Tajikistan meaning Land of the Tajiks is located in Central Asia, to the west of China. The landlocked nation shares borders with Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The country became independent in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union and is covered by the Pamir mountain range.
The glaciers in these mountains are a major source of surface runoff for the Aral Sea.
The only large areas of lower land are located in valleys to the north and southwest of the country. The capital city is Dushanbe.
Tajikistan
About Tajikistan
Short Name
TJK
Capital
Dushanbe
Language
Tajik, Russian
Population
7,211,884
Area
143,100 km²
Calling Code
+992
National Olympic Committee
NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan
NOC President
Secretary General
Recognition Year
1993
Address
P.O. Box 2, 24 Aini Street, Dushanbe 734025
Contact Details
Web Address
E-mail
Culture
The Soviet invasion brought drama, opera and ballet to the region which still remains popular to this day.
However since gaining independence there has been a call for traditional Tajik art and culture to become more prominent. Traditional Tajik cuisine has much in common with Persian cuisine.
Traditional Tajik meals start with sweet dishes such as halwa and tea, and then progress to soups and meat, before finishing with plov.
Kabuli pulao, also known as qabili palau, is the Tajik national dish, a rice dish with shredded yellow turnip or carrot, meat, and olive oil or drippings, and is a staple dish in all the Central Asian republics, known elsewhere as plov. The traditional way to eat the dish is to share it communally with one's hands.
The traditional drink is green tea, sometimes consumed with nuts such as pistachios, It is Tajik belief that using ice is bad for one's health, and that drinking water or a soft drinks with ice in it will cause illness.
Sports
Tajikistan was once part of the Soviet Union, and did not compete in world sport under its own name until the 1990s.
Tajikistan offers a great opportunity for mountain-centric activities like mountain biking, hill climbing, rock climbing, hiking, mountain climbing, skiing and snowboarding. Other than taking advantage of the great peaks available in the country, people in Tajikistan also love other sports primarily football.
Tajikistan first competed in the Olympic Games as in independent nation during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.
Since then they have competed in every Summer Olympics since, though only one person has ever represented the country in the Winder Olmpics with Andrei Drygin competing in the Super-G and giant slalom skiing events in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics.
The only medal winning athlete from Tajikistan is Rasul Boqiev who won the Bronze in the Men’s under 73kg Judo event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
1994 saw the allowance of former Soviet Union states in the Asian Games competition by the IOC.
This allowed Tajikistan to claim two bronze medals.
Climate
Tajikistan's climate is continental, subtropical, and semiarid, with some desert areas.
The climate changes drastically according to elevation, however. The Fergana Valley and other lowlands are shielded by mountains from Arctic air masses, but temperatures in that region still drop below freezing for more than 100 days a year. In the subtropical southwestern lowlands, which have the highest average temperatures, the climate is arid, although some sections now are irrigated for farming.
At Tajikistan's lower elevations, the average temperature range is 23 to 30 °C (73.4 to 86.0 °F) in July and −1 to 3 °C (30.2 to 37.4 °F) in January. In the eastern Pamirs, the average July temperature is 5 to 10 °C (41 to 50 °F), and the average January temperature is −15 to −20 °C (5 to −4 °F).