Tadjikistan intro

A patchwork of a country. Mountains, valleys, languages, civil war, drugs, but no rock’n roll.

Until recently Tadjikistan was a no-go, when in the 90s thousands of people died during clashes between the different factions of the country. Until the 90s, Russia was holding the lid to the pressure cooker of Tadjikistan, ready to explode after Soviet mismanagement and historical distrust against the Tadjiks. Bad decisions started a civil unrest in 1990 when the Soviet Union decided to house Armenians in Dushanbe, the capital, which was already facing a housing problem. In 1991 the country proclaimed its’ independence, but the country was so divided geographically and religiously that the following elections did nothing to ease the unrest, and a civil war erupted. A ceasefire came only in 1996 but the country -already among the poorest of the Soviet republics- was left in a catastrophic state.
Today some optimism finally has settled in the country, although 70% of the population still lives on less tan 2 USD per day.
The major resource of the country is water, that could be exploited to produce badly needed electricity, which of course will cause problems with downstream countries (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). But most money is drug related, as the country shares a 1300km long land frontier with Afghanistan.
Tourism is flourishing nowadays, since Tadjikistan is considered a safe country, although the Pamir highway, one of the most thrilling trips in Central Asia, may still be dangerous, depending on how lucky you are, because of its’ vicinity with Afghanistan.