Tajikistan – Education
In the public education system, which is free and includes nine years of compulsory schooling, the teaching takes place predominantly in Tajik. Only 0.3% (1995) of the adult population are illiterate.
The four-year primary school for 7-11-year-olds is followed by a superstructure with a five-year and a two-year level. Primary school is followed by 93% of a year group, and the superstructure by 76% (1995). Higher education takes place at the country’s university in Dushanbe as well as at a dozen other higher education institutions.
OFFICIAL NAME: Jumhurii Tojikistan
CAPITAL CITY: Dusjanbe
POPULATION: 7,300,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 143,100 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Tajik, Russian, Uzbek
RELIGION: Sunni Muslims 80%, Shia Muslims 5%, Russian Orthodox 2%, others el. no 13%
COIN: Tajik rubles
CURRENCY CODE: TJR
ENGLISH NAME: Tajikistan
INDEPENDENCE: 1991
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Tajiks 65%, Uzbeks 25%, Russians 3%, others (Tatars, Kyrgyz, Ukrainians, Germans) 7%
GDP PER residents: $ 237 (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 61 years, women 66 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.652
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 122
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .tj
Tajikistan is a Republic of Central Asia. The country, like the other Soviet republics, became independent upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991; it was then one of the poorest republics of the Soviet Union. Large transfers to investments in agriculture, industry and power plants had not been sufficient to provide employment for the country’s rapidly growing population.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each independent country and territory, such as TJ which stands for Tajikistan.
There were deep regional, political and religious contradictions, which became apparent after independence, and which resulted in armed conflicts in the 1990’s, with some groups receiving support from Afghanistan. The Civil War was devastating to the already weak economy; production fell more drastically than in other former Soviet republics, and destroyed bridges and roads severed the already difficult connections between the regions. By the year 2000, Tajikistan was a weak state formation, heavily dependent on Russian support.
Mining, energy and industry
Tajikistan’s subsoil contains many raw materials, but natural conditions and transport difficulties make exploitation difficult. However, a lot of coal, oil and natural gas are extracted. There is also an extensive gold extraction that foreign investors have shown interest in. The industrial sector is relatively small and employs only 6% of the workforce (2003). These are mainly a few large companies for processing agricultural products (tobacco, wool, cotton, silk, meat, dairy products). By the water-rich rivers, a large number of hydropower plants have been built, and almost the entire country’s electricity consumption is covered from here. Cheap electricity was the reason why the central government of the Soviet Union built a large aluminum factory at Tursan-Zade near the capital Dushanbe. Although production more than halved in the first years of the 1990’s, in 1995 aluminum accounted for almost 60% of the country’s export earnings. This was also the case in 2005, when production reached 85% of Soviet-era production.
Transportation
In the extremely mountainous country, the construction of roads and railways is very difficult and there is no transport network that connects the country. Roads and railways are few and laid out according to the needs of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. There are railways out of the country from the capital Dushanbe and from the city of Kurgan-Tjube in the SW, and to the north a transit line connecting via Khudzhand the eastern and western part of Uzbekistan. However, the old caravan road, which crosses four high mountain passes through Gorno-Badakhshan, has been extended to car traffic, but for several winter months it is not passable.
Tajikistan – language
The official language is Tajik, which is spoken by approximately 3.5 million (1995) and is a southwestern Iranian language related to Persian; see Iranian languages. In addition, the Turkish language is spoken Uzbek by approximately 1.5 million (1995). Both use the Cyrillic alphabet. Russian in particular has been the language of administration in the past.
Tajikistan – Constitution
The Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan is from 1994. The legislature lies with a unicameral parliament, Majlisi Oli ‘the Supreme Assembly’, with 181 members, elected by universal suffrage for five years. The president, who has wide powers, is elected by direct universal suffrage for five years and can only be re-elected once. He shall appoint a Prime Minister and other Ministers subject to the approval of Parliament. Check youremailverifier for Tajikistan social condition facts.
