Norfolk Island (2005) | Tajikistan (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) | 2 provinces (viloyatho, singular - viloyat) and 1 autonomous province* (viloyati mukhtor); Viloyati Khatlon (Qurghonteppa), Viloyati Mukhtori Kuhistoni Badakhshon* [Gorno-Badakhshan] (Khorugh), Viloyati Sughd (Khujand)
note: the administrative center name follows in parentheses |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 20.2%
15-64 years: 63.9% 65 years and over: 15.9% (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 37.9% (male 1,396,349/female 1,375,168)
15-64 years: 57.4% (male 2,091,476/female 2,108,889) 65 years and over: 4.8% (male 154,162/female 194,771) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry | cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats |
Airports | 1 (2004 est.) | 40 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 17
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 23
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 22 (2006) |
Area | total: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 143,100 sq km
land: 142,700 sq km water: 400 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Wisconsin |
Background | Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. | The Tajik people came under Russian rule in the 1860s and 1870s, but Russia's hold on Central Asia weakened following the Revolution of 1917. Bolshevik control of the area was fiercely contested and not fully reestablished until 1925. Tajikistan became independent in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and it is now in the process of strengthening its democracy and transitioning to a free market economy after its 1992-1997 civil war. There have been no major security incidents in recent years, although the country remains the poorest in the former Soviet sphere. Attention by the international community in the wake of the war in Afghanistan has brought increased economic development assistance, which could create jobs and increase stability in the long term. Tajikistan is in the early stages of seeking World Trade Organization membership and has joined NATO's Partnership for Peace. |
Birth rate | NA | 32.65 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $20 million
expenditures: $20 million, including capital expenditures of $2 million (FY99/00) |
revenues: $442.3 million
expenditures: $542.6 million; including capital expenditures of $86 million (2005 est.) |
Capital | Kingston | name: Dushanbe
geographic coordinates: 38 35 N, 68 48 E time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | subtropical; mild, little seasonal temperature variation | midlatitude continental, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains |
Coastline | 32 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | Norfolk Island Act of 1979 | 6 November 1994 |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Norfolk Island
conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan
conventional short form: Tajikistan local long form: Jumhurii Tojikiston local short form: Tojikiston former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic |
Death rate | NA | 8.25 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $888 million (2004 est.) |
Dependency status | territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of Australia) | chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey Ann JACOBSON
embassy: 109-A Ismoili Somoni Ave., Dushanbe 734003 mailing address: 7090 Dushanbe Place, Dulles, VA 20189 telephone: [992] (37) 229-20-00 FAX: [992] (37) 229-20-50 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (territory of Australia) | chief of mission: Ambassador Khamrokhon ZARIPOV
chancery: 1005 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 223-6090 FAX: [1] (202) 223-6091 |
Disputes - international | none | boundary agreements signed in 2002 cede 1,000 sq km of Pamir Mountain range to China in return for China relinquishing claims to 28,000 sq km of Tajikistani lands, but neither state has published maps of ceded areas and demarcation has not yet commenced; talks continue with Uzbekistan to delimit border and remove minefields; disputes in Isfara Valley delay delimitation with Kyrgyzstan |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | $67 million from US (2005) |
Economy - overview | Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years and has brought a level of prosperity unusual among inhabitants of the Pacific islands. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs. | Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among the 15 former Soviet republics. Only 6% of the land area is arable; cotton is the most important crop. Mineral resources, varied but limited in amount, include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten. Industry consists only of a large aluminum plant, hydropower facilities, and small obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing. The civil war (1992-97) severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. Even though 64% of its people continue to live in abject poverty, Tajikistan has experienced steady economic growth since 1997, but experienced a slight drop in its growth rate to 8% in 2005 from 10.6% in 2004. Continued privatization of medium and large state-owned enterprises would further increase productivity. Tajikistan's economic situation, however, remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural reforms, weak governance, widespread unemployment, and the external debt burden. A debt restructuring agreement was reached with Russia in December 2002, including a $250 million write-off of Tajikistan's $300 million debt to Russia. Tajikistan ranks third in the world in terms of water resources per head. A proposed investment to finish the hydropower dams Rogun and Sangtuda would substantially add to electricity production. If finished, Rogun will be the world's tallest dam. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 15.05 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | - | 3.874 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | - | 4.81 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 16.5 billion kWh (2004) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Bates 319 m |
