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1) HUNGARY is home to several national parks that are mostly located in the northeast. Which of the following is not the name of a national park in Hungary?
A — Biogradska
B — Bükk
C — Hortobágyi
2) Which river does not flow beside or through TAJIKISTAN?
A — Naryn
B — Panj
C — Syr Darya
3) Which is a South Asian country with several UNESCO World Heritage Sites including the Fort and Shalamar Gardens, Makli, Moenjodaro (Moenjo-daro), Rohtas Fort, and Taxila?
A — SLOVAKIA
B — PAKISTAN
C — The PHILIPPINES
ANSWERS
Question 1:
A . . . . . Biogradska
Question 2:
A . . . . . Naryn
Question 3:
B . . . . . Pakistan
People all across TAJIKISTAN celebrated their country's Independence Day yesterday. Tajikistan achieved independence from The Soviet Union in 1991. Happy belated Independence Day!
According to National Geographic MapMaker (mapmaker.nationalgeographic.org) and MIT's Observatory of Economic Complexity (atlas.media.mit.edu), the following items are major exports of TAJIKISTAN: aluminum, animal hides, antimony, automobile parts, beans, chemicals, chocolate, clothing and textiles, computers, copper ore, costume jewelry, cotton, delivery trucks, dried fruit, fish fillets, gemstones, gold, grain (especially rice), grapes, hydroelectric power to neighboring countries, lead ore, lignite, livestock, mercury, onions, peat, processed fruit and nuts, processed seafood, sugar beets, tungsten, uranium, utility meters, vegetable oil, and zinc ore. According to February 2017 statistics from the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports include Russia (top importer), China, Turkey, Algeria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Italy, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Chile, the United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Iraq, and Mongolia.
Post #6 — Country Quizzes Week
During the week of Monday, February 27th to Sunday, March 5th, GeoFact of the Day is hosting a Country Quiz Week. Every day or every other day, there will be a new quiz on a particular country around the world. Want to see a post about a favorite country? Feel free to share your suggestion by posting a comment! See if you can answer these questions pertaining to TAJIKISTAN without the help of literary resources and the Internet. Answers are provided at the end — Good Luck!
1) Believed to be the world's highest dam with a 300-meter tall barrier, the Nurek Dam was completed in 1980 and straddles which of the following rivers?
A — Vakhsh
B — Panj
C — Murghob
2) The national cuisine of both Tajikistan and UZBEKISTAN borrow extensively from Persian cooking. Indeed, the national dish of both countries is pilaf (plov). Qurutob is another national dish of Tajikistan. What basic ingredients does this meal have?
A — vegetables, cranberries, potatoes, and chicken
B — bread, onions, and cheese balls (qurut) or yogurt
C — noodles, onion soup, tomatoes, and lamb
3) The literacy rate for young people (ages 15-24) in AFGHANISTAN is estimated at 47%, while the rate for people who are 65 years and older is only 14.2%. Meanwhile, the average percentage of people who can read, write, and communicate in neighboring Tajikistan at all ages is reportedly over __________________.
A — 99%
B — 75%
C — 54%
D — 81%
4) What country does not share a border with Tajikistan?
A — CHINA
B — KYRGYZSTAN
C — PAKISTAN
D — UZBEKISTAN
5) True or false: One of the largest lakes in Tajikistan is Kairakum Reservoir, which translates to Қайроққум обанбори in Tajik and Kayrakkumskoye Vodokhranilishche in Russian (Latin version). This lake is located in northern Tajikistan's "panhandle" area.
