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TAJIKISTAN

 Note--Tajikistan has experienced three changes of government since it
 gained independence in September 1991. The current president, Emomali
 RAKHMONOV, was elected to the presidency in November 1994, yet has
 been in power since 1992. The country is suffering through its third
 year of a civil war, with no clear end in sight. Underlying the
 conflict are deeply-rooted regional and clan-based animosities that
 pit a government consisting of people primarily from the Kulob
 (Kulyab), Khujand (Leninabad), and Hisor (Hissar) regions against a
 secular and Islamic-led opposition from the Gharm, Gorno-Badakhshan,
 and Qurghonteppa (Kurgan-Tyube) regions. Government and opposition
 representatives have held periodic rounds of UN-mediated peace talks
 and agreed in September 1994 to a cease-fire. Russian-led peacekeeping
 troops are deployed throughout the country, and Russian border guards
 are stationed along the Tajik-Afghan border. 

@Tajikistan:Geography

 Location: Central Asia, west of China

 Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian
 States
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TAJIKISTAN - MAJOR CITIES 
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                                        Latitude,      Internat'l     Time   
                        Population      Longitude      Phone Code     Zone   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
DUNSHANBE                  595,000    38.38N, 68.51E       7-        GMT+6   
Khodzhent                  160,000    40.17N, 69.37E       7-        GMT+6   
Kulyab                      62,000    37.55N, 69.47E       7-        GMT+6   
Kurgan-Tyube                55,000    37.52N, 68.47E       7-        GMT+6   
Kanibadam                   28,000    40.20N, 70.18E       7-        GMT+6   
Tursunzade                  21,000    38.32N, 68.15E       7-        GMT+6   
Khorog                      14,000    37.32N, 71.32E       7-        GMT+6   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Area:
 total area: 143,100 sq km
 land area: 142,700 sq km
 comparative area: slightly smaller than Wisconsin

 Land boundaries: total 3,651 km, Afghanistan 1,206 km, China 414 km,
 Kyrgyzstan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,161 km

 Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

 Maritime claims: none; landlocked

 International disputes: boundary with China in dispute; territorial
 dispute with Kyrgyzstan on northern boundary in Isfara Valley area;
 Afghanistan's and other foreign support to Tajik rebels based in
 northern Afghanistan

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

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

 Natural resources: significant hydropower potential, some petroleum,
 uranium, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten

 Land use:
 arable land: 6%
 permanent crops: 0%
 meadows and pastures: 23%
 forest and woodland: 0%
 other: 71%

 Irrigated land: 6,940 sq km (1990)

 Environment:
 current issues: inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of
 soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides; part of the
 basin of the shrinking Aral Sea which suffers from severe
 overutilization of available water for irrigation and associated
 pollution
 natural hazards: NA
 international agreements: NA

 Note: landlocked

@Tajikistan:People

 Population: 6,155,474 (July 1995 est.)

 Age structure:
 0-14 years: 43% (female 1,303,627; male 1,340,086)
 15-64 years: 53% (female 1,612,429; male 1,624,379)
 65 years and over: 4% (female 157,841; male 117,112) (July 1995 est.)

 Population growth rate: 2.6% (1995 est.)

 Birth rate: 34.06 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Death rate: 6.58 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Net migration rate: -1.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Infant mortality rate: 60.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

 Life expectancy at birth:
 total population: 69.03 years
 male: 66.11 years
 female: 72.1 years (1995 est.)

 Total fertility rate: 4.55 children born/woman (1995 est.)

 Nationality:
 noun: Tajik(s)
 adjective: Tajik

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

 Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 5%

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

 Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
 total population: 98%
 male: 99%
 female: 97%

 Labor force: 1.95 million (1992)
 by occupation: agriculture and forestry 43%, government and services
 24%, industry 14%, trade and communications 11%, construction 8%
 (1990)

@Tajikistan:Government

 Names:
 conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan
 conventional short form: Tajikistan
 local long form: Jumhurii Tojikistan
 local short form: none
 former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic

 Digraph: TI

 Type: republic

 Capital: Dushanbe

 Administrative divisions: 2 oblasts (viloyatho, singular - viloyat)
 and one autonomous oblast* (viloyati avtonomii); Viloyati Avtonomii
 Badakhshoni Kuni* (Khorugh - formerly Khorog), Viloyati Khatlon
 (Qurghonteppa - formerly Kurgan-Tyube), Viloyati Leninobad (Khujand -
 formerly Leninabad)
 note: the administrative center names are in parentheses

 Independence: 9 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

 National holiday: National Day, 9 September (1991)

 Constitution: new constitution adopted 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 Emomili RAKHMONOV (since 6 November 1994;
 was Head of State and Assembly Chairman since NA November 1992);
 election last held 6 November 1994 (next to be held NA 1998); results
 - Emomili RAKHMONOV 58%, Abdumalik ABDULLAJANOV 40%
 head of government: Prime Minister Jamshed KARIMOV (since 2 December
 1994)
 cabinet: Council of Ministers

 Legislative branch: unicameral
 Supreme Soviet: elections last held 26 February 1994 (next to be held
 NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; estimated seats - (181
 total) Communist Party and affiliates 100, Popular Party 10, Party of
 Political and Economic Progress 1, Party of Popular Unity 6, other 64

