The Tajiks descended from Persian-speaking Iranian people, and followed a sedentary life - unlike the nomadic
Turks and Mongols. The region of Transoxania, between the upper reaches of t he Amu Darya and Syr-Darya
rivers, had numerous invaders, including Arabs and Turks who converted the Tajik to Islam. The Arabs
conquered in the 8th century, and various Turkic peoples invaded from the 10thcentury onwards, including the
Uzbecs, who became the rulers of the Tajiks in the 16th century.
The Tajiks had a semi-independent existence until the 18th century, when the Afghans hived off parts of
southern Tajikistan. In the 1860's and 1870's the expanding Russian empire swallowed up the northern
Zeravshan and Fergana valleys . The south was annexed by the Uzbek Emirate of Bukhara, which had a
measure of independence until 1920's although it recognised the sovereignty of Russia in the 1870's.
The northern part of Tajikistan was incorporated into the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in
1918. Dushanbe and other parts of southern Tajikistan under Bukhara rule were conquered by the Red Army in
1920's. Although local resistance by nationalist Basmachi guerrillas as in the south-eastern mountains was not
quelled until 1925.
In 1924 the administrative map of Central Asia was redrawn. The republic of Uzbekistan was created. including
the Tajik autonomous republic the first time there was an administrative authority with the name Tajik. The
following January, south-eastern Tajikistan became a Special Pamir Region. It was renamed Gorno-Badakhshan
Autonomous Oblast in December 1925. In 1929 Tajikistan became a full Union Republic of the USSR, and
acquired the district of Khodgent (later Leninabad from Uzbekistan.)
Here are some facts & figures about Tajikistan:
Location: Central Asia, west of China
Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States-Central Asian States
Total area 143,100 sq. km land area: 142,700 sq. km
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Wisconsin state of USA
Total 3,651 km, Afghanistan 1,206 km, China 414 km Kyrgyzstan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,161km
COASTLINE: 0 km (land-locked)
MARITIME CLAIMS: none, land-locked
CLIMATE: mid-latitude continental, hot summers. Mild winters; Semi-arid 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
Arable land: 6%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 23%
Forest and wood land: 0%
Other: 71%
Population: 6,155,474 July 1995 estimate.
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 estimate.)
2,6% (1995 estimate)
Birth rate: 34.06 birth/1,000 population (1995 estimate)
Death: 6.58 deaths/1,000 population (1995 estimate)
Net Migration: 1.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 estimate)
Infant Mortality rate: 60.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 estimate)
Total population: 69.03 years; male, 66.11 years; female, 72.1 years (l995 estimate)
Noun: Tajik(s)
Adjective: Tajik
Tajik 64.9%, Uzbek 25%, Russian 3,5%(declining because of emigration, other 6.6%
Religions: Sunni Muslims m 80%, Shi'a Muslim 5% Christians and others.
Languages: Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business and Uzbek
1989 total population: 98%; ma1e 99%; female 97%
By occupation agriculture and forestry 43%, government and services 24%, industry 1 4%. trade and
communications 11%, construction 8% (1990)
Names:
Conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan government
Conventional short. form: Tajikistan
Local long form: Jumhurii Tojikistan
Local short form: none
former: Tajik Soviet Social Socialist Republic
(Viloyati avtonomii) : Viloyati Avtonomii Badakhshoni Kuhi- ( Khorugh - formerly Khorog)
Viloyati Khalton (Qurghonteppa - formerly Kurgan - Tyube),
Viloyati Leninobad (Khujand - formerly Leninabad)
Note the administrative center names are in parentheses.
(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.
Commodities: cotton, aluminum, fruit, vegetables, oil, textiles,
Partners: Russia, Khazakhstaan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran,
Commodities: fuel, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, textiles, food stuffs.
Consumption per capita: 2,800 kWh (1994)
RAILROADS:
Total: 480 km in common carrier service: does not include industrial lines (l990)
HIGHWAYS:
Total: 29,900 km paved: 21,400 km unpaved: earth 8,500 km
PIPELINES: Natura1 gas 400 km( 19921)
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 t o 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
Local : NA
Inter-city 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: I
Orbita and 2 INTELSAT earth stations.
broadcast stations: AM -NA ; FM - NA,
shortwave NA.
radios: NA
Broadcast Stations: NA
Televisions: NA
note: INTELSAT earth station provides TV receive from Turkey.
