Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic

TheTajik Soviet Socialist Republic,also commonly known asSoviet Tajikistan, theTajik SSR,TaSSR, or simplyTajikistan, was one of theconstituent republicsof theSoviet Unionwhich existed from 1929 to 1991 inCentral Asia.
The Tajik Republic was created on 5 December 1929 as a national entity for theTajik peoplewithin the Soviet Union. It succeeded theTajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic(Tajik SSR), which had been created on 14 October 1924 as a part of the predominantlyTurkicUzbek SSRin the process ofnational delimitation in Soviet Central Asia.  On 24 August 1990, the Tajik SSR declared sovereignty in its borders. The republic was renamed theRepublic of Tajikistanon 31 August 1991 and declared its independence from the disintegrating Soviet Union on 9 September 1991; thus modern Tajikistan is its direct legalsuccessor state.
Geographically, at 143,100 km(55,300 sq mi), it was bordered byAfghanistanto the south,Chinato the east,Pakistanto the south, separated by the narrowWakhan Corridor, as well as internally by fellow Soviet republics ofUzbekistanto the west,Kyrgyzstanto the north. Notably, the Tajik SSR was the only republic of the Soviet Union to be separated from the Russian SFSR by more than one other republic.
The name Tajik refers to the name of a pre-Islamic tribe that existed before the seventh century A.D. Based on theLibrary of Congress's 1997 Country Study of Tajikistan, it is difficult to definitively state the origins of the word "Tajik" citing due to its "embroiled in twentieth-century political disputes about whether Turkic or Iranian peoples were the original inhabitants of Central Asia."
The name of the country was often spelt "Tadzhikistan" in theEnglish languageduringSoviet timesdue to it being borrowed directly from theRussianspelling "Таджикистан", where the letters 'дж' produce a 'j' sound.
One of the new states created in the process ofnational delimitation of Soviet Central Asiain October 1924 was theUzbek Soviet Socialist Republic– Uzbek SSR or Soviet Uzbekistan.  Soviet Tajikistan was created at the same time within the predominantlyTurkicUzbek SSR as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik ASSR) – one rank below aSoviet Socialist Republicin USSR geopolitical hierarchy.  The new autonomous republic included what had been easternBukharaand had a population of about 740,000, out of a total population of nearly 5 million in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as a whole. Its capital was established inDyushambe, which had been a village of 3,000 in 1920.  In December 1929, Tajik ASSR was detached from the Uzbek SSR and given full status as aSoviet Socialist Republic–Tajik Socialist Soviet Republic.  At that time, its capital was renamedStalinabad, afterJoseph Stalin, and the territory that is now northern Tajikistan (Sughd Province) was added to the new republic.  Even with the additional territory, the Tajik SSR remained the smallestCentral Asianrepublic. On 5 December 1936, it was renamed theTajik Soviet Socialist Republic.
With the creation of a Tajik republic defined in national terms came the creation of institutions that, at least in form, were likewise national.  The first Tajik-language newspaper in Soviet Tajikistan began publication in 1926.  New educational institutions also began operation at about the same time.  The first state schools, available to both children and adults and designed to provide basic education, opened in 1926.  The central government also trained a small number of Tajiks for public office, either by putting them through courses offered by government departments or by sending them to schools in the Uzbek SSR.
Under Soviet rule, Tajikistan experienced some economic and social progress. However, living standards in the republic were still among the lowest in the Union. Most people still lived in ruralqishlaqs, settlements that were composed of 200 to 700 one-family houses built along a waterway.
After Stalin's death in March 1953, Stalinabad was renamedDushanbeon 10 November 1961 as part of thede-Stalinizationprogram.
In February 1990,riotsoccurred in the republic's capital Dushanbe. 26 people died and 565 more were injured and the Soviet troops put down the riots.Yaqub Salimov, a future Interior Minister, and some youth activists were convicted for participation in the riots.
