Official Name: Republic of Tajikistan
Established: 819 (Samanid Empire) / 9 September 1991 (Independence from USSR)
Population: 9.7 million (2022 estimate)
Religion: Muslim (96.4%)
Official Languages: Tajik & Russian
Capital: Dushanbe
Order of Visit: 75
Planned First Visit: 17 May 2023
Planned Last Visit: 20 May 2023
Duration: 4 Days
Must Do: To be discovered!
Cities to be visited: Dushanbe, Kuli Iskandarkul, Khŭjand

Location and Geography

Tajikistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia covering 142,326 square kilometres and is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east.

History and Culture

The territory that now constitutes Tajikistan was previously home to several ancient cultures, including the city of Sarazm of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age and later the Oxus civilization, and has been influence by many different cultures and religions including the Andronovo culture, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Islam.

The region was eventually conquered by the Russian Empire Between 1864 and 1885 and subsequently by the Soviet Union (USSR). Within the Soviet Union, the country’s modern borders were drawn when it was part of Uzbekistan as an autonomous republic before becoming a full-fledged Soviet republic in 1929.

On 9 September 1991, Tajikistan declared itself an independent sovereign nation as the Soviet Union was disintegrating. A civil war was fought almost immediately after independence, lasting from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country’s economy to grow.

Most of Tajikistan’s population belongs to the Tajik ethnic group, who speak the Tajik language — the first official language — making it one of the three Persian speaking countries alongside Afghanistan and Iran. Russian is used as the official inter-ethnic language. Nearly 29% of Tajikistan’s GDP came from immigrant remittances (mostly from Tajiks working in Russia), one of the highest rates in the world.

Drug trafficking is the major illegal source of income in Tajikistan as it is an important transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russia

Tajikistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Economic Cooperation Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.  

What has dawn me to explore Tajikistan?

To experience some of the highest-altitude landscapes in the world and explore the beautiful lakes, to experience the Tajik culture and traditions and see how the USSR influenced this region.

This visit is part of the Five Stans of Silk Road G Adventures tour that will see me visiting; Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan.