[23] While the Library of Congress's 1997 Country Study of Tajikistan found it difficult to definitively state the origins of the word "Tajik" because the term is "embroiled in twentieth-century political disputes about whether Turkic or Iranic peoples were the original inhabitants of Central Asia,"[24] scholars concluded that contemporary Tajiks are the descendants of the Eastern Iranic inhabitants of Central Asia, in particular, the Sogdians and the Bactrians and possibly other groups.

Northern Tajikistan (the cities of Khujand and Panjakent) was part of Sogdia, a collection of city-states which was overrun by Scytho-Siberians and Yuezhi nomadic tribes around 150 BC.

The Silk Road passed through the region and following the expedition of Chinese explorer Zhang Qian during the reign of Wudi (141 BC–87 BC) commercial relations between Han Empire and Sogdiana flourished.

[40][41] Their arrival in Transoxania signalled a definitive shift from Iranian to Turkic predominance in Central Asia,[42] and gradually the Kara-khanids became assimilated into the Perso-Arab Muslim culture of the region.

Practising Christianity, Islam, or Judaism was discouraged and repressed; due to the Soviet anti-religious legislation, several churches, mosques, and synagogues were closed.

[51] Soviet collectivization policy brought violence against farmers and peasants, classified as anti-Soviet categories of "enemies of the people", and forced resettlement occurred throughout Tajikistan.

[54] During 1957–58 Nikita Khrushchev's Virgin Lands Campaign focused attention on Tajikistan, where living conditions, education and industry lagged behind the other Soviet Republics.

[61] In February 1990, riots and strikes in Dushanbe and other cities began due to the difficult socio-economic situation, lack of housing, and youth unemployment.

led by a combination of liberal democratic reformers[63] and Islamists, who eventually became the United Tajik Opposition, rose up against the newly formed government of President Rahmon Nabiyev, which was dominated by people from the Khujand and Kulob regions.

[66] In 1997, a ceasefire was reached between Rahmon and opposition parties under the guidance of Gerd D. Merrem,[44] Special Representative to the Secretary General, a result praised as a successful United Nations peacekeeping initiative.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, French troops have been stationed at Dushanbe Airport in support of air operations of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

United States Army and Marine Corps personnel periodically visit Tajikistan to conduct joint training missions of up to several weeks duration.

The Government of India rebuilt the Ayni Air Base, a military airport located 15 km southwest of Dushanbe, at a cost of $70 million, completing the repairs in September 2010.

[78] In May 2015, Tajikistan's national security underwent a setback when Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov, commander of the special-purpose police unit (OMON) of the Interior Ministry, defected to the Islamic State.

In 2021, following the Fall of Kabul, Tajikistan allegedly got involved in the Panjshir conflict against the Taliban on the side of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.

[93] In July 2019, UN ambassadors of 37 countries, including Tajikistan, signed a joint letter to UNHRC defending China's treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.

[98] The safety concerns emerged as foreign troops such as the US and British army exited the country, causing over 1,000 Afghan civilians and servicemen to flee to neighboring Tajikistan after Taliban insurgents took control of parts of Afghanistan.

Each region is divided into districts (Tajik: Ноҳия, nohiya or raion), which in turn are subdivided into jamoats (village-level self-governing units) and then villages (qyshloqs).

[103][104][105] With foreign revenue precariously dependent upon remittances from migrant workers overseas and exports of aluminium and cotton, the economy is vulnerable to external shocks.

In fiscal year 2000, international assistance remained an essential source of support for rehabilitation programs that reintegrated former civil war combatants into the civilian economy, which helped keep the peace.

[112] Tajikistan's rivers, such as the Vakhsh and the Panj, have hydropower potential, and the government has focused on attracting investment for projects for internal use and electricity exports.

The total length of transmission line is 750 km while the project is planned to be on Public-Private Partnership basis with the support of WB, IFC, ADB and IDB.

[119] In 2014 Tajikistan was the world's most remittance-dependent economy with remittances accounting for 49% of GDP and expected to fall by 40% in 2015 due to the economic crisis in the Russian Federation.

Tajikistan has achieved transition from a planned to a market economy without "substantial and protracted" recourse to aid, and by purely market-based means, simply by exporting its main commodity of comparative advantage — cheap labour.

[126] With the increasing assistance from international organisations, such as UNODC, and co-operation with the US, Russian, EU and Afghan authorities a level of progress on the fight against illegal drug-trafficking is being achieved.

[132] In 2012, the presidents of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Iran signed an agreement to construct roads and railways, and oil, gas, and water pipelines to connect the three countries.

The principal segments are in the southern region and connect the capital with the industrial areas of the Hisor and Vakhsh valleys and with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.

[173] As of January 2016, as part of an "anti-radicalisation campaign", police in the Khatlon region reportedly shaved the beards of 13,000 men and shut down 160 shops selling the hijab.

Shaving beards and discouraging women from wearing hijabs is part of a government campaign targeting trends that are deemed "alien and inconsistent with Tajik culture", and "to preserve secular traditions".

The aim of the game is to grab a 50 kg dead goat, ride clear of the other players, get back to the starting point and drop it in a designated circle.