lowest point: Syr Darya (Sirdaryo) 300 m
highest point: Qullai Ismoili Somoni 7,495 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | 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 |
Ethnic groups | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians | Tajik 79.9%, Uzbek 15.3%, Russian 1.1%, Kyrgyz 1.1%, other 2.6% (2000 census) |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000) | Tajikistani somoni per US dollar - 3.1166 (2005), 2.9705 (2004), 3.0614 (2003), 2.7641 (2002), 2.3722 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Grant TAMBLING (since 1 November 2003)
head of government: Assembly President and Chief Minister Geoffrey Robert GARDNER (since 5 December 2001) cabinet: Executive Council is made up of four of the nine members of the Legislative Assembly; the council devises government policy and acts as an advisor to the administrator elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia; chief minister elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of not more than three years; election last held 20 Ocotber 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: Geoffrey Robert GARDNER elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - 17.2% |
chief of state: President Emomali RAHMONOV (since 6 November 1994; head of state and Supreme Assembly chairman since 19 November 1992)
head of government: Prime Minister Oqil OQILOV (since 20 January 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the Supreme Assembly elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 6 November 2006 (next to be held November 2013); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Emomali RAHMONOV reelected president; percent of vote - Emomali RAHMONOV 76.4%, Olimzon BOBOYEV 7.2%, other 16.4% |
Exports | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY99/00) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados | aluminum, electricity, cotton, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles |
Exports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | Netherlands 46.6%, Turkey 15.8%, Russia 9.1%, Uzbekistan 7.3%, Latvia 4.9%, Iran 4% (2005) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band | three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe of white, and green; a gold crown surmounted by seven gold, five-pointed stars is located in the center of the white stripe |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
agriculture: 23.4%
industry: 28.6% services: 48% (2005 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | 6.7% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 02 S, 167 57 E | 39 00 N, 71 00 E |
Geography - note | most of the 32-km coastline consists of almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the capital of Kingston is situated | 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 |
Highways | total: 80 km
paved: 53 km unpaved: 27 km (2001) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | - | major transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of opium poppy for domestic consumption; Tajikistan seizes roughly 80% of all drugs captured in Central Asia and stands third worldwide in seizures of opiates (heroin and raw opium) |
Imports | $17.9 million c.i.f. (FY91/92) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | NA | electricity, petroleum products, aluminum oxide, machinery and equipment, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | Russia 19.3%, Kazakhstan 12.7%, Uzbekistan 11.5%, Azerbaijan 8.6%, China 7%, Ukraine 6.2%, Romania 4.6%, Turkmenistan 4% (2005) |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | 9 September 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 8.2% (2002 est.) |
Industries | tourism, light industry, ready mixed concrete | aluminum, zinc, lead; chemicals and fertilizers, cement, vegetable oil, metal-cutting machine tools, refrigerators and freezers |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total: 106.49 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 117.83 deaths/1,000 live births female: 94.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 7.1% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITU, MIGA, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) |
Irrigated land | NA | 7,220 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | 1,345 | 3.7 million (2003) |
Labor force - by occupation | tourism 90%, subsistence agriculture 10% | agriculture: 67.2%
industry: 7.5% services: 25.3% (2000 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 3,651 km
border countries: Afghanistan 1,206 km, China 414 km, Kyrgyzstan 870 km, Uzbekistan 1,161 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
arable land: 6.52%
permanent crops: 0.89% other: 92.59% (2005) |
