Tajikistan is another country that I shall probably never visit. Some of you may recall that in April of last year I devoted an entire blogpost to Kyrgyzstan. Today it's the turn of Tajikistan. As I begin this post, I happily admit that I know nothing about the country. It's presently just a name. Writing the blogpost - after a smidgen of research - will teach me as well as you a few things about the mysterious faraway land. Tajikistan...
Astonishingly perhaps , the name means "Land of the Tajiks". They were the original inhabitants of the mountainous country that is sandwiched between Afghanistan to the south, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the west. Tajiks still make up 81% of the population.
In terms of land area, Tajikistan is smaller than Great Britain but about the same size as the U.S. state of Iowa which is the the twenty sixth largest state in America. The capital of Tajikistan is Dushanbe with a population of 670,000. The country as a whole is home to over nine million people.
The Tajik economy depends principally upon aluminium production, cotton and income from Tajik workers and businesses located in other parts of the former Soviet Union. It is a fragile economy in what is a landlocked nation. Food production and food imports are a constant preoccupation.
 |
| President Rahmon |
Although the region that we call Tajikistan today has a long and ancient history reaching back through the mists of time, it only formally became a country in 1991 after the break up of the USSR. Thirty years is not a long time in which to construct a strong modern country. The effects of the Soviet era remain almost impossible to shake off.
The current president of Tajikistan is Emomali Rahmon. He has occupied the position since 1994. In 2015, the nation's parliament passed a law that declared him to be "Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation". Let's hope Mr Trump doesn't get wind of that. Rahmon and his family control the country's major businesses, including the largest bank. Democracy is merely a cloak of pretended respectability.
I can sense you are getting bored so I will draw things to a close with four bullet points about Tajikistan:-
- Tajikistan artisans created the Dushanbe Tea House, which was presented in 1988 as a gift to the sister city of Boulder, Colorado
- In 2016 police in the Khatlon region reportedly shaved the beards of 13,000 men and shut down 160 shops selling the hijab. Shaving beards and discouraging women from wearing the hijab is part of a government campaign targeting trends that are deemed "alien and inconsistent with Tajik culture", and "to preserve secular traditions".
- The national sport of Tajikistan is gushtigiri, a form of traditional wrestling.
- Dilshod Nazarov won the first Olympic gold medal for Tajikistan at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the hammer throw.
 |
| Painting of a Tajik woman by Chinese artist Yan Yaya |
Interesting, I know very little about the 'stan' countries. Beautiful portrait too.
ReplyDeleteI hope this blogpost has increased your Stan knowledge Sue. Perhaps I will blog about other Stan countries in the future.
DeleteThere are so many 'other' worlds that we know so little of. A brief introduction but definitely worth it. The Dunshanbe Tea House is very colourful and splendid, reminds me of the Tibetan monastery at EskdaleMuir in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteIt is rather weird when buildings that belong in one part of the world arise in other parts of the planet.
DeleteWhat a smashing painting of a Tajik woman. Perhaps you could consider including more pictures of Tajik women and maybe not so much about your walking trips.
ReplyDeleteYou are not my frigging editor Sir Tasker! If you want to see Tajik women perhaps you should go to Tajikistan for your holidays - instead of Withernsea.
DeleteI'm awaiting the outcome of my application for dispensation not to have to shave off my beard.
DeleteI hope I have not offended you. I didn't realise that you are a Muslim.
DeleteShaving beards and closing hijab shops seems an odd priority for a nation.
ReplyDeleteBut then so does electing a delusional, mysogynistic, racist, childish narcissist with orange skin
I forgot the other thing: rapey and abusive.
DeleteThat's an odd way to describe Scott Morrison.
DeleteI like the preserving secular traditions things but did they forcibly shave beards? That brings up a strange image. And what do the hijab store owners now do for a living? Well, that's probably the least important thing in your report.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the eyebrows represented in those two portraits make me wonder if I do not have some Tajikistan blood myself.
Apparently, in traditional Tajik culture the mono-brow is considered quite beauteous. In choosing images for this blogpost I opted not to make light of that tradition.
DeleteNot to be nitpicky, but I believe Montana is much bigger than either Tajikistan or Great Britain. Montana weighs in at almost 381,000 square kilometers -- Tajikistan is 143,100 and GB is 209,331 sq km. I bet you were looking at Montana in square miles, which is 147,040. (This is according to Google. Let me know if my research is faulty.)
ReplyDeleteThe "Stans" always sound so romantic -- cities like Tashkent, Samarkand, and yes, Dushanbe -- but from what I've read they're pretty rough countries and not easy traveling. I probably won't get there either.
Thank you for the correction Steve. Much appreciated. I will now alter the post.
DeleteInteresting, but I have no interest in travelling there...I, being one with no nomadic leanings whatsoever. To be honest and open....I'm not interested in visiting any Islamic countries for that matter.
ReplyDeleteTajikistan is about 54 times smaller than Australia. Australia is 32 times bigger than the UK...and about the same size as the US.
I happy to stay here where I am in the wonderful Land of Oz...the land Down Under.
If I had the wherewithal I would visit every other country in the world but in the full knowledge that there's nowhere better than Yorkshire.
Delete