Tajikistan

Overview

Tajikistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia that borders Afghanistan to the south, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west and northwest. The ancient Silk Road passed through it. The Tajiks are not a Turkic people (like most peoples in the region), but are closely related to the Iranians. The Tajik language is closely related to Farsi, and some of the best and most famous 'Iranian' poets are actually Tajiks. The capital city of Tajikistan is Dushanbe . The city of Penjikent is close to the border with Uzbekistan and can be reached from Samarkand . Penjikent has some impressive remains of the ancient Sodgian civilization. Tajikistan is very mountainous. On the one hand this means that the scenery is great, with excellent hiking opportunities, but on the other hand it means that travel can be time consuming and rough.

History

The Tajik people came under Russian rule in the 1860s and 1870s, but Russia's hold on Central Asia weakened following the Revolution of 1917. Bolshevik control of the area was fiercely contested and not fully reestablished until 1925. Tajikistan became independent in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union and has now completed its transition from the civil war that plagued the country from 1992 to 1997. 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. There have been no major security incidents in recent years, although the country remains the poorest in the region. 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.