ANSWERS
Question 1:
A . . . . . Vakhsh
Question 2:
B . . . . . bread, onions, and cheese balls (qurut) or yogurt
Question 3:
A . . . . . 99%
Question 4:
C . . . . . Pakistan
Question 5:
True
So, how did you do? Thanks for taking this quiz! Map image is credited to National Geographic's Mapmaker Interactive (↗)
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for TAJIKISTAN in Central Asia lists 8 critically endangered species and 10 endangered species. Critically endangered species in Tajikistan are the Crataegus darvasica hawthorn plant, Crataegus necopinata hawthorn plant, Pyrus korshinskyi pear tree, Pyrus tadshikistanica tree, Sociable Lapwing (Social Plover) bird, Swida darvasica flowers (endemic to Tajikistan), Syr Darya Shovelnose Sturgeon fish, and Zygophyllum darvasicum flowers. Endangered species include the Asiatic Wild Dog (Dhole), Egyptian Vulture, Pyrus cajon pear tree, Saker Falcon, Snow Leopard, Steppe Eagle, Tiger, and White-Headed Duck.
A mountainous Central Asian country, the Republic of TAJIKISTAN boasts relatively clean rivers refilled by glacial water and naturally-melting glaciers. The Panj (Pyandzh) river travels along most of Tajikistan's southern border with Afghanistan, while the river's headwater source flows westward in Afghanistan's panhandle. Towns and cities located along the Panj river include Dusti, Panj (Pyandzh), Khorugh, and Vrang. Panj is a tributary to the Amu Darya river, which flows through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan before reaching the rapidly-drying Aral Sea to the northwest. As the GeoFact of the Day Blog map indicates, multiple tributaries flow to conjoin with the Panj river. Along the river from west to east, tributaries include the Gunt, Bartang, Yakhsu (not shown on map), Vakhsh (west of Yakhsu river), and Kofarnihon (Karfirnigan) rivers.
Kofarnihon flows past cities such as Dushanbe — Tajikistan's capital — and Vahdat, formerly known as Ordzhonikidzeabad during the Soviet era and Kofarnihon until the early 2000s. With about 100,000 residents, Kulob is situated next to Yakhsu, while Vakhsh flows past cities such as Jirgatal', Obigarm, and Qurghonteppa. Tributaries of the Vakhsh river include Muksu and Obikhingou. The Bartang river is interesting because it has a different name in each section, as you can see with the map above. The westernmost section is called Bartang until the river reaches Lake Sarez (Sarezskoye) in the east. From that point, the Bartang name transitions to Murghob river then to Oqsu river. Gunt river flows past Khorugh city like the Panj river does. Gunt also flows through the Pereval Nayzatash (Nayzatash Pass), with an elevation of 4,137 meters tall. Finally, northern Tajikistan has two main rivers: Syr Darya and Zarafshon (Zeravshan). Syr Darya features the Kayrakkum Reservoir, created by one of Tajikistan's most productive hydroelectric dams.
Here is my Tajikistan post, posted in 2010 but updated just now!
I am a mountainous republic country formerly part of the massive Soviet Union. Where in the World am I? Well, my general location is in west-central Asia, surrounded by Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. A large region in the eastern part of me is protected by the Badakhshan National Park. Route M41 provides vehicular transportation from west to east, and vice versa of course! Speaking of roads, my people drive on the right side. The eastern portion of me features my capital, Dushanbe. What country am I? Answer is below...
Scroll down further...
...and further :) ...
Answer: TAJIKISTAN
Have you noticed that many Central and South Asian countries have the suffix of -stan? This generally means 'country' and is added to the ethnic group that makes each 'Stan Country' unique. For example, -stan is added to Uzbek, the largest ethnic group in UZBEKISTAN. The remaining 'Stan Countries' are AFGHANISTAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, PAKISTAN (unlike the others, Pakistan's name isn't derived from ethnic group + stan; people are called Pakistanis, not Pakis or Paks), TAJIKISTAN, and TURKMENISTAN.
Quite a few capitals previously had different names. The following is a list of many, definitely not all, of the capitals that had different names in the past — they are categorized by continent.
AFRICA
Bujumbura, BURUNDI's former capital (Gitega is the new capital since 2019), was called Usumbura until 1962.
N'Djamena, CHAD's capital, was called Fort Lamy until 1973.
Kinshasa, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO's capital, was called Léopoldville until 1966.
Banjul, the capital of GAMBIA, was named Bathurst until 1973.
