Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia, with a population formed largely of Tajikistani (84.3%), with a significant Uzbek minority of 13.8%, and smaller numbers of Kyrgyz, Russians, Turkmens, Tatars, and Arabs. Tajikistan is one of the poorest states of the former Soviet sphere. It is a largely rural and agricultural country: as of 2015, only 26.8% of the total population lived in urban areas. The country experienced a very turbulent period in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, with the 1992-97 civil war severely damaging its already weak economy. About 90% of the population is Muslim, with most of them practicing Sunni Islam.