cription:

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 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. While Tajikistan
has experienced steady economic growth since 1997, nearly two-thirds
of the population continues to live in abject poverty. Economic
growth reached 10.6% in 2004, but dropped to 8% in 2005, 7% in 2006,
and 7.8% in 2007. 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. Continued privatization of medium and
large state-owned enterprises could increase productivity. A debt
restructuring agreement was reached with Russia in December 2002
including a $250 million write-off of Tajikistan's $300 million
debt. Tajikistan ranks third in the world in terms of water
resources per head, but suffers winter power shortages due to poor
management of water levels in rivers and reservoirs. 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.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$11.96 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$3.712 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

7.8% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$1,600 (2007 est.)

GDP