Tajikistan
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Dushanbe
- Population
- 10,593,876 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 144,100 sq km
- Government
- presidential republic
- Religions
- Muslim 98% (Sunni 95%, Shia 3%) other 2% (2014 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Tajik 84.3% (includes Pamiri and Yagnobi), Uzbek 13.8%, other 2% (includes Kyrgyz, Russian, Turkmen, Tatar, Arab) (2014 est.)
- Currency
- Tajikistani somoni (TJS)
- Life Expectancy
- 71.9 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .tj
- Climate
- mid-latitude continental, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains
- Terrain
- mountainous region dominated by the Alay Mountains in the north and the Pamirs in the southeast; western Fergana Valley in north, Kofirnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest
- Natural Resources
- hydropower, some petroleum, uranium, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten, silver, gold
- Major Exports
- gold, precious metal ore, aluminum, lead ore, antimony (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
The Tajik people came under Russian imperial rule in the 1860s and 1870s, but Russia's hold on Central Asia weakened following the Revolution of 1917.