Tajikistan Travel Advice

General travel information for Tajikistan

Continent: Asia

Geographical location: Western Central Asia, on the Hindu Kush

Highest elevation: Pik Ismoil Somoni (7495 m above sea level)

Form of government: Republic System of

Government: Presidential system

Languages: Tajik (Persian), Russian

Neighboring countries: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, the People’s Republic of China and Afghanistan

Capital: Dushanbe

Area: 143,100 sq km

Population: 7,910,041 (July 2013)

Population density: 55.3 residents per sq km

religions: 90% followers of Islam, about 3.1% Christian

Currency: Somoni (TJS), one euro is approximately 11.1 TJS.

Climate: dry subtropical climate zone

Time zone: UTC +5

Area code: +992

Country code: TJ

Electricity: In Tajikistan, the type C and I sockets are used. The mains voltage is 230V with a 50Hz change interval. A travel plug adapter can be an advantage.

Check a2zdirectory for old history of Tajikistan and agooddir for modern history of Tajikistan.

Culture and sights in Tajikistan

The Tajiks are linguistically, culturally and ethnically closely related to the Persians and also make up 30 percent of the population in neighboring Afghanistan. One of the oldest and most important customs in the country is the traditional New Year festival, Nouruz, which is celebrated at the beginning of spring.

The traditional mud houses in the old town quarters (Mahalla) and villages (Kischlak) in the west of the country are built around an inner courtyard and separated from the outside world by a high, windowless wall, through which only a wooden gate leads. In summer the inner courtyard is the main living space for the family. A square wooden platform set up in the inner courtyard serves as a place to sleep, rest and eat. The food is served there on a tablecloth.

Tajik music is divided into an art music with roots mainly in the Persian tradition, which is played in the cities in the west of the country and in the Fergana Valley, and into a folk music in the south and in the rural regions. The most important style of art music cultivated in the Emirate of Bukhara is the Shashmaqam. The singing voice is accompanied by various plucked long-necked lutes, the string lute Ghichak and the frame drum Doira. Popular vocal styles in folk music are called Falak and Katta Aschula. In Badachschan’s own musical tradition, the Rubab lute is used primarily to accompany singing. Since the beginning of the 20th century, a number of Tajik composers have combined the Shashmaqam and other original styles with Western classical music.

Things to see in Tajikistan include:

Dushanbe

Most of the main attractions of the country can be found in the capital Dushanbe, which has some interesting buildings such as the government palace or the drama theater. Also worth seeing is the national museum in which one of the largest Buddha images in Asia, the Buddha of Chatlon, can be admired. This statue is around 14 meters long and named after the province of Chatlon in the south-west of the country.

Tajik National Park

The Tajik National Park is partly in the Pamir Mountains and therefore in the eastern part of the country. From a geographical point of view, the park is very diverse and consists of over 7,000 m high mountain regions, grassland, steppe and desert. In addition, there is the Fedtchenko glacier which, with its almost 80km, is the longest glacier outside the polar region. There are long, cold winters and cool summers in the region, which offers a suitable habitat for rare animal species such as brown bears, snow leopards, Siberian ibexes and wolves.

Fortress Hissar

The ruins of the fortress Hissar were built in the 13th century and destroyed again by the Soviets. Today it is a historical and important sight and is not far from the capital.

Holidays in Tajikistan

Holiday	Date
New Year	January 1st
International Women’s Day	8th of March
Nowruz (Persian New Year)	March 21st
Labor Day	1st of May
day of the victory	May 9
National Unity Day	June 27
Eid al-Fitr (end of Tamadan)	In July
Independence day	September 9
Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice)	September October

Constitution Day

25 December

Medical information for Tajikistan

For legal reasons, we as a tour operator are not allowed to communicate any binding medical information for Tajikistan and therefore refer to the information provided by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Robert Koch Institute and the German Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health.

Travel advice for Tajikistan

You can obtain current travel and safety information, information on entering and leaving the country, as well as special criminal law information and recommendations for your stay in Tajikistan from the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.