Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Dushanbe is the capital of the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan. Formerly known as Stalinabad, it has been the capital of an independent country since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The city and much of the country was engulfed in a devastating civil war following independence. In the early twenty-first century, Dushanbe has found some stability as it undertakes major urban redevelopment projects.

Landscape

Dushanbe lies at an elevation of 785 meters (2,575 feet) in the west central part of Tajikistan. It developed in the Hissar Valley along the southern flank of the Hissar Mountains, part of the massive Tian Shan range. Two rivers flow through the city, the Varzob and the less significant Kofarnihon. The glacier-fed Varzob River is an important source of water for the Dushanbe population. The city is divided into four sectors for administrative purposes.

Dushanbe is typical of the country's general lack of economic prosperity. During the Soviet era, its infrastructure was better funded and had not yet been devastated by civil war. By the early twenty-first century, however, it often functioned poorly, and the water supply and sanitation systems could not serve the needs of the population. Dushanbe's air quality is also poor due to emissions from vehicles and local industries. However, major urban development projects were undertaken in the 2010s, demolishing many Soviet-era buildings and replacing them with high-rises, as well as rebuilding roads and bridges.

The Hissar range protects Dushanbe from some of the prevailing weather patterns of the region. During the winter, affected by temperate air masses, it has a continental climate; during the summer, tropical air masses move in. The average temperature in January, the coldest month, is 4 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit); the warmest month, July, has an average temperature of 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit). Given the city's distance from large bodies of water, the temperatures between night and day can vary greatly. Annual precipitation, occasionally in the form of snow, can vary from year to year but generally averages 640 millimeters (25 inches). The city is also prone to dust storms and severe earthquakes.

People

The population of Dushanbe, the largest urban area in the country, was estimated at 987,000 in 2023, according to the CIA World Factbook. The city grew rapidly during much of the twentieth century, in part because of internal immigration and in part because the city absorbed surrounding villages as it expanded outwards. Following independence, the population underwent further changes as a new political order came into being.

The population is ethnically mixed. The majority are ethnic Tajiks, a group of Persian ancestry. There are also minorities from other Central Asian republics, including Uzbeks and Kirghiz. A large proportion of the Russian population, which once outnumbered the ethnic Tajiks, departed after the fall of the Soviet Union, especially during the subsequent civil war that engulfed the new country.

Tajik, a language related to Persian, is the main language of Dushanbe. Russian is also widely spoken, since it was the official language during the Soviet period and remains important because of the vital relationship between Tajikistan and Russia, in both government and business.

Religion has become increasingly important since independence. One of the lesser causes of the Tajik civil war was the conflict between Communists and Islamic factions as they competed to gain control of the country. Now that religion is no longer proscribed as it was during the Soviet period, the great majority of Tajiks identify as Sunni Muslims. Most of the remaining Russians practice Russian Orthodox Christianity, while the tiny Jewish population—remnants of the region's once more numerous Bukharan Jews—has its own religious traditions. Some Islamic groups searching for more clout in the national landscape have reported governmental repression of their movements.

Economy

Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet republics. Several factors led to Tajikistan's poor economic performance, especially the civil war, the flight of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians who belonged to the country's skilled class, and the rocky transition to more open economic policies. Dushanbe accounts for a significant proportion of the country's total gross domestic product (GDP), which was about $38 billion in 2021 (purchasing power parity). Unemployment, a low skills base, and low levels of investment for the exploitation of Tajikistan's natural resources remain serious impediments to economic growth.

The majority of Tajikistan's industries are centered in or near Dushanbe. Factories produce industrial machinery for oil drilling, textile production, and agriculture. Foods that are processed include fruit, vegetables, and meat. Textiles produced from local raw materials are generally made of silk and cotton. Near Dushanbe are located several hydroelectric stations, responsible for supplying power to local chemical and metal plants.

Landmarks

The center of Dushanbe is characterized by wide, tree-lined boulevards as well as several open-air marketplaces, as designed in the 1920s and 1930s by city planners and engineers from the Soviet Union and the Soviet Bloc. The modern city in its outward expansion either effaced or incorporated the area's original village settlements.

As the cultural center of Tajikistan, Dushanbe has numerous monuments to historical figures who supported Tajik independence and made contributions to national culture. There is also a metropolitan opera, a symphony, and theaters that date to the Soviet era, when more Western-oriented arts were transplanted and flourished. The National Library houses an important collection of manuscripts.

Since religion was virtually proscribed during the Soviet era, Dushanbe had only one official mosque. Toward the end of the era, however, cultural controls were relaxed, and more mosques were built. The city also has a Russian Orthodox cathedral that serves the diminished Christian population. In 2008, the city's synagogue was demolished, despite public outcry, in order to make way for new presidential offices; a new one was established the following year.

Dushanbe is home to several institutions of higher education. These include the Tajikistan State University and universities dedicated to medicine, polytechnics, agricultural, and pedagogy.

History

Though evidence of Neolithic settlers has been discovered on the site of Dushanbe, the city's history primarily belongs to the twentieth century. The earliest historical references to the settlement that predated the city are from the seventeenth century, when it was a collection of three villages on the Silk Road, known for its market and tied to the trends of the regional trade routes.

During the struggle for power that followed the Russian Revolution of 1917, the emir of Bukhara (now in Uzbekistan) settled in Dushanbe and used it as a base to resist the encroachments of Russia. Like much of Central Asia, however, the territory of Tajikistan was absorbed into the Soviet Union. A much-damaged Dushanbe fell to the Red Army in 1922 and became the capital of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic in 1924, then the capital of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic five years later.

Despite the republic's lack of true autonomy, the Soviet era ushered in many positive changes in the new capital and in the republic as a whole. A modern city was built, the industrial sector was developed, and education and cultural institutions became more widespread. The industrial sector was given a further boost when Soviet factories were relocated from western Russia in order to avoid the destruction associated with the German army's invasion during World War II. As part of the personality cult that surrounded Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, the city was named Stalinabad until 1961. It reverted to Dushanbe when the subsequent Soviet administration began distancing itself from the dictator's legacy.

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought widespread problems to Tajikistan, which declared its independence in 1991. There followed a period of chronic food shortages, violent crime, and the formation of various factions fighting for control of the government and the economy. Some factions that opposed the communist-oriented government were Islamic-based, but religion was but one factor in the war, and the major factor depended on regional affiliation. Dushanbe was heavily damaged during this period and also became the host to refugees fleeing strife in other parts of the country. Peace was brokered by the United Nations in 1997.

Dushanbe made some economic progress after the cessation of hostilities. It has also served as a base for coalition forces fighting international terrorism. During the US invasion of Afghanistan, its international airport was used for the refueling of coalition aircraft.

In 2017, Rustam Emomali, son of long-serving Tajik president Emomali Rahmon, was appointed mayor of Dushanbe. This position was widely viewed as a stepping stone to the presidency.

In 2021 and 2022, a number of people were killed along the border in clashes with Kyrgyz Republic forces.

Bibliography

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Dagiev, Dagikhudo. Regime Transition in Central Asia: Stateness, Nationalism, and Political Change in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print.

Djalili, Mohammad-Reza, Frédéric Grare, and Shirin Akiner, eds. Tajikistan: The Trials of Independence. New York: Routledge, 2013. Digital file.

"Dushanbe." Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2 Dec. 2011, www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dushanbe. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

Heathershaw, John, and Edmund Herzig, eds. The Transformation of Tajikistan. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print.

Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. Canberra: ANU E, 2013. Print.

"Tajikistan." World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 21 Feb. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tajikistan/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

"Tajikistan Country Profile." BBC, 24 Mar. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16201032. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.