REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN
Capital - Dushanbe
Location - the South-east of Central Asia
Territorу - 143.1 thsd. square kilometers
Population - 6920,3 thsd. persons - as of 1.01.2006
Currency - somoni, introduced in October, 2000
State borders - Length: 700 kilometers from west to east, 350 kilometers from north to south. In the west and north, Tajikistan has borders with Uzbekistan (910 kilometers) and Kyrgyzstan (630 kilometers); in the south - with Afghanistan (1030 kilometers and in the east - with China (430 kilometers).
Climate - continental. January from +22°C (Panj) to -61°C (Lake Bulunkul), July from -8°C (Lake Bulunkul) to +45°C (Panj).
The geography of the Republic of Tajikistan is mountainous with heights above sea level varying between 300 and 7495 meters. Mountains belonging to the highest ranges of Central Asia make up 93% of the total area of the country. There is the Farghona valley in the north, while in the northwest and the central parts there are the Turkmenian, Zarafshon, Hisor and Oloy mountain ranges. The southeast boasts the impressive Pomir range (its highest mountain, the Somoni's Peak, with an altitude of 7495 meters, is one of the highest summits of the world); while the southwest has the Vakhsh, Hisor and other valleys.
The highest mountains (height above sea level, meters)
| I.Somoni's Peak |
7495 |
| Abuali Ibn Sino's Peak |
7134 |
| Korjenevskaya's Peak |
6974 |
| Moscow's Peak |
6785 |
| K.Marx's Peak |
6726 |
| Garmo's Peak |
6595 |
| Soviet Officer's Peak |
6233 |
| Engel's Peak |
6510 |
| Vudor's Peak |
6132 |
| North Muzkol's Peak |
6128 |
| Mayakovskiy's Peak |
6096 |
| Pakhor's Peak |
6083 |
The Republic of Tajikistan has an abundance of lake's and rivers. There are about 947 rivers longer than 10 kilometers with a total length of more than 28500 kilometers. The rivers account for 60% of all hydro-resources of central Asia.
The longest rivers (length, km through the territory of Tajikistan)
| Panj |
921 |
| Amu-darya |
65 |
| Sir-darya |
185 |
| Zerafshan |
306 |
| Bartang - Murghab |
491 |
| Vakhsh |
524 |
| Kofarnihon |
387 |
| Gund |
296 |
Tajikistan's high mountains accommodate great supplies of ice and snow. The line of perpetual snow is situated at height between 3500 and 3600 meters in the west and rises up to 5800 meters in the east. The total area of the glaciers in Tajikistan covers more than 8476 square kilometers. There are over the thousand registered glaciers with a length of more than 1.5 kilometers. Sixteen glaciers (such as Fedchenko and Grumm-Grzymailo glaciers) have length of more than 16 kilometers.
Main glaciers
| |
Square, km² |
Capacity, km³ |
| Fedchenko |
156,0 |
93,6 |
| Garmo |
114,6 |
--- |
| Vitkovskiy |
50,2 |
6,882 |
| Academy of sciences
of the USSR |
48,0 |
5,242 |
| Nalivkin |
45,2 |
8,588 |
| Bivachiy |
37,0 |
8,05 |
| Grumm-Grzhimailo |
37,0 |
19,84 |
Tajikistan also abounds in lakes. There are some 1300 lakes with a total surface area of 705 km². Karakul, Sarez and Yashikul are the largest expanses to have been created naturally. The lakes are mainly located at height of 3500 meters.
Largest lakes (surface area, km²)
| Karakul |
380,0 |
| Sarez |
79,64 |
| Zorkul |
38,9 |
| Yashikul |
38,0 |
| Shorkul |
16,3 |
Largest reservoirs
|
Surface area, km² |
Capacity,mln.m³ |
| Kairokum |
520,0 |
4160 |
| Norak |
106,0 |
10500 |
Tajikistan's soil, and its flora and fauna are determined by the alpine environment. The flora abounds in wild fruit-bearing trees and in numerous species of plants, which are widely used by the population
Animals are also abundant. Tajikistan boasts some 80 species of mammals, more than 365 kinds of birds, 49 kinds of reptiles, 40 kinds of fish, 10 thousands of various insects. One can observe such predators as snow leopards, lynx, bears, hyenas, otters, wolves, foxes and martens, as well as deer and rock-goats.
At present, there are 4 natural reserves ("Tigrovaya balka", "Romit", "Dashti Jum", "Zorkul"), 13 sanctuaries and 2 national parks in Tajikistan. The total protected are makes 21% of the total territory of the republic.
Tajikistan is also richly endowed with mineral deposits. Currently, more than 400 deposits have been identified, about 100 of which are being exploited. Some 40 kinds of mineral raw materials are being extracted, such as fossil minerals (about 10), ores and non-metallic resources (about 90)
Tajikistan has the largest coal reserves in Central Asia. The estimated total geological coal reserves amount to some four billion tons. Eighty percent is coking coal. Deposits have been discovered for many rare and precious metals such as zinc, lead, bismuth, molybdenum, tungsten, gold, silver, antimony, mercury and fluorite, as well as gas and petroleum, among others.
Agricultural capacities of Tajikistan (thousands ha.)
| Arable lands |
864,4 |
| Irrigated lands |
592,3 |
| Total sown areas |
900,2 |
| Including grain legumes |
401,9 |
| Total industrial crops |
294 |
| Including cotton-plant |
262,9 |
| Potato plant |
27,9 |
| Vegetables |
35,8 |
