Tajikistan

Quick Facts from the State Department's Background Notes: (Read/scroll down to maps below)

Capital: Dushanbe (which means Monday)

Languages: Tajik (Persian), Russian (used by government officials and others), Turkic languages

Population: 7,728,400

Area: 141,978 sq. km

Geography: 93% of the country is mountainous. 50% of Tajikistan lies 10,000 ft or more above sea level.

Government: Republic, independent since 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union. President Emomali Rahmon has ruled since 1992. 

Very Brief History: Often part of Persian empires, most recently the Samanids (875-999), which is the reason that the dominant language is a dialect of Persian.  Tajikistan became one of the Soviet socialist republics in 1929, and the Russian cultural influence was felt in the Russian names of people and cities, as well as the dominance of the language in schools and political discourse. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan declared independence - and soon fell into a civil war, which lasted from 1992-1997.  

Economy: Tajikistan is the poorest former Soviet republics, with no natural resources to speak of. 53% of the population is considered below the poverty line. The country has pinned most of its hopes on developing hydropower, which has led to some conflicts with its neighbors. Many of the richer citizens get money from aluminum refining and exports. Most of the population works in agriculture, which is dominated by cotton. Many men work in Russia and send back remittances.  The US is very worried about trafficking of Afghan heroin and opium, but it doesn't seem to be too big of an influence in the country thus far.

Currency: the Somoni. Currently 1 USD = 4.77 TJS

Tajikistan is in Central Asia. To help with the geography, I thought I would include three maps, each zooming in a bit closer. Maps are from National Geographic's beautiful and useful MapMaker Interactive. 

First: look for TAJ. in pink, right-center stage.

Second: Tajikistan in Central Asia. North is Kyrgyzstan, west is Uzbekistan, south is Afghanistan, and east is China.

Third: Tajikistan. The capital of Dushanbe is in the southwest. Khujand, my new hometown, is in the northern arm, in the Sughd region. Last summer I was in Khorog, in the eastern region of Gorno-Badakhshan.