 Judicial branch: Prosecutor General

 Political parties and leaders: Communist Party (People's Party of
 Tajikistan - PPT), Abdumalik ABDULAJANOV; Party of Economic Freedom
 (PEF), Abdumalik ABDULAJANOV; Tajik Socialist Party (TSP), Shodi
 SHABDOLOV; Tajik Democratic Party (TDP), Abdu-Nabi SATARZADE,
 chairman; note - suspended for six months; Islamic Renaissance Party
 (IRP), Sayed Abdullo NURI, chairman; Rebirth (Rastokhez), Takhir
 ABDUZHABOROV; Lali Badakhshan Society, Atobek AMIRBEK; People's
 Democratic Party (PDP), Abdujalil HAMIDOV, chairman; Tajikistan Party
 of Economic and Political Renewal (TPEPR), Mukhtor BOBOYEV
 note: all the above-listed parties except the Communist Party, the
 Party of National Unity, and the People's Party were banned in June
 1993

 Other political or pressure groups: Tajikistan Opposition Movement
 based in northern Afghanistan

 Member of: CIS, EBRD, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, ILO,
 IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NACC,
 OIC, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

 Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission: NA
 chancery: NA
 telephone: NA

 US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission: Ambassador Stanley T. ESCUDERO
 embassy: Interim Chancery, #39 Ainii Street, Oktyabrskaya Hotel,
 Dushanbe
 mailing address: use embassy street address
 telephone: [7] (3772) 21-03-56

 Flag: three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe of white,
 and green; a crown surmounted by seven five-pointed stars is located
 in the center of the white stripe

Economy

 Overview: Tajikistan had the next-to-lowest per capita GDP in the
 former USSR, the highest rate of population growth, and an extremely
 low standard of living. Agriculture dominates the economy, cotton
 being the most important crop. Mineral resources, varied but limited
 in amount, include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten. Industry is
 limited to a large aluminum plant, hydropower facilities, and small
 obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing. The
 Tajik economy has been gravely weakened by three years of civil war
 and by the loss of subsidies and markets for its products, which has
 left Tajikistan dependent on Russia and Uzbekistan and on
 international humanitarian assistance for much of its basic
 subsistence needs. Moreover, constant political turmoil and the
 continued dominance by former Communist officials have impeded the
 introduction of meaningful economic reforms. In the meantime,
 Tajikistan's efforts to adopt the Russian ruble as its domestic
 currency despite Russia's unwillingness to supply sufficient rubles
 left the country in a severe monetary crisis throughout 1994, keeping
 inflation low but leaving workers and pensioners unpaid for months at
 a time. The government has announced plans to introduce its own
 currency in 1995 to help resolve the problem.

 National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $8.5 billion (1994
 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1992)

 National product real growth rate: -12% (1994 est.)

 National product per capita: $1,415 (1994 est.)

 Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

 Unemployment rate: 1.5% includes only officially registered
 unemployed; also large numbers of underemployed workers and
 unregistered unemployed people (September 1994)

 Budget:
 revenues: $NA
 expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

 Exports: $320 million to outside the FSU countries (1994)
 commodities: cotton, aluminum, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles
 partners: Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan

 Imports: $318 million from outside the FSU countries (1994)
 commodities: fuel, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment,
 textiles, foodstuffs
 partners: Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan

 External debt: $NA

 Industrial production: growth rate -31% (1994)

 Electricity:
 capacity: 3,800,000 kW
 production: 17 billion kWh
 consumption per capita: 2,800 kWh (1994)

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

 Agriculture: cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle, sheep
 and goats

 Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly
 for CIS consumption; used as transshipment points for illicit drugs
 from Southwest Asia to Western Europe and North America

 Economic aid:
 recipient: Russia and Uzbekistan reportedly provided substantial
 general assistance throughout 1993 and 1994; Western aid and credits
 promised through the end of 1993 were $700 million but disbursements
 were only $104 million; large scale development loans await IMF
 approval of a reform and stabilization plan

 Currency: 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks; Tajikistan uses the Russian ruble
 as its currency by agreement with Russia; government has plans to
 introduce its own currency, the Tajik ruble, in 1995

 Exchange rates: NA

 Fiscal year: calendar year

@Tajikistan:Transportation

 Railroads:
 total: 480 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial
 lines (1990)

 Highways:
 total: 29,900 km
 paved: 21,400 km
 unpaved: earth 8,500 km (1990)

 Pipelines: natural gas 400 km (1992)

 Ports: none

 Airports:
 total: 59
 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
 with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1
 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 9
 with unpaved runways under 914 m: 36

@Tajikistan:Communications

 Telephone system: 303,000 telephones (December 1991); about 55
 telephones/1,000 persons (1991); poorly developed and not well
 maintained; many towns are not reached by the national network
 local: NA
 intercity: cable and microwave radio relay
 international: linked by cable and microwave to other CIS republics,
 and by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch;
 Dushanbe linked by INTELSAT to international gateway switch in Ankara;
 1 Orbita and 2 INTELSAT earth stations

 Radio:
 broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
 radios: NA

 Television:
 broadcast stations: NA
 televisions: NA
 note: 1 INTELSAT earth station provides TV receive-only service from
 Turkey

@Tajikistan:Defense Forces

 Branches: Army (being formed), National Guard, Security Forces
 (internal and border troops)

 Manpower availability: males age 15-49 1,410,229; males fit for
 military service 1,153,638; males reach military age (18) annually
 57,942 (1995 est.)

 Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP


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