Source:

06-06-2006 17:22

Location: Central Asia, west of China

Area: 143,100 sq km

Climate: midlatitude continental, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains

Terrain: Pamir and Alay mountains dominate landscape; western Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest

Population: 6,919,600 (December 2005 est.)

Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 5%

Languages: Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business

Capital: Dushanbe

The head of states:

Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmonov (1952.10.5- ), president of republic of Tajikistan, chairman of the security committee.

His first job was as an electrician in a factory at Kurgan-Tyube, south of Tajikistan. His parents worked on a collective farm. He served with red army's pacific fleet from 1971 to 1974. He obtained a diploma in economics in 1982.

1987-1992, he managed the Lenin Sovkhoz in southern town of Dangarin during which time he successfully ran for parliament in 1990. He served as governor of kulyab region during the civil war in 1992 and gained a fame for himself as a tough-minded and uncompromising leader. He was the leader of the communist force which drove the Islamic-democratic collation from power and forced thousands of its supporters to flee into neighboring Afghanistan.

In November 1992, he became president of parliament, which under the soviet-style constitution made him the effective head of state, after communist forces ousted a government made up of democrats and Islamic fundamentalists. On November 7, 1994, he became the first elected president of the Republic of Tajikistan. On November 7, 1999, he was elected as Tajik president for the second time.

 

Editor:Chen Minji