Geography of Tajikistan
Location: | Central Asia, west of China |
Geographic coordinates: | 39 00 N, 71 00 E |
Map references: | Asia |
Area: | total: 143,100 sq km land: 142,700 sq km water: 400 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: 6.52% permanent crops: 0.89% other: 92.59% (2005) |
Irrigated land: | 7,220 sq km (2003) |
Natural hazards: | earthquakes and floods |
Environment - current issues: | inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides |
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 |