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.
Transportation
Railways:
total:
480 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
total:
32,752 km
paved:
21,119 km
unpaved:
11,633 km (1992 est.)
Pipelines:
natural gas 400 km (1992)
Ports:
none
Airports:
total:
59
with paved runways over 3 047 m:
1
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m:
5
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m:
7
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m:
1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m:
9
with unpaved runways under 914 m:
36 (1994 est.)
