Short facts about the geography of Tadjikistan

Location:

Central Asia, west of China

Geographic coordinates:

39 00 N, 71 00 E

Map references:

Commonwealth of Independent States

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:  Syrdariya 300 m highest point:  Pik Imeni Ismail Samani 7,495 m

Natural resources:

hydropower, some petroleum, uranium, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten, silver, gold

Land use:

arable land:  6% permanent crops:  0% permanent pastures:  25% forests and woodland:  4% other:  65% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:

6,390 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:

NA

Environment - current issues:

inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides; part of the basin of the shrinking Aral Sea suffers from severe overutilization of available water for irrigation and associated pollution

Environment - international agreements:

party to:  Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified:  none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

landlocked

Source: World Factbook