

Government type: republic

Capital: Dushanbe

Administrative divisions
Note: the administrative center name follows in parentheses

Independence: 9 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day (or National Day) 9 September (1991)

Constitution: 6 November 1994

Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Emomali RAHMONOV (since 6 November 1994; head of state and Supreme Assembly chairman since 19 November 1992)
Head of government: Prime Minister Oqil OQILOV (since 20 January 1999)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the Supreme Assembly
Election results: Emomali RAHMONOV elected president; percent of vote - Emomali RAHMONOV 97%, Davlat USMON 2%
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 6 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); prime minister appointed by the president

Legislative branch
Election results: Assembly of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PDPT 65%, Communist Party 20%, Islamic Rebirth Party 7.5%, other 7.5%; seats by party - NA; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA
Elections: last held 27 February and 12 March 2000 for the Assembly of Representatives (next to be held NA 2005) and 23 March 2000 for the National Assembly (next to be held NA 2005)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party or DPT [Mahmadruzi ISKANDAROV chairman]; Islamic Revival Party [Said Abdullo NURI chairman]; People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan or PDPT [Emomali RAHMONOV]; Social Democratic Party or SDPT [Rahmatullo ZOIROV]; Socialist Party or SPT [Sherali KENJAYEV]; Tajik Communist Party or CPT [Shodi SHABDOLOV]

International organization participation: AsDB CCC CIS EAPC EBRD ECE ECO ESCAP FAO IAEA IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IOC IOM ITU OIC OPCW OSCE UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Tajikistan does not have an embassy in the US but does have a permanent mission to the UN: address - 136 East 67th Street New York NY 10,021 telephone - [1] (212) 472-7,645 FAX - [1] (212) 628-0252; permanent representative to the UN is Khamrokhon ZARIPOV
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Franklin P. HUDDLE, Jr.
From the us embassy: 10 Pavlova Street, Dushanbe, Tajikistan 734,003; note - the embassy in Dushanbe is not yet fully operational; most business is still handled in Almaty at 531 Sayfullin Street, Almaty, Kazakhstan, telephone 7-3,272-58-79-61, FAX 7-3,272-58,079-68
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [992] (372) 21-03-48, 21-03-50, 21-03-52, 24-15-60
From the us fax: [992] (372) 51-00-28, 21-03-62

Flag description: 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

Economy overview: Tajikistan has the lowest per capita GDP among the 15 former Soviet republics. Cotton is the most important crop. Mineral resources varied but limited in amount include silver gold uranium and tungsten. Industry consists only of a large aluminum plant hydropower facilities and small obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing. The civil war (1992-97) severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. Even though 80% of its people continue to live in abject poverty Tajikistan has experienced strong economic growth since 1997. Continued privatization of medium and large state-owned enterprises will further increase productivity. Tajikistan's economic situation however remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural reforms weak governance and the external debt burden. Servicing of the debt owed principally to Russia and Uzbekistan could require as much as 50% of government revenues in 2002 thus limiting the nation's ability to meet pressing development needs.

Real gdp growth rate: 8.3% (2001 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1140 (2001 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 19%
Industry: 25%
Services: 56% (2000)

Agriculture products: cotton grain fruits grapes vegetables; cattle sheep goats

Industries: aluminum zinc lead chemicals and fertilizers cement vegetable oil metal-cutting machine tools refrigerators and freezers

Industrial production growth rate: 10.3% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 3.187 million (2000)
By occupation agriculture: 67%
By occupation industry: 8%
By occupation services: 25% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: 20% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line: 80% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $146 million
Expenditures: $196 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) (2000 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 33% (2001 est.)

Exports: $640 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Commodities: aluminum electricity cotton fruits vegetable oil textiles
Partners: Europe 43% Russia 30% Uzbekistan 13% (2000)

Imports: $700 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Commodities: electricity petroleum products aluminum oxide machinery and equipment foodstuffs
Partners: Uzbekistan 27% Russia 16% Europe 12% (2000)

Debt external: $1.23 billion (2000 est.)

Exchange rates
Note: the new unit of exchange was introduced on 30 October 2000, with one somoni equal to 1,000 of the old Tajikistani rubles

Electricity
Production: 14.245 billion kWh (2000)
Production by source fossil fuel: 2%
Production by source hydro: 98%
Production by source other: 0% (2000)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 12.539 billion kWh (2000)
Exports: 3.909 billion kWh (2000)
Imports: 3.2 billion kWh (2000)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 363,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 2,500 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: poorly developed and not well maintained; many towns are not reached by the national network
Domestic: cable and microwave radio relay
International: 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 - 1 Orbita and 2 Intelsat

Internet
Country code: .tj
Service providers isps: 4 (2002)
Users: 5,000 (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $35.4 million (FY01)
Percent of gdp: 3.9% (FY01)

Airports: 53 (2001)
With paved runways total: 2
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 51
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 12
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 36 (2002)

Pipelines: natural gas 400 km (1992)

Railways
Total: 482 km
Broad gauge: 482 km 1.520-m gauge
Note: includes only lines in common carrier service; lines dedicated to particular industries are excluded (2001)

Waterways: none

Disputes international: Uzbekistan has mined much of its undemarcated southern and eastern border with Tajikistan; border demarcation negotiations continuing with Kyrgyzstan in Isfara Valley area; Kazakhstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan wrestle with sharing water resources and the resulting regional environmental degradation caused by the shrinking of the Aral Sea

Illicit drugs: major transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and to a lesser extent Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of opium poppy for domestic consumption; Tajikistan seizes roughly 80 percent of all drugs captured in Central Asia and stands third world-wide in seizures of opiates (heroin and raw opium)