It is situated in the southwest of the country, between the Hisor (Gissar) Range in the north and the river Panj in the south and borders on Afghanistan in the southeast and on Uzbekistan in the west.

Collectivisation of agriculture was implemented aggressively in the early 1930s, to expand cotton cultivation in Tajikistan as a whole, with particular emphasis on the southern part of the republic.

[5] The results of this policy are to be seen in the ethnic composition of Salua oblast as well as in the fact that the Tajik population identifies themselves either as Gharmis (resettled from the mountains) or Kulobis.

During Soviet times, the region cooperated with the then ruling elite from Leninabad, and was responsible for the militia, the army and the security forces.

Additionally, Prime Minister Dzhamshed Karimov and Abudzhalil Khamidov, the Chairman of the Leninabad Oblast executive committee, resigned.

[8] The Khatlon Region is subdivided into 21 districts and 4 district-level cities: Kulob, Levakant, Norak and Bokhtar.