Facts and stats about Tajikistan

The Republic of Tajikistan is a landlocked country located in Central Asia. Majority of the population belongs to the Tajik ethnic group sharing language and culture with Iran and Afghanistan. It used to be part of the Samanid Empire but later on, became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union and known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in the 20th Century. After obtaining its independence, Tajikistan suffered from a shattering civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of that war, political stability and foreign assistance have allowed the country's economy to grow.

During the presidential elections in November of 2013, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon (People’s Democratic Party) won a fresh seven-year term garnering 83 percent of the overall vote. Rahmon, who has been in power since 1992, is starting his fourth term.

The economy of Tajikistan has gone up by 7.4 percent last year due to the continuous strong flow of foreign remittances. This has augmented demand and brought down the negative impact of weakening performance of exports. The remittance figure in 2013 was calculated to be $4.1 billion which is equivalent to nearly 49 percent of Gross Domestic Product. However, the decreased prices of major export commodities (aluminium and cotton) affected the export sector. Economic performance of Tajikistan was strongest during the decade that followed the end of the internal fighting in 1997. The biggest economic challenge for the government right now is the implementation of low private investment rates which have remained stagnant at five percent of the GDP.