Later on 24 August 1990, Tajik SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. By 1991, Tajikistan participated in areferendum in Marchas part of theattempt to preserve the unionwith a turnout of 96.85%. However, this did not happen whenhardliners took control of Moscow during the next three days in August. After the failure of the coup, the Tajik SSR was renamed theRepublic of Tajikistanon 31 August 1991. On 9 September 1991, Tajikistan seceded from the Soviet Union months before the country itself ceased to exist on 26 December 1991. Conflicts after independence caused acivil war throughout the countryover the next six years.
Tajikistan, like all other republics in the Soviet Union, was officially a Soviet republic governed by theTajik republican branchwithin theCommunist Party of the Soviet Unionin all organs of government, politics and society. TheSupreme Sovietwas aunicamerallegislatureof the republic headed by a Chairman, with its superiority to both the executive and judicial branches and its members convened in the Supreme Soviet building inDushanbe. Since independence in 1991, it retained the unicameral structure before being replaced by abicameralsystem in 1999 using thepresidential system. The republic's government structure was similar to those of other republics.
Tajikistan was the onlyCentral Asian Republicto not form an army under theSoviet Armed Forces. In replacement were the Soviet units under theMinistry of Defence, as well as troops who were subordinates of theTurkestan Military Districtand theCentral Asian Military Districtin neighboringUzbekistanandKazakhstanrespectively. In the early 1990s the army was the smallest in the union and had moreRussiansthan nativeTajiksin it. The army failed to effectively defend the regime as proven in the1990 Dushanbe riots. There was a large contingent of Soviet border guards who were commanded byRussiansbased fromMoscowwho commanded ethnicTajikconscripts. When the TurkVO was dissolved in June 1992, its personnel were distributed between Tajikistan and the other 4Central Asianrepublics.
The Tajik SSR also operated its own Ministry of Internal Affairs andInternal Troops, which was an independent republican affiliate of theMinistry of Internal Affairsof theSoviet Union.
Thelightandfood industriesaccounted for over 60% of industrial output. The main branches ofheavy industrywere electric power,mining, non-ferrous metallurgy,machine building,metalworking, and thebuilding materialsindustry. The basis of the electricity accounted for HPP. Mining activities concentrated on the extraction ofbrown coalandoil and natural gas. Non-ferrous metals industries included an aluminum plant inTursunzadeand a hydrometallurgical plant inIsfara. The engineering sector had its hub atDushanbeand produced winding, agricultural machinery, equipment for trading enterprises and public catering, textiles, lighting and wiring equipment, transformers, household refrigerators, and cables, among other products. Chemical industrial plants included one for nitrogen fertilizer inKurgan-Tube, electrochemical products inYovon, and plastics in Dushanbe. The main branches of light industry were cotton ginning, silk, and carpet weaving. The food industry consisted partially of the fruit-canning, vegetable oils, and fat industries.
In 1986, there were 299 state-owned and 157 collective farms in the country. Designated agricultural land amounted to 4.2 million hectares (10 million acres).
Due to the large irrigation works in the area of irrigated land 1986 have reached 662 thousand hectares. Agriculture gave about 65% of gross agricultural output. The leading branch of agriculture was cotton (cotton collection 922 thousand tons in 1986), developed in Fergana, Vakhsh, Hissar valleys.Tajikistanwas the main base of the country for the production of long-staple cotton. Cultured andtobacco,geranium,linen- Kudryashov,sesame. Approximately 20% of crops were occupied by grain crops (gross grain harvest - 246 thousand tons in 1986 in.). They grow vegetables and melons. Was developed fruit (including citrus fruit) andgrapes. Meat and wool sheep and meat and dairy cattle. Livestock (in 1987, in millions):cattle- 1.4 (including cows - 0.6),sheepandgoats- 3.2.Sericulture.
Operating length (in 1986):
Tajikistan is supplied with gas from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan withgas pipelinesfrom Kelif toDushanbe, from local gas fields.
38°32′N68°46′E﻿ / ﻿38.533°N 68.767°E﻿ /38.533; 68.767