Dushanbe

Dushanbe
Душанбе

Seal
Dushanbe
Location of Dushanbe in Tajikistan
Dushanbe
Dushanbe (Asia)
Coordinates: 38°32′12″N 68°46′48″E / 38.53667°N 68.78000°E / 38.53667; 68.78000Coordinates: 38°32′12″N 68°46′48″E / 38.53667°N 68.78000°E / 38.53667; 68.78000
Country  Tajikistan
Government
 • Mayor Rustam Emomali
Area
 • City 124.6 km2 (48.1 sq mi)
Elevation 706 m (2,316 ft)
Population (2014)[1]
 • City 778,500
 • Density 6,200/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
 • Metro 1,051,200
Time zone UTC+5 (Tajikistan Time)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+5 (Tajikistan Time)
Website www.dushanbe.tj

Dushanbe (Tajik: Душанбе, IPA: [duʃænˈbe]) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means Monday in the Tajik language.[2][3] It was named this way because it grew from a village that originally had a popular market on Mondays. As of 2016, Dushanbe had a population of 802,700.

Historically a small village, Dushanbe was made the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (Russian: Дюшамбе, Dyushambe), and from 1929 to 1961 as Stalinabad (Tajik: Сталинобод, Stalinobod) which was named after Joseph Stalin.

History

Situated at the confluence of two rivers, Varzob and Kofarnihon, Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan. Although archaeological 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 the early 20th century.

The first written mention of the village of Dushanbe occurred in 1676. It was at the crossroads, where a large bazaar occurred on Mondays, hence the name Dushanbe-Bazar (Tajik: Душанбе Бозор, Dushanbe Bozor)[4] from Dushanbe, which means Monday in the Persian language,[2][3] literally – the second day (du) after Saturday (shambe – ultimately from Hebrew Shabbat – שבת, probably through Byzantine Greek σάμβατον). In the village, there were more than 500 households and a population of about 8,000 people.

Monument of Amir Ismail Samani.

By 1826, the town was called Dushanbe Qurghan (Tajik: Душанбе Қурғон, Dushanbe Qurghon, with the suffix qurƣon from Turkic qurğan, meaning "fortress") Russified as Dyushambe (Дюшамбе). The first map showing Dyushambe was drafted in 1875. At that time, the town was a fortress on a steep bank on the left bank of the Varzob River with 10,000 residents.

In 1920, the last Emir of Bukhara briefly took refuge in Dyushambe after being overthrown by the Bolshevik revolution. He fled to Afghanistan after the Red Army conquered the area the next year.[5] At the beginning of 1922, the town was taken by Basmachi troops led Enver Pasha, but on 14 July 1922 again came under the power of the Bolsheviks and was proclaimed the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924.

Dushanbe Post Office in 1937

A Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic separate from the Uzbek SSR was created in 1929, and its capital Dyushambe was renamed Stalinabad (Russian: Сталинабад; Tajik: Сталинобод Stalinobod) for Joseph Stalin on 16 October 1929. In the years that followed, the city developed at a rapid pace.[6]

The Soviets transformed the area into a centre for cotton and silk production, and tens of thousands of people relocated to the city. The population also increased with thousands of Tajiks migrating to Tajikistan following the transfer of Bukhara and Samarkand to the Uzbek SSR as part of national delimitation in Central Asia.[7]

On 10 November 1961, Stalinabad was renamed Dushanbe, the name it retains to this day.

Severe rioting occurred in February 1990, after it was rumored that the Soviet government planned to relocate tens of thousands of Armenian refugees to Tajikistan. The Dushanbe riots were primarily fueled by concerns about housing shortages for the Tajik population, but they coincided with a wave of nationalist unrest that swept Transcaucasia and other Central Asian states during the twilight of Mikhail Gorbachev's rule.[8]

In January 2017, Rustam Emomali, current President Emomali Rahmon's son, was appointed Mayor of Dushanbe, a move which is seen by some analysts as a step to reaching the top of the government.[9]

Geography

Climate

Dushanbe features a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa),[10] with strong continental climate influences (Köppen: Dsa).[10] The summers are hot and dry and the winters are chilly, but not very cold. The climate is damper than other Central Asian capitals, with an average annual rainfall over 500 millimetres (20 in) as moist air is funnelled by the surrounding valley during the winter and spring. Winters are not as cold as further north owing to the shielding of the city by mountains from extremely cold air from Siberia. January 2008 was particularly cold, and the temperature dropped to −22 °C (−8 °F).[11]

