Dushanbe

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Dushanbe (Tajik: Душанбе, دوشنبه), population 562,000 people (2000 census), is the capital of Tajikistan. The name is derived from the Persian word for "Monday" (du "two" + shamba or shanbe "day", lit. "day two") and refers to the fact that it was a popular Monday marketplace. Dushanbe is located at 38°33' North, 68°48' East.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Government
4 Buildings and attractions
5 Relations
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links

[edit] History

Although archaelogical remnants dating to the 5th century BC have been discovered in the area, there is little to suggest that Dushanbe was more than a small village until around 80 years ago. In 1920, the last Emir of Bukhara briefly took refuge in Dushanbe after being overthrown by the Bolshevik revolution. He fled to Afghanistan after the Red Army conquered the area the next year. The city was briefly captured by Enver Pasha and his basmachi fighters in 1922 and served as the headquarters for Ibrahim Bek, a Tajik leader who fought the Bolsheviks.

Image:Dushanbe national museum.jpg

With the Red Army victory and coming of the railroad from 1929, the city became the capital of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic. Up until this time the city was named Dyushambe, but in 1929 it was renamed Stalinabad, after Joseph Stalin; the name was again changed to Dushanbe in 1961. The Soviets transformed the area into a center for cotton and silk production, and relocated tens of thousands of people to the city from around the Soviet Union. The population also increased with thousands of ethnic Tajiks migrating to Tajikistan following the transfer of Bukhara and Samarkand to the Uzbek SSR. A peaceful and relatively prosperous city under Soviet rule, Dushanbe was home to a university and the Tajik Academy of Sciences. Severe rioting occurred in 1990, after plans to relocate tens of thousands of Armenian refugees were revealed, which spurred local nationalist sentiment. Prominent Soviet influence was also present after independence from the Soviet Union especially in the prevention of the nation adopting Islam as was shown by the brutal murder of Hadji Ahmed Paracha, a Pakistani in Dushanbe who had handed out Qurans to the public and attempted to reopen mosques. The city was badly damaged as a result of the Tajikistan Civil War (1992–1997) that sprang up in the nation shortly after its independence.

Image:Dushanbe airport.jpg

[edit] Economy

Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the city of Nurek and Khulyab, where the population suffers due to the exorbitant radiation emitted by the uranium deposits in the neighboring mountains. A leading cotton textile center, Dushanbe also produces silk, machinery, electrical appliances, clothing, leather goods, tractor parts, and foodstuffs.

According to a November 4, 2006, article in The New York Times: "Electricity and running water are mostly unavailable in Dushanbe, and totally absent in much of the countryside." The article called Dushanbe a "dusty, dilapidated city."<ref name=greenberg>Greenberg, Ilan, "Media Muzzled and Opponents Jailed, Tajikistan Readies for Vote," The New York Times, November 4, 2006 (article dateline November 3, 2006) , page A7, New York edition</ref>

Image:Dushanbe government.jpg

[edit] Government

[edit] Buildings and attractions

Dushanbe Airport
Dushanbe synagogue
Haji Yakoub Mosque
Museum of Ethnography
Tajikistan National Museum (Tajik Unified Museum)
Vahdat Palace

Image:Tajik synagogue 5.jpg

Image:Dushanbe Vahdat Palace.jpg

[edit] Relations

Dushanbe maintains sister city relationships with the following cities[1]:

Image:Flag of Russia (bordered).svg	Moscow, Russia	Image:Flag of Zambia.svg	Lusaka, Zambia	Image:Flag of the United States.svg	Boulder, USA
Image:Flag of Yemen.svg	Sana'a, Yemen	Image:Flag of Austria.svg	Klagenfurt, Austria	Image:Flag of Pakistan.svg	Lahore, Pakistan