What is solo travel? (16) Tajikistan

(11) Tajikistan

Tajikistan is a mountainous country located on the Pamir Plateau in Central Asia, and is famous for trekking and rock climbing, where you can enjoy huge mountain ranges and glaciers in Soviet-era architecture and beautiful landscapes while preserving the unspoiled environment.

Tajikistan is an independent country following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, with an area of 143,100 square kilometers and a population of more than 10 million, most of the population is ethnic Tajiks of Iranian descent, the capital is Dushanbe, and 93% of the country is mountainous.

 The Pamir Plateau in the east has an average altitude of over 5,000 meters, and the rugged mountains in the west, where the land is relatively low, are said to be at least 300 meters above sea level. Of the total land area, 6.52% of arable land, 0.89% of agricultural land, and 92.59% of wasteland are

Because of its inhospitable environment, most of the population is concentrated in the valleys of Fergana in the north, around the rivers in the mountainous regions of the west, and in the basins of the rivers in the southwest, and the Pamir Plateau occupies about half of the entire administrative region.  

The population is only a little over 200,000, and the climate is generally dry and continental, with an average temperature of around 0°C in January and an average temperature of 27 ~ 30°C in July.

Currently, Tajikistan’s highest peak, Ismoyle Somoni Peak, Korzhenevsky Peak and Ibn Sina Peak are all above 7,000 meters above sea level, the Fergana Basin in the north has an average temperature of -3 ~ -1°C in January, and the Pamir Plateau has more than 300 days of winter.

It is also adjacent to Afghanistan and is divided into four administrative regions: Sugd and Khatlon provinces in the west, the Republic Autonomous Region (or Republic Territory) and the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in the east, with the capital Dushanbe in the Republic.

The Tajiks are the only ethnic group among the five ethnic groups in the Central Asian countries of the former Soviet bloc who speak a Persian language rather than a Turkic language, but they are culturally very similar to the Uzbeks, as they are separated from the Afghan Tajiks beyond the Hindu Kush Mountains.

These nomads were influenced by the Tajiks, who were Iranian nomads, and the food was the same as Uzbek cuisine, such as bread, meat dishes, plofs (fried rice, dumplings), manti, and pelmeni.

In addition, due to the influence of European (especially Eastern European) culture due to the influence of the Soviet system in the past, the city is like Russia.

The official language is Tajik, and the constitution designates Russian as the common language between ethnic groups, and Russian is the main foreign language of Tajikistan and is still used as the main foreign language today because there are many Tajiks working in Russia, but only 0.5% of the population use it.

However, considering that half of the population enjoys foreign Russian channels when watching TV, Russian still has a strong presence, and other languages belonging to Persian, Pashto, and Pamiri (Shughni, etc.) are also used as minority languages.

In addition, to prevent the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, women were prohibited from wearing black clothing, wearing hijab, and growing beards, making women who wore hijab prostitutes and forcing 13,000 bearded men to shave.

Arab and Islamic names, as well as taking minors to religious facilities, are all illegal, and the policy is to cooperate with Russia to block Islamic extremist forces. Of course, even non-Islamic Christian activities are strongly prohibited.

Currently, in Tajikistan, when a foreign man marries a Tajikistani woman, he must register the wedding ceremony in advance, and before that, he must buy a house for his wife and live in Tajikistan for one year before obtaining a marriage license.

It is clearly the poorest country, and there are only four countries in Asia with a GDP per capita lower than Tajikistan: Syria (late 800s~early 900$) and Yemen (873$), which are suffering from civil wars, and North Korea (early to mid-600s) and Afghanistan ($611), which are the worst dictatorships.

Still, the economic situation is not all gloomy, but due to the legacy of the education system of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan has a high level of education compared to its economic level, and many its citizens can speak Russian and other languages of neighboring countries to some extent.

Although the chronic corruption problem is serious, fortunately, the gap between rich and poor is small, and the economic growth rate has been steadily maintained at 6~8% or more since the 2000s, so it can be said that there is at least hope.

In addition, the natural environment with large and beautiful mountains can be a potential tourism resource, but the problem is that it is still not easy to access, as   it is far behind Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan due to the turmoil caused by the long civil war in the past.

Of course, as the beautiful and magnificent natural scenery and pure environment are known as healing resorts, the number of backpackers is increasing, and they are visiting Dushanbe, Khujand, Uratepa, Panjakent, Kulop, Bokhtar, and the Pamir Plateau in the east, but there are not many of them yet.