Languages | English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian | Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business |
Legal system | based on the laws of Australia, local ordinances and acts; English common law applies in matters not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law | based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (9 seats; members elected by electors who have nine equal votes each but only four votes can be given to any one candidate; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 (note - no political parties) |
bicameral Supreme Assembly or Majlisi Oli consists of the Assembly of Representatives (lower chamber) or Majlisi Namoyandagon (63 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the National Assembly (upper chamber) or Majlisi Milliy (34 seats; members are indirectly elected, 25 selected by local deputies, 8 appointed by the president; 1 seat reserved for the former president; all serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 27 February and 13 March 2005 for the Assembly of Representatives (next to be held February 2010) and 25 March 2005 for the National Assembly (next to be held February 2010) election results: Assembly of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PDPT 74.9%, CPT 13.6%, Islamic Revival Party 8.9%, other 2.5%; seats by party - PDPT 51, CPT 5, Islamic Revival Party 2, independents 5; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PDPT 29, CPT 2, independents 3 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 64.94 years
male: 62.03 years female: 68 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.4% male: 99.6% female: 99.1% (2003 est.) |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia | Central Asia, west of China |
Map references | Oceania | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia | - |
Military branches | - | Ground Troops, Air and Air Defense Troops, Mobile Troops (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $35.4 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 3.9% (FY01) |
National holiday | Bounty Day (commemorates the arrival of Pitcairn Islanders), 8 June (1856) | Independence Day (or National Day), 9 September (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
noun: Tajikistani(s)
adjective: Tajikistani |
Natural hazards | typhoons (especially May to July) | earthquakes and floods |
Natural resources | fish | hydropower, some petroleum, uranium, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony, tungsten, silver, gold |
Net migration rate | NA | -2.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 549 km; oil 38 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | none | Agrarian Party of Tajikistan or APT [Amir KARAKULOV]; Democratic Party or DPT [Mahmadruzi ISKANDAROV]; Islamic Revival Party [Said Abdullo NURI]; Party of Economic Reform or PER [Olimjon BOBOYEV]; People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan or PDPT [Emomali RAHMONOV]; Social Democratic Party or SDPT [Rahmatullo ZOYIROV]; Socialist Party or SPT [Abdualim GHAFFOROV]; Tajik Communist Party or CPT [Shodi SHABDOLOV] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | unregistered political parties: Agrarian Party [Hikmatullo NASREDDINOV]; Party of Justice [Abdurahim KARIMOV]; People's Unity Party [Abdumalik ABDULLOJONOV]; Progressive Party [Sulton QUVVATOV]; Socialist Party [Mirhuseyn NAZRIYEV]; note - this is the SPT that was disbanded, another pro-government SPT (listed above under political parties) replaced it; Unity Party [Hikmatullo SAIDOV] |
Population | 1,828 (July 2005 est.) | 7,320,815 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 64% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.01% (2005 est.) | 2.19% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (2005) | AM 8, FM 10, shortwave 2 (2002) |
Railways | - | total: 482 km
broad gauge: 482 km 1.520-m gauge (2005) |
Religions | Anglican 34.9%, Roman Catholic 11.7%, Uniting Church in Australia 11.2%, Seventh-Day Adventist 2.8%, Australian Christian 2.4%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 2.7%, unspecified 15.3%, none 18.1% (2001 census) | Sunni Muslim 85%, Shi'a Muslim 5%, other 10% (2003 est.) |
Sex ratio | NA | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate
domestic: free local calls international: country code - 672; undersea coaxial cable links with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada; satellite earth station |
general assessment: poorly developed and not well maintained; many towns are not linked to the national network
domestic: cable and microwave radio relay international: country code - 992; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; Dushanbe linked by Intelsat to international gateway switch in Ankara (Turkey); satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 2 Intelsat |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,532; note - a mix of analog (2500) and digital (32) circuits (2004) | 245,200 (2004) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (proposed cellular service disallowed in August 2002 island referendum) (2002) | 265,000 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (2005) | 13 (2001) |
Terrain | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains | Pamir and Alay Mountains dominate landscape; western Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest |
Total fertility rate | NA | 4 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0% | 12% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | - | 200 km (along Vakhsh River) (2006) |