Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and comparison

Tajikistan lies in the south-east of Central Asia; its area is about 142 thousand km², population about 10 million and capital Dushanbe. It borders Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Afghanistan and has no ocean access. It is a presidential republic and includes the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. More than 90 % of its land is mountains, the highest being Ismoil Somoni Peak in the Pamirs (about 7,500 m). The mountains are young, so earthquakes are frequent; the strong 1911 earthquake caused a landslide that created Lake Sarez. The country is very rich in water and hydropower: the Panj, Vakhsh and Amu Darya; the Nurek station is one of the biggest dams in the region and most electricity comes from hydropower. Minerals: polymetallic ores, gold, silver, uranium, coal and salt. People live mainly in valleys (Vakhsh, Hisor and the Khujand part of the Fergana valley), and urbanisation is the lowest in the region, about 27 %. Tajiks are about 85 % of the population, and more than a million Uzbeks live near the Uzbek border. The economy is agrarian-industrial: cotton, fruit, sericulture and mountain livestock; in industry the Tursunzoda aluminium plant matters, which processes imported raw material with cheap hydroelectricity. Money sent home by labour migrants working abroad plays a big role in the economy.