Tajikistan has experienced three changes of government since it gained independence in September 1991. The current president, Emomali RAHMONOV, was elected in November 1994, yet has been in power since 1992. The country is suffering through its third year of a civil conflict, with no clear end in sight. Underlying the conflict are deeply rooted regional and clan-based animosities that pit a government consisting of people primarily from the Kulob (Kulyab), Khujand (Leninabad), and Hisor (Hissar) regions against a secular and Islamic-led opposition from the Gharm, Gorno-Badakhshan, and Qurghonteppa (Kurgan-Tyube) regions. Government and opposition representatives have held periodic rounds of UN-mediated peace talks and agreed in September 1994 to a cease-fire which has been periodically extended. Russian-led peacekeeping troops are deployed throughout the country, and Russian-commanded border guards are stationed along the Tajik-Afghan border.
People
Population:
5,916,373 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
43% (male 1,282,846; female 1,258,302)
15-64 years:
53% (male 1,546,264; female 1,566,365)
65 years and over:
4% (male 110,705; female 151,891) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.54% (1996 est.)
Birth rate:
33.78 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate:
8.43 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate:
-9.93 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.73 male(s)/female
all ages:
0.99 male(s)/female (1996 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
113.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
64.45 years
male:
60.84 years
female:
68.24 years (1996 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.38 children born/woman (1996 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Tajik(s)
adjective:
Tajik
Ethnic divisions:
Tajik 64.9%, Uzbek 25%, Russian 3.5% (declining because of emigration), other 6.6%
Religions:
Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 5%
Languages:
Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1989 est.)
total population:
98%
male:
99%
female:
97%
