Location Central Asia, west of China

Geographic coordinates 39 00 N, 71 00 E

Map references Asia

Area
total: 143,100 sq km
water: 400 sq km
land: 142,700 sq km

Area - comparative slightly smaller than Wisconsin

Land boundaries
total: 3,651 km
border countries: Afghanistan 1,206 km, China 414 km, Kyrgyzstan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,161 km

Coastline 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims none (landlocked)

Climate midlatitude continental, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains

Terrain Pamir and Alay Mountains dominate landscape; western Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Syr Darya (Sirdaryo) 300 m
highest point: Qullai Ismoili Somoni 7,495 m

Natural resources hydropower, some petroleum, uranium, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten, silver, gold

Land use
arable land: 5%
permanent crops: 1%
other: 94% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 7,200 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards earthquakes and floods

Environment - current issues inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides; part of the basin of the shrinking Aral Sea suffers from severe overutilization of available water for irrigation and associated pollution

Environment - international agreements
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note landlocked; mountainous region dominated by the Trans-Alay Range in the north and the Pamirs in the southeast; highest point, Qullai Ismoili Somoni (formerly Communism Peak), was the tallest mountain in the former USSR

NOTE: The information regarding Tajikistan on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Tajikistan Geography 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Tajikistan Geography 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.