ABOUT TAJIKISTAN

Tajikistan is a small republic in Central Asia, bordering Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan, China and Afghanistan. The 1,200 km (740 mile) border with Afghanistan is demarked by the river Panj and the Amu Daryo, better known as the Oxus.

Most of Tajikistan's land area is mountainous, ranging from the Fann Mountains in the west to the rocky heights of the Pamirs in the eastern region of Badakhshan. The highest mountain is Peak Somoni (Samanid) at 7,495 m (23,400 ft). Until recently known as Peak Communism, this giant of the Pamirs was renamed in 1999 as part of the celebrations for the 1100th anniversary of the Samanid State.

CENSUS RESULTS 2000

Tajikistan's first census as an independent nation was taken in January 2000. The last census, in 1989, was under the Soviet regime. According to the results of the General Census of the Population of Tajikistan, published by the State Agency for Statistics, the population of the republic stands at 6,105,300. This exceeds the count of the 1989 census by one million.

Dushanbe, the capital of the country, has a population of 536,100. This is a decrease of 54,000, mostly accounted for by the exodus of ethnic Russians during the 1992-97 civil war.

The largest proportion of the population (2,141,100) lives in the Khatlon Region. The population of the northern Leninabad Region is 1,895,500. The autonomous region of Mountainous Badakhshan has a population of 203,500.

POPULATION GROWTH

The rate of growth of population in Tajikistan since independence was 19.5%, or 996,700 people. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Tajik SSR had the highest birthrate of any Soviet republic. This does not appear to have changed. The dramatic rise in population over the last decade, despite the outmigration of an estimated half a million people, indicates that Tajikistan has one of the highest rates of population growth in the world.

ETHNICITY

The CIA World Factbook estimates that the population is 64.9% Tajik, 25% Uzbek, 3.5% Russian, and 6.6% other.

Economy

Tajikistan's economy was shattered by the 1992-97 civil war, but is slowly recovering. Despite steady economic growth since the war ended, the per capita GDP is still lower than any of the other former Soviet republics. Tajikistan's most important commodities are cotton and aluminium, the latter accounting for 45% of the country's export production. The hydropower potential is also significant. Mineral resources are varied (gold, silver, uranium, tungsten) but limited in amount.

Travel Tajikistan exists to promote Tajikistan as a tourist destination. A successful tourist industry will create jobs and increase export revenues.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)

	2002 est.
Gross Domestic Product	USD $8 billion
GDP per capita	$1,250
GDP growth rate	5%
GDP composition by sector	19% agriculture; 26% industry; 55% services

INFLATION

Annual inflation (2001 est.)

12%

PRODUCTION

A report by RIA-Novosti on 16 December 2003 quoted Tajikistan's State Statistics Committee as saying that the country's industrial output increased nine percent compared in the first 11 months of 2003 compared with the same period in 2002. Production of consumer goods rose by 13.5%, and real incomes rose 27%.