Add map….
Central Asia was the ancient homeland of the Iranians and therefore also of the Iranian languages. The so - called Eastern Iranian languages were and still are spoken over a wide area from the Caucasus (Ossetic) to Chinese Turkestan , where in medieval times descendants of the Saka languages were spoken in Khotan and other places and the modern Pamir Languages Sarikoli is still spoken and may have been more widespread before the Achaemenid period. At the time of the Achaemenids all Iranians spoke approximately the same language with slight variations. It is believed to Eastern Iran and that the oldest parts of the work were composed somewhere in Central Asia or Afghanistan.
From A.D the 1st millennium the following languages are attested:
Scythian and Sarmatian ,Sogdian, Bactnian, Chromesian Parthian, Bucharian.
Sogdian, Bactnian and Choremian were the languages spoken at the territory where the modern Tajikistan is situated to day.
The modern linguistic map of Central Asia is very complex. The following Eastern Iranian languages are currently spoken in Central Asia:
1. Yagnobi a descendant of Sogdian is spoken on the upper course of the Zeravshan river.
2. The Pamiri languages:
a) Shughni with the dialects of Sahdara and Baju
b) Rushani with the dialect of Khuf, Bartangi, Roshorvi.
c) Yazgulami spoken in Yazghulam valley. It shares some similarities with Khotanese.
d) The two closely related Ishkashimi and Sanglichi are spoken to the west of the Wakhan valley.
3. Baluchi is spoken in the vicinity of Mary (Terkmenistan) the people came from Sistan Iran
4. The Tajik is represented by many local dialects or subdialects, which are commonly categorized as northern (Bukhara, and Samarquand, Ferghana),central and southern or southwestern and Southeastern spoken in Tajikistan.
The Tajik language is the national literary and colloquial tongue of the Tajiks. It is spoken by the great bulk of the inhabitants of the Tajikistan. In addition, it has spread to some areas of the Uzbek, Kazakh, and Kirgiz SSR's, and beyond the border - to the territory of Northern Afghanistan.
The Tajik language is related to the language of the Iranian group, which in turn is a member of the vast structure of the Indo - European family of languages. In addition to Tajik, the languages of the Iranian group found in ex-Soviet Union Ossetic - in the North Ossetia and in the South Ossetic Autonomous Region.
Kurdish in Armenia, Azerbaijan ,Georgia, and Turkmenia ; Baluchi in Turkmenia, Tat and Talysh in Azebaijan Yagnobi and the Pamir dialects (Shugni,Wakhi,Yazgulami,Ishkashimi in Tajikistan and beyond the
In grammatical structure Tajik is a language of the analytical type. A rich system of case inflection existed
among the old Iranian languages which was completely lost and for the expression of the so called case-relationships, means of purely syntactic character are utilized. (prepositional and post-positional constructions,
izafet - combination, world order, etc.,). Also lost was the category of forms, synthetic and analytic, is
characteristic in Tajik only of the verb, although even here its type is far removed from that of the old Iranian
system.
Tajik is a language of an ancient culture and of a literary tradition of many centuries. In the pre- revolutionary period and particularly in medieval times 16th centuries there took place the greatest development of poetry among the Tajiks. The names of great. Tajik poets such as Rudaki Daqiqi, Fardowsi, etc. are world renowned. A world-wide reputation is also enjoyed by the Tajik scientist, philosopher, and poet, Abu - Ali ibn Sina ( Avicenna).
After the 1917th October Revolution, Tajik science and literature developed. The most outstanding Tajik
writer, the founder of Tajik artistic prose, is Sadreddin Ayni; also the poets Mirza Tursunzade and Mirsai
Mirshakar, Mu' min Kanaat , Loiq Sheraly and others.
In the middle ages, the territory was populated by foreigners the Ara conquerors 7th to 8th