Political pressure groups and leaders:
unregistered political parties: Agrarian Party [Hikmatullo
NASREDDINOV]; Party of Justice [Abdurahim KARIMOV]; People's Unity
Party [Abdumalik ABDULLOJONOV]; Progressive Party [Sulton QUVVATOV];
Socialist Party [Mirhuseyn NAZRIYEV]; note - this is the SPT that
was disbanded, another pro-government SPT (listed above under
political parties) replaced it; Unity Party [Hikmatullo SAIDOV]

International organization participation:
AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA,
IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITU, MIGA,
OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Khamrokhon ZARIPOV
chancery: 1005 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone: [1] (202) 223-6090
FAX: [1] (202) 223-6091

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey Ann JACOBSON embassy: 109-A Ismoili Somoni Ave., Dushanbe 734003 mailing address: 7090 Dushanbe Place, Dulles, VA 20189 telephone: [992] (37) 229-20-00 FAX: [992] (37) 229-20-50

Flag description:
three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe of white, and
green; a gold crown surmounted by seven gold, five-pointed stars is
located in the center of the white stripe

Economy Tajikistan

Economy - overview:
Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among the 15
former Soviet republics. Only 6% of the land area is arable; cotton
is the most important crop. Mineral resources, varied but limited in
amount, 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. Even though 64% of its
people continue to live in abject poverty, Tajikistan has
experienced steady economic growth since 1997, but experienced a
slight drop in its growth rate to 8% in 2005 from 10.6% in 2004.
Continued privatization of medium and large state-owned enterprises
would further increase productivity. Tajikistan's economic
situation, however, remains fragile due to uneven implementation of
structural reforms, weak governance, widespread unemployment, 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 to Russia. Tajikistan ranks third in
the world in terms of water resources per head. A proposed
investment to finish the hydropower dams Rogun and Sangtuda would
substantially add to electricity production. If finished, Rogun will
be the world's tallest dam.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$8.617 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$1.887 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.7% (2005 est.)