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Tajikistan
The
Republic of Tajikistan lies in the heart of Central Asia and
is bordered by Kyrgyzstan on the north, China on the east,
Afghanistan on the south, and Uzbekistan on the west and
northwest. The territory of the country is 55,250 square
miles (143,100 square km). Tajikistan encompasses the
smallest amount of land among the five Central Asian States,
but in terms of elevation it surpasses them all, enclosing
more and higher mountains than any other country in the
region.
The
population of Tajikistan is 6.066 million people (1st
January, 1998). The country is inhabited by the
representatives of over 70 nationalities, the majority of
them is the Tajiks (64%), then the Uzbeks (25%), the
Russians (3.5%), the others (6.6%). The official language is
Tajik. By creed the majority of people is Muslim-Sunni (80%)
Shi'i (5%) and others (15%). The literacy rate of the
population is 98% with that of men (99%) and women (97%).
In
1994 voters approved a new Constitution to replace the
Soviet-era constitution that had been in effect since 1978
and amended after independence by referendum. The new
constitution establishes legislative, executive, and
judicial branches. Unique among Central Asian republics,
Tajikistan's constitution provides for a strong legislature
rather than a dominant executive, though the President is
head of State. The current President is Mr. Emomali
Rahmanov. Members of the legislature, a unicameral National
Assembly, are elected for five-year term. The
legislature has the authority to enact and annul laws,
interpret the constitution, and confirm presidential
appointees. The President is elected directly for a
maximum of two five-year terms and appoints the Cabinet of
Ministers including the Prime Minister and high court
justices, subject to approval by the legislature. The
highest courts include the Constitutional Court, the Supreme
Court, the Supreme Economic Court (for commercial cases),
and a Court of Gorno-Badakhshan, which has jurisdiction over
the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region.
The
Tajik economy has been seriously weakened by the civil war
of 1992-97. Due to that, Tajikistan has shown the
next-to-lowest per capita GDP in the former USSR and an
extremely low standard of living. Agriculture dominates the
economy, with cotton being the most important crop.
Rather varied mineral resources include silver, gold,
uranium, and tungsten. Industry is represented by a
large aluminum plant, gold-processing plant,
carpet-making factory and mining plant, hydro power
facilities and factories mostly in light industry and food
processing. The continuous transition of the Tajik
national economy to the market-oriented policies made it
possible to start attracting foreign investments and to set
up joint ventures, some of which are large scale enterprises
with the investments over $ 30 million.
Imports:
Total value:
1725 million US $ (2006)
Major Items:
petroleum products,
foodstuff,
sugar, wheat, flour, rice, cooking oil, agricultural inputs,
electronics, crockery, cars/motorbikes, auto parts, fabrics,
cosmetics, tires, tea.
Exports:
Total value:
1399 million US $ (2006)
Major Items:
Dried fruits and nuts, carpets and rugs, wool, raw cotton,
hides and pelts, natural gas, precious and semi-precious
gems.
Tajikistan possesses rich mineral deposits. Important
metallic ores are silver, iron, lead, zinc, antimony,
mercury, gold, tin, and tungsten. Non-metallic
minerals include common salt, carbonates, quartz sand and
precious and semi-precious stones. Energy resources
include sizeable coal deposits and smaller reserves of
natural gas and petroleum. The hydro-power is
significant. Mountain rivers allow at a relatively low cost
to build and operate medium and large size hydro-power
stations which could meet the energy requirements not only
of Tajikistan but most of the ECO region.
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