Country name:	Conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan Conventional short form: Tajikistan
Capital:	Dushanbe
Official language:	Kyrgyz and Russian
Administrative:	4 Provinces 1 City
Area:	143,100 km2
Population:	7,565 million (as on 2010)
Time zone:	UTC+5
Currency:	Somoni (TJS)
Drives on the:	Right
Internet domain code:	.tj
Calling code:	+992
Independence:	September 9, 1991
Natural resources:	Uranium, aluminium, gold
Religion:	Islam- 98%

Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. It borders Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north and China to the east. Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan) is separated from Tajikistan by the narrowWakhan Corridor.

Tajikistan consists of 4 administrative divisions. These are of Sughd and Khatlon provinces, the autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan (GBAO) and the Region of Republican Subordination known as Karotegin Province). Each region is divided into several districts.

Mountains are 90% of Tajik territory. It is covered by mountains of the Pamir range and more than 50 percent of the country is over 3,000 meters above sea level. The lowland areas are in the north in Fergana Valley and in the southern Kofarnihon and Vakhsh river valleys. These two rivers form Amu Darya River-the biggest river of Central Asia. Amu Darya River and Panj River mark the border with Afghanistan. There are over 900 rivers in Tajikistan longer than 10 kilometers. About 2% of the country's area is covered by lakes.

Tajiks are the majority of Tajikistan’s population. They are 79.9%. The minority are uzbeks-15.3%, russians-1.1%, kyrgyz-1.1% and other nationalities-2.6%.

Tajik is the native language in the Republic of Tajikistan. Russian is widely used almost in all cities.

Islam is the main religion in the territory of Tajikistan. 98% of tajiks are Muslim (approximately 95% Sunni and 3% Shia). The remaining 2% of the population are followers of Russian Orthodoxy, Protestant denominations, Catholicism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.

Tajikistan has been inhabited continuously since 4000 BC. It has been under the rule of various empires throughout history, for the longest period being part of the Persian Empire. After the Persian Empire it was defeated by Alexander the Great, the region became the northern part of Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. From the last quarter of 4th century BC until the first quarter of the 2nd century BC it was part of the Bactrian Empire. Arabs entered Tajik territory and brought Islam in the 7th century AD. In 9th century the Samanid Empire replaced Arabs. In the 12th century Mongols conquered Tajikistan and later it became a part of the Emirate of Bukhara. In the 19th century the Russian Empire conquered Tajikistan. In 1924, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as a part of Uzbekistan, but in 1929 the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR) was made a separate constituent republic. The independence of Tajikistan was proclaimed in September 1991.

Tajikistan mountains are rich in natural recourses. The primary sources of income in Tajikistan are aluminium production. Tajikistan owns the biggest aluminium plant in Central Asia and it is one of the biggest in the world.

Tajikistan's rivers, such as the Vakhsh and the Panj, have great hydropower potential. The government has focused on attracting investment for projects for internal use and electricity exports. Tajikistan is home to the Nurek, the highest dam in the world.