e"
Party [Abdurahmon KARIMOV, chairman]

Political pressure groups and leaders: there are three unregistered
political parties with 1,000 or more members: ZOIROV]; Unity Party
[Hikmatuko SAIDOV]

International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD,
ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IOC, IOM, ITU, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: Tajikistan does not have an embassy
in the US, but does have a permanent mission to the UN: address - 136 East
67th Street, New York, NY 10021, telephone - [1] (212) 472-7645, FAX -
[1] (212) 628-0252; permanent representative to the UN is Rashid ALIMOV

Diplomatic representation from the US: Ambassador Franklin P. "Pancho"
HUDDLE, Jr. embassy: Dushanbe is not yet fully operational; most
business is still handled in Almaty at 531 Sayfullin Street, Almaty,
Kazakhstan, telephone 7-3272-58-79-61, FAX 7-3272-58079-68 mailing
address: use embassy street address telephone: 992-372-21-03-48, 03-50,
03-52 FAX: 992-372-24-15-62

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 the lowest per capita GDP among the
15 former Soviet republics. 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 80% of its people continue to live
in abject poverty, Tajikistan has experienced strong economic growth since
1997. Continued privatization of medium and large state-owned enterprises
will further increase productivity. Tajikistan's economic situation,
however, remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural
reforms, weak governance, and the external debt burden. Servicing of
the debt, owed principally to Russia and Uzbekistan, could require as
much as 50% of government revenues in 2002, thus limiting the nation's
ability to meet pressing development ne