Antananarivo, MADAGASCAR's capital, was named Tananarive until 1975.
Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE's capital, was named Lourenço Marques until Mozambique's independence in 1976.
Harare, ZIMBABWE's capital, was named Salisbury until 1982.
ASIA
Tbilisi, GEORGIA's capital, was known as Tpilisi (Georgian) or Tiflis (Russian) until 1936.
Jakarta, INDONESIA's highly-populated capital, was known as Sunda Kelapa, then Jayakata, then Batavia, then Djakarta from 1949 to 1972.
Tokyo, JAPAN's capital located on the island of Honshu, was previously named Edo until 1868.
Astana, KAZAKHSTAN's capital, was known as Tselinograd, then Aqmola.
Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN's capital, was named Pishpek until 1926 and Frunze until 1991, the fall of the Soviet Union.
Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA's capital, was known as Ugra until 1924.
Dushanbe, TAJIKISTAN's capital, was called Dyushambe until 1929 and received the name Stalinagrad until 1961.
Ankara, TURKEY's capital, was called Angora until 1930.
Ashgabat, TURKMENISTAN's capital, was called Poltoratsk from 1919 until 1927.
EUROPE
Belgrade, SERBIA's capital, was known as Singidunum in ancient times.
Podgorica, MONTENEGRO's capital, was known as Birziminium before the 11th century, Ribnica during the Middle Ages, and Titograd from 1946 to 1992. The capital possessed the name Podgorica in 1326 until 1946, resuming in 1992.
SOUTH AMERICA
Sucre, one of two capitals of BOLIVIA and named in honor of Antonio José de Sucre, was called Chuquisaca until 1825.
Credit goes to the New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition, which conveniently listed former capital names.
● ● ● ● ● People and Places ● ● ● ● ● Tajik (Tajiki Persian) is the country's official language, while Russian is still used for communication by about 40,000 citizens as a remnant of the Soviet era. Other languages include Arabic, Ishkashimi (about 500 writers and speakers), Kyrgyz, Parya, Pashto (Southern), Persian (Iranian), Shughni, Uzbek, Wakhi, Yagnobi, and Yazgulyam. Over 80% of Tajik people are Muslims, 1.5% are Christians, and about 0.14% are Jewish. Tajikistan's capital is Dushanbe, which has over 750,000 residents living there. Other cities include Garm, Khujand, Khorugh, Murghob, Qurghonteppa, and Tursunzoda. The state's currency is the Tajikistani Somoni, and its ISO 4217 currency code is TJS.
● ● ● ● ● Land and Water Features ● ● ● ● ● Known in the Soviet era as Communism Peak (Pik Kommunizma), Pik Imeni Ismail Samani — also known as Ismoili Somoni Peak or Qullai Ismoili Somoni — is Tajikistan's tallest mountain. This peak stands 7,495 meters and 24,590 feet tall above sea level. Evgenii (Eugene) Abalakov was the first person (according to known records) to successfully climb this mountain in 1933. Mountains such as Qullai Ismoili Somoni, Pik Korjenevskaya or Korzhenevskaya Peak (7,105 meters), and Qullai Abuali ibni Sino* (7,134 meters) are located in the Pamir mountain range, dominating the land of eastern Tajikistan. Major lakes and reservoirs include Kayrakkumskoye Vodokhranilishche or Kairakum Reservoir in northern Tajikistan's panhandle region; Nurek Reservoir (southwest); Qarokŭl or Karakul (northeast); Sarezskoye or Sarez (east-central); and Yashikul (southeast). Visit this post from 2016 (↗) for information about rivers.
* Also known as Avicenna Peak or Pik Avicenna in Tajikistan, Qullai Abuali ibni Sino was renamed to commemorate Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā), a revered academic scholar of the Islamic Golden Age. During the Communist years of the Soviet Union (USSR) and into the early 2000s, this mountain was named Pik Lenin (Lenin Peak). This mountain is located on the Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border.
This post was updated with a new map and more information on January 30th, 2017.
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