Total area

143,100 sq km

Population

7.37m (end-2008)

Main towns

Population in '000 (2002)

Dushanbe (capital): 562

Khujand: 149

Kulob: 78

Qurghonteppa: 60

Istaravshan: 51

Khorog: 28

Climate

Continental high mountain

Languages

Tajik, a variant of Persian, is the official language and the one most widely used. Russian is also used, especially in urban areas, and Uzbek is the main language for about 25% of the population. The majority of people in the mountainous Badakhshan province speak distant variants of Tajik, which could be categorised as separate languages. Other languages-such as Kyrgyz, Tatar, Turkmen, Uighur and Korean-are also spoken by their respective minority groups

Weights and measures

Metric system

Currency

The Tajik rouble, introduced in May 1995, was replaced in October 2000 by the somoni (S), at a rate of S1:TR1,000

Time

Five hours ahead of GMT

Fiscal year

Calendar year

Public holidays

January 1st (New Year's Day); February 23rd (Army Day); March 8th (International Women's Day); May 1st (International Labour Day); May 9th (Victory Day); September 9th (Independence Day)