Climate data for Dushanbe (1961–1990, extremes 1951–2012)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 21.6
(70.9)		 23.1
(73.6)		 30.6
(87.1)		 35.6
(96.1)		 38.8
(101.8)		 43.0
(109.4)		 43.3
(109.9)		 45.0
(113)		 40.6
(105.1)		 36.8
(98.2)		 31.7
(89.1)		 24.3
(75.7)		 45.0
(113)
Average high °C (°F) 7.9
(46.2)		 10.2
(50.4)		 15.2
(59.4)		 22.1
(71.8)		 27.0
(80.6)		 33.1
(91.6)		 35.8
(96.4)		 34.3
(93.7)		 30.7
(87.3)		 24.2
(75.6)		 17.1
(62.8)		 10.8
(51.4)		 22.4
(72.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) 2.1
(35.8)		 3.8
(38.8)		 9.2
(48.6)		 15.4
(59.7)		 20.0
(68)		 25.3
(77.5)		 27.1
(80.8)		 24.9
(76.8)		 20.1
(68.2)		 14.3
(57.7)		 8.9
(48)		 4.8
(40.6)		 14.7
(58.5)
Average low °C (°F) −2.0
(28.4)		 −0.2
(31.6)		 4.2
(39.6)		 9.3
(48.7)		 13.0
(55.4)		 16.5
(61.7)		 17.9
(64.2)		 15.9
(60.6)		 11.1
(52)		 6.7
(44.1)		 3.5
(38.3)		 0.8
(33.4)		 8.2
(46.8)
Record low °C (°F) −26.6
(−15.9)		 −17.3
(0.9)		 −13.4
(7.9)		 −7.8
(18)		 1.2
(34.2)		 8.4
(47.1)		 10.9
(51.6)		 8.1
(46.6)		 1.9
(35.4)		 −4.4
(24.1)		 −13.5
(7.7)		 −19.5
(−3.1)		 −26.6
(−15.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 66.3
(2.61)		 75.4
(2.969)		 107.5
(4.232)		 105.0
(4.134)		 66.0
(2.598)		 5.5
(0.217)		 3.2
(0.126)		 0.5
(0.02)		 3.1
(0.122)		 30.6
(1.205)		 44.7
(1.76)		 59.8
(2.354)		 567.6
(22.346)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 8.5 9.1 13.4 9.8 7.8 1.5 0.7 0.1 0.8 3.7 5.3 8.1 68.8
Average relative humidity (%) 69 67 65 63 57 42 41 44 44 56 63 69 57
Mean monthly sunshine hours 120 121 156 198 281 337 352 338 289 224 164 119 2,699
Source #1: Deutscher Wetterdienst[12]
Source #2: NOAA (sun, 1961–1990)[13]

Districts

Districts of Dushanbe

Dushanbe is divided into the following districts:

  1. Avicenna (Tajik: Абӯалӣ Ибни Сино, Abūali Ibni Sino; Persian: ابوعلی ابن سینا‌‎)
  2. Ferdowsi (Tajik: Фирдавсӣ, Firdavsi; Persian: فردوسی‌‎)
  3. Ismail Samani (Tajik: Исмоили Сомонӣ, Ismoili Somoni; Persian: اسماعیل سامانی‌‎)
  4. Shah Mansur (Tajik: Шоҳмансур, Shohmansur; Persian: شاه منصور‌‎)

Main sights

Demographics

The population of Dushanbe:

  • in 1987 was about 796,000 and was made up of ethnic Tajiks (75%), Uzbeks (10%), ethnic Russians (3%), and others (12%);
  • in 2011 was about 679,400 and was made up of ethnic Tajiks (c. 83.4%), Uzbeks (9.1%), Russians (5.1%), and others (2.4%).
Population of Dushanbe
YearPopulation
1926 6,000
1936 83,000
1956 227,000
1971 388,000
1987 796,000[15]
1991 582,000
2002 579,000
2006 661,000
2008 679,400[16]
2014 779,000
2015 788,700[17]
2016 802,700[18]

