Tajikistan
Background:
The Tajik people came under Russian rule in the 1860s and 1870s, but Russia's hold on Central Asia weakened following the Revolution of 1917. Bolshevik control of the area was fiercely contested and not fully reestablished until 1925. Much of present-day Sughd province was transferred from the Uzbekistan SSR to newly formed Tajikistan SSR in 1929. Ethnic Uzbeks form a substantial minority in Sughd province. Tajikistan became independent in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and it is now in the process of strengthening its democracy and transitioning to a free market economy after its 1992-97 civil war. There have been no major security incidents in recent years, although the country remains the poorest in the former Soviet sphere. Attention by the international community in the wake of the war in Afghanistan has brought increased economic development and security assistance, which could create jobs and increase stability in the long term. Tajikistan is in the early stages of seeking World Trade Organization membership and has joined NATO's Partnership for Peace.
Geography:
Area: 143,100 sq. km.
Capital: Dushanbe.
People:
Nationality: Tajikistani.
Population (Oct. 2008 est.): 7,345,100
Population growth rate (2008 est.): 2.3%
Ethnic groups: Tajik 74%, Uzbek 23%, Russian and others 3%.
Religion (2003 est.): Sunni Muslim 95%, Shi'a Muslim 3%, other 2 %.
Language: Tajik (the official state language as of 1994); Russian is recognized as "the language of international communication" and is widely used in government and business; 77% of the population lives in rural communities where mostly Tajik is spoken.
Education: Literacy (according to Tajikistan official statistics, 2003)--88%. The Tajik education system is still struggling through a period of decline since independence.
Health: Life expectancy--61.95 years men; 68.15 years women. Infant mortality rate--110.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.).
Work force (2008 est.): 4.1 million. Up to half of the working age population seek jobs outside of the country, primarily in Russia. The official work force is 2.1 million.
Economy:
GDP nominal (2008): $4.788 billion.
GDP nominal per capita (2008): U.S. $561. Purchasing power parity: $1,800.
GDP real growth rate (2008 est.): 4.5%.
Inflation rate (consumer prices, 2008 real): 21%.
Natural resources: Hydropower, some petroleum, uranium, gold, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten.
Official unemployment rate (2008): 2.3%. The official rate is estimated based on the number of registered unemployment benefit recipients; it does not take into account the significant number of people who seek work abroad. Underemployment also is very high--possibly as high as 40% of the work force; 53% live below the poverty line.
Agriculture: Products--cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats.
Industry: Types--aluminum, zinc, lead, chemicals and fertilizers, cement, vegetable oil, textiles, metal-cutting machine tools, refrigerators and freezers.
Trade: Imports (2008)--$3.2 billion f.o.b.: aluminum, electricity, cotton, gold, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles. Partners include--Netherlands, Turkey, and China. Exports (2008)--$1.4 billion f.o.b.: electricity, petroleum products, aluminum oxide, machinery and equipment, foodstuffs. Partners include--Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, China, Ukraine, Italy, and Turkmenistan.
Total external debt (as of January 1, 2009): $1,371.4 billion; total bilateral external debt (2008)--$105.7 million, divided between Uzbekistan $54.1 million, U.S. $14.3 million, Turkey $5.1 million, Kazakhstan $8.5 million, and Iran $23.7 million; total multilateral debt (January 2009)--$623 million, divided between World Bank $340 million, ADB $226 million, and IDB $57 million.
Debt/GDP ratio (2008 est.): 28.5%.
Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among the 15 former Soviet republics. Only 7% of the land area is arable. Cotton is the most important crop, but this sector is burdened with debt and an obsolete infrastructure. Mineral resources include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten. Industry consists only of a large aluminum plant, hydropower facilities, and small obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing. The civil war (1992-97) severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. Tajikistan's economic situation remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural reforms, corruption, weak governance, widespread unemployment, seasonal power shortages, and the external debt burden. A debt restructuring agreement was reached with Russia in December 2002 including a $250 million write-off of Tajikistan's $300 million debt. Completion of the Sangtuda I hydropower dam - built with Russian investment - and the Sangtuda II and Rogun dams will add substantially to electricity output. If finished according to Tajik plans, Rogun will be the world's tallest dam. Tajikistan has also received substantial infrastructure development loans from the Chinese government to improve roads and an electricity transmission network. To help increase north-south trade, the US funded a $36 million bridge which opened in August 2007 and links Tajikistan and Afghanistan. While, Tajikistan has experienced steady economic growth since 1997, nearly two-thirds of the population continues to live in poverty. Economic growth reached 10.6% in 2004, but dropped to roughly 8% in 2005-07, and 4.5% in 2008, as the effects of the international financial crisis began to register - mainly in the form of lower prices for key commodities.
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NewsThe worldwide chain of McDonald's fast food restaurants plans to invest around US $1 bn into developing its franchises in Europe next year, the Reuters newswire reported. At the same time, they will pay greater attention to developing countries. "The potential for growth in Central and Eastern Europe is huge. We have only opened 350 restaurants in Ukraine, Poland and Romania, which have a combined population of more than 100 million and flourishing economies", says Executive Director Ralf Alvarez. There are 63 McDonald's restaurants in Ukraine in 19 cities. The total amount of investments since they began operating in Ukraine (since 1997) exceeded US $100 mn. McDonald's Ukraine has around 5,000 employees across the country. Reuters Sep 2008
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