ment-current issues: inadequate sanitation facilities;
increasing levels of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive
pesticides; part of the basin of the shrinking Aral Sea suffers from
severe overutilization of available water for irrigation and
associated pollution

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Ozone Layer
Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography-note: landlocked

@Tajikistan:People

Population: 6,020,095 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 41% (male 1,258,424; female 1,230,891)
15-64 years: 54% (male 1,616,257; female 1,636,732)
65 years and over: 5% (male 118,485; female 159,306) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.3% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 27.67 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 7.77 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -6.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 112.14 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.48 years
male: 61.35 years
female: 67.77 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.53 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Tajikistani(s)
adjective: Tajikistani

Ethnic groups: Tajik 64.9%, Uzbek 25%, Russian 3.5% (declining because
of emigration), other 6.6%

Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 5%

Languages: Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and
business

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 97% (1989 est.)

@Tajikistan:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan
conventional short form: Tajikistan
local long form: Jumhurii Tojikistan
local short form: none
former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic

Data code: TI

Government type: republic

National capital: Dushanbe

Administrative divisions: 2 oblasts (viloyatho, singular-viloyat) and
one autonomous oblast* (viloyati avtonomii); Viloyati Avtonomii
Badakhshoni Kuni* (Khorugh-formerly Khorog), Viloyati Khatlon
(Qurghonteppa-formerly Kurgan-Tyube), Viloyati Leninobod
(Khujand-formerly Leninabad)
note: the administrative center name follows in parentheses

Independence: 9 September 1991 (from Sovie