Economy and infrastructure

Puppet theatre

Tajik Air has its head office on the grounds of Dushanbe Airport in Dushanbe.[19] Somon Air has its head office in Dushanbe.[20]

Transport

Trolleybus in Dushanbe

The city is served by Dushanbe International Airport which as of April 2015, had regularly scheduled flights to major cities in Russia, Central Asia, as well as Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kabul, and Ürümqi amongst others. Tajikistan's principal railways are in the southern region and connect Dushanbe with the industrial areas of the Gissar and Vakhsh valleys and with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.[21]

The Dushanbe trolleybus system operates public buses in the city. Automobiles are the main form of transportation in the country and as of 2014 many highway and tunnel construction projects are underway or have recently been completed. Major projects include rehabilitation of the Dushanbe – Chanak (Uzbek border), Dushanbe – Kulma (Chinese border), Kurgan-Tube – Nizhny Pyanj (Afghan border) highways and construction of tunnels under the mountain passes of Anzob, Shakhristan, Shar-Shar[22] and Chormazak.[23]

Education

Tajik State National University.

A number of educational facilities are based in Dushanbe:

International relations

The Palace of Unity (Vahdat Palace).

Twin towns – Sister cities

Dushanbe is twinned with:[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 1 January, State Statistical Committee, Dushanbe, 2012 (in Russian)
  2. 1 2 Dushanbe in Persian language Archived 31 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 D. Saimaddinov, S. D. Kholmatova, and S. Karimov, Tajik-Russian Dictionary, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, Rudaki Institute of Language and Literature, Scientific Center for Persian-Tajik Culture, Dushanbe, 2006.
  4. ↑ Dushanbe in Dictionary of Geographic Names (in Russian)
  5. ↑ "The Last Khan". 8 March 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Regions: Dushanbe & Surroundings". Official Website of the Tourism Authority of Tajikistan. Committee of Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Dushanbe: History". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Ethnic rioting in Dushanbe, New York Times, 13 February 1990. Retrieved 18 October 2008
  9. ↑ "Tajikistan: regime eternalization completed?". The Politicon. The Politicon. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  10. 1 2 Updated Asian map of the Köppen climate classification system
  11. ↑ Tajikistan: Citizens Ponder Bleak Future Amid Harsh Winter | Eurasianet.Org
  12. ↑ "Klimatafel von Duschanbe / Tadschikistan" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Dushanbe Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Tallest unsupported flagpole". Guinness World Records. 24 May 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  15. ↑ Genesis 1987, USSR
  16. ↑ Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 1 January, State Statistical Committee, Dushanbe, 2008 (Russian)
  17. ↑ “TAJIKISTAN”. City Population. Retrieved 2015.01.01
  18. ↑ "Шумораи аҳолии Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон то 1 январи соли 2016 Ахбороти Агентии омори назди Президенти Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  19. ↑ "Directory: World Airlines." Flight International. 30 March-5 April 2004. 78. "Titov Street 31/2, Dushanbe Airport, Dushanbe, 734006, Tajikistan."
  20. ↑ "Contacts Archived 29 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine.." Somon Air. Retrieved on 4 December 2010. "Contacts: 40, Titova Str. Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 734012." Address in Tajik  : "734012, Таджикистан, Душанбе, ул. Титова, 40" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
  21. ↑ Migrant Express Part 1: Good-bye Dushanbe, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBSardpSH0E
  22. ↑ Shar-Shar auto tunnel links Tajikistan to China, The 2.3 km (1 mi) Shar-Shar car tunnel linking Tajikistan and China opened to traffic on Aug. 30., Siyavush Mekhtan, 2009-09-03, http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/2009/09/03/feature-06
  23. ↑ Chormaghzak Tunnel renamed Khatlon Tunnel and Shar-Shar Tunnel renamed Ozodi Tunnel, 12/02/2014 15:49, Payrav Chorshanbiyev, http://news.tj/en/news/chormaghzak-tunnel-renamed-khatlon-tunnel-and-shar-shar-tunnel-renamed-ozodi-tunnel
  24. ↑ "Twin-cities of Azerbaijan". Azerbaijans.com. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  25. ↑ "Twin towns and Sister cities of Minsk [via WaybackMachine.com]" (in Russian). The department of protocol and international relations of Minsk City Executive Committee. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-21.

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