The Demographics of Tajikistan is about the
demography
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
of the
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, including population growth,
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
,
ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.
Demographic trends
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
's main ethnic group are the
Tajiks
Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...
, with minorities such as the
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...
and
Kyrgyz, and a small
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
minority. Because not everyone in Tajikistan is an ethnic Tajik, the non-Tajik citizens of the country are referred to as Tajikistani. The official nationality of any person from Tajikistan is a Tajikistani, while the ethnic Tajik majority simply call themselves Tajik.
Contemporary
Tajiks
Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...
are an
Iranian people. In particular, they are descended from ancient Eastern Iranian peoples of
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, such as the
Soghdians
Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid ...
and the
Bactrians
Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, south ...
, with an admixture of Western Iranian
Persians
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
...
as well as non-Iranian peoples.
Until the 20th century, people in the region used two types of distinction to identify themselves: way of life - either
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic or sedentary - and place of residence. By the late nineteenth century, the Tajik and
Uzbek peoples, who had lived in proximity for centuries and often used each other's languages, did not perceive themselves as two distinct nationalities. The modern labels were imposed artificially when Central Asia was divided into five Soviet republics in the 1920s.
[
Historically, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were also home to Bukharan Jews, who trace their ancestry to the ]Lost Tribes of Israel
The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, As ...
taken captive by the Babylonians in the 7th century BC, but almost no Bukharian Jews are left in Tajikistan.
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
Ethnic groups
* Tajik 84.3%
*Pamiris
The Pamiris, russian: Пами́рцы, Pamírtsy, zh, s=帕米尔人, p=Pàmǐ'ěrrén, ur, are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, native to the Badakhshan region of Central Asia, which includes the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of T ...
1%
* Uzbek 13.8%
*Other 2% (includes Kyrgyz, Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, Turkmen, Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different , Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
)
Ethnic makeup according to the population censuses from 1926 to 2010 (in thousands)
Note: The category Tajiks
Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...
also includes approximately 135,000 ethnic Pamiris
The Pamiris, russian: Пами́рцы, Pamírtsy, zh, s=帕米尔人, p=Pàmǐ'ěrrén, ur, are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, native to the Badakhshan region of Central Asia, which includes the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of T ...
, of which 65% are Shughni speakers, 13% are Rushani speakers, 12% speak Wakhi, 5% are Bartangi speakers, 3% are Yazgulyami speakers, 1.5% speak Khufi, and 0.8% are Ishkashimi speakers. In addition there are 5,000 speakers of Yagnobi. According to the 2000 census, excluding the people whose native language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
s are Pamiri or Yagnobi, Tajiks account for 77.6% of the population.
Languages
Several dialects of Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
(Central Asian dialects of Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
) are spoken in Tajikistan and it is one of the two official languages of Tajikistan (officially referred to as Tajik). Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
is the official interethnic language and is widely used in both government and business. The different ethnic minorities speak different languages, for instance Uzbek, Turkmen, Kyrgyz and Khowar
Khowar () or Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in Chitral and surrounding areas in Pakistan.
Khowar is the lingua franca of Chitral, and it is also spoken in the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, as we ...
. In the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province
Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region,, abbr. / is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area, but only two percen ...
, Shughni as well as other Pamir languages are spoken. In the northern Yaghnob valley, the Yaghnobi language
Yaghnobi is an Eastern Iranian language spoken in the upper valley of the Yaghnob River in the Zarafshan area of Tajikistan by the Yaghnobi people. It is considered to be a direct descendant of Sogdian and has sometimes been called Neo-Sog ...
is still spoken.
Religion
* Sunni Islam 95%
*Shia Ismaili Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
3%
* others 2%
Population
9,275,787 (2019 est.)
According to Worldmeters
Age structure
''0–14 years:'' 34.3% (male 1,282,681/female 1,238,607)
''15–64 years:'' 62.1% (male 2,260,552/female 2,303,034)
''65 years and over:'' 3.6% (male 112,334/female 151,937) (2009 est.)
Population growth rate
1.88% (2009 est.)
2.21% (2013-2014 est.) (source:www.stat.tj)
Net migration rate
-1.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Sex ratio
''at birth:''
1.05 male(s)/female
''under 15 years:''
1.04 male(s)/female
''15–64 years:''
0.98 male(s)/female
''65 years and over:''
0.74 male(s)/female
''total population:''
0.99 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
''total population:''
65.33 years
''male:''
62.29 years
''female:''
68.52 years (2009 est.)
Education
Education is required through high school (11 years of schooling) but completion rate is under 90%;
Literacy
''definition:''
age 15 and over can read and write
''total population:''
99.5%
''male:''
99.7%
''female:''
99.2% (2000 census)
Vital statistics
UN estimates
Births and deaths
Life Expectancy
Fertility rate
Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate):
Population pyramids
Source:
Birth rate
There were slightly over 224 thousand births in Tajikistan in 2017, down from 230 thousand in 2016. Most births occurred in Khatlon Region (89 thousand births), followed by Sughd Region (61 thousand births) and the (53 thousand births). The fewest births is recorded in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region
Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region,, abbr. / is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area, but only two percen ...
in eastern Tajikistan, with around 5,700 births. Dushanbe city recorded approximately 15,500 births in 2017.
The crude birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
for Tajikistan was 25.4‰ in 2017, down from 28.1‰ two years earlier (in 2015). Khatlon Region has the highest birth rate (28.1‰) in 2017, while the city of Dushanbe has the lowest birth rate with 18.8‰.
See also
* Demographics of Central Asia
Central Asia is a diverse land with many ethnic groups, languages, religions and tribes. The nations which make up Central Asia are five of the former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which have ...
References
External links
Ethnolinguistic map of Tajikistan by Iraj Bashiri
*Dr. Kurbanov, Ruslan
OnIslam.net.
May 19, 2012.
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