Tajikistan officially the Republic of Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. It borders to Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan are separated from Tajikistan by the narrow Wakhan Corridor in the south.
Most of Tajikistan’s population belongs to the Persian-speaking Tajik ethnic group, Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as theTajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR). Mountains cover more than 90% of the republic.
Tajikistan is landlocked, and is the smallest nation in Central Asia by area. It lies mostly between latitudes 36° and 41° N (a small area is north of 41°), and longitudes 67° and 75° E (a small area is east of 75°). It is covered by mountains of the Pamir range, and more than fifty percent of the country is over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) above sea level. The only major areas of lower land are in the north (part of theFergana Valley), and in the southern Kofarnihon and Vakhsh river valleys, which form the Amu Darya. Dushanbe is located on the southern slopes above the Kofarnihon valley.
