Tajikistan

The only Persian-speaking republic of the Soviet Union, and the one whose independence began with a civil war. Tajiks speak a variety of Persian and look culturally to Samarkand and Bukhara, both of which the 1924 border settlement placed in Uzbekistan - a loss that remains a national grievance and left the republic with mountains and no historic capital. Over ninety per cent of the country is mountainous, and the Pamirs in the east are among the highest ranges on earth, isolating Gorno-Badakhshan and its Ismaili population from the rest of the state. The civil war that began in 1992, fought along regional rather than ideological lines, killed tens of thousands and displaced far more before a 1997 settlement brought Islamist opposition into government, a power-sharing arrangement later dismantled. Emomali Rahmon has held power since 1992. The economy depends on aluminium, cotton and, above all, remittances from labour migrants in Russia, which have at times exceeded a third of national income - among the highest such shares anywhere. The Nurek and Rogun dams on the Vakhsh are among the tallest in the world and a source of friction with downstream neighbours. Afghanistan lies across the Panj river. Dushanbe is the capital. Ismoil Somoni peak, formerly Communism Peak, rises above seven thousand metres. The country has about ten million people. Navruz, the Persian new year, is its principal festival. The Pamir Highway, built by Soviet engineers, is the second highest international road in the world. Tajik is written in Cyrillic rather than the Perso-Arabic script used in Iran and Afghanistan.

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