2015—2020. Роман Арзянцев

city. But, if, for example, you would like to know, how many km are from Kalaikhum town to the capital of the Tajikistan Republic – Dushanbe city, then the distance is about 365 km. Well, perhaps, it’s not a big number of km, but these roads in Tajikistan, of course, are not of so high and good quality, and quite often most of roads and highways are unpaved. This, of course, means that there is not rather safe to use or drive on those highways, and maybe it would take more time as it had to be. So, perhaps, I don’t know exactly, about what facts I need to write, but it could be very interesting also to know that most of cities situated in district divisions of the Tajikistan Republic have rather small population, and maybe for people living in these areas or villages in very isolated communities it is very difficult to go to other places or towns what can be very problematic, and, maybe, there is no other alternative but only stay in these small towns and just try to believe that something will change in future. For me, it was very interesting and, of course, very sad to see and to read about this town, you know, that Murghab town where only about 5 thousand inhabitants are living, but you know, there are so poor places, if you, perhaps, want to believe it, looking at pictures of this town, I don’t know how can they live in these conditions in such a deep poverty; actually there are not houses, in the literal sense of the word, but only some habitations, not even places, but some constructions in which, to my opinion, it is very hard to live during winter season, and also maybe in summer; it is true, that during the whole year the weather in Murghab is quite cold, may be even extremely cold, and, of course, it is very hard to live in such conditions. So maybe, and as far as possible, the water, for hygiene and the most necessary things for living, is taken from rivers or, maybe, lakes. Well, just for the interest, there was some moments when I wanted to see, what exactly the weather in Murghab town was, and thus, in early morning just about at four o’clock a.m. it was -9° C, that is, nine degrees below zero, and, of course, the temperature was very low, if it was in mid-May. But, of course, this temperature is realistic only for the night time or early mornings, and, perhaps in daytime, so, for example, at three o’clock in the afternoon the temperature is about eight degrees above zero, to be brief, the daytime temperature, at 3 p.m. is about +8° C. So, I guess, that the weather temperature is quite different at night and day.

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      Well, today I would like to say some words about population of four main regions of Tajikistan; in Khatlon Region with capital Qurghonteppa live about 2.5 million people according to 2010 census. And in Sughd Region live 2.2 million people; as you know, the main city of the administrative capital of this Region is Khujand city. Well, probably, the third province or velayat in the Tajikistan Republic is Region of Republican Subordination with the capital Dushanbe whose population amounts to 1.7 million residents, while the most underpopulated area in the Tajikistan Republic is Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region with Khorugh as the capital, well, in this province only 206 000 people are living, according to information of 2010. But, if, for example, you want to know what the population situation in these areas is, for the last year, that is, for 2014, then there is, probably, some growth and rise in all four administrative regions of the Tajikistan Republic. Well, but each velayat or region include also districts division. And the whole territory of area of the Tajikistan Republic consists of four regions (provinces / velayats) and of 58 districts. And, for example, if you love one town very much which is situated near Afghanistan border and is known as Ishkashim, the population of that small city is about 30 000 residents according to 2010.

      The Tajikistan Republic:

      – Sughd Region

      – Region of Republican Subordination

      – Khatlon Region

      – Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region

      Each Region includes districts, and there are 58 districts in Tajikistan.

      16 MAY 2015, SATURDAY

      So, if probably there is some interest, then I would like to write about Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region and its six districts what this Region includes. So, may be, it would be great to describe some other districts which are also situated near or, as a matter of fact, closely to Afghanistan, but having no borderline with this country. So, officially this district is called Roshtqal’a District, and its area amounts to 4 thousand and 3 hundred square kilometres (so, 4 300 km²), and it is also no so large district, and therefore its population is not big, with just 25 thousand inhabitants according to the end of 2010. So, the administrative capital of this district has the same name – Roshtqal’a town, and its population is about 3 thousand and 2 hundred residents what, of course, can give some general idea that it is very small and quite underpopulated town or, as you like, village. This town is located also very close to Afghanistan. 30 kilometres separate it from the above mentioned Khorugh, but, as it is often in the Tajikistan Republic, the major part of small towns has a provincial look; and rural way of life is predominant in these places. Well, for example, if you want to travel from this Roshtqal’a town, you can see lakes which, of course, are often located in mountain area and have fresh water, and there are also dry places where you won’t find any water; mountains in Tajikistan are gorgeous, but the most beautiful views are with water, lakes and rivers… Lake Turumtaykul is situated about one hundred and ten kilometres east of the provincial capital of the Tajikistan Republic – of course, it is the administrative centre of Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region, Khorugh city… So, Lake Turumtaykul is 7 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide, and its area is about nine hundred ha, with a maximum depth of 18 metres. Well, if I understand it right, most of lakes in Tajikistan country are very deep, and depth can be amount to about two hundred metres, and water temperature in these lakes in remote mountainous areas, such as the Pamir Mountains, can be very low and, of course, cold in summertime, too. That can give understanding and some knowledge that this lake Turumtaykul is not so deep, if the deepest place is eighteen metres or 18 m. I don’t know, but maybe it is worth to write something about not only some economical of demographic facts, but also it is time and idea to write about geographical facts, too. It could be, of course, very interesting to know that in Tajikistan country, or it’s more accurate to say, that through this country flows a river – called Panj River. Panj River crosses two countries – Tajikistan and Afghanistan. So this river has its source in the Pamir Mountains, from the highest place of four thousand one hundred metres high, that is 4130 m, from eastern part of that Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region. So, it may be the longest and the most important river not only in this region, but also in whole Tajikistan. Of course, it is not a very big piece of information from the most popular resources, but now you, of course, know the basic data about this Panj River, and it may be very good if this could give you more knowledge about this great country and its geographic objects, if I dare say it, not only about mountains, as the Pamir Mountains and their very high peaks, but also about rivers and lakes which are so many in the Tajikistan Republic. But there is another, not so long river, it may be said, quite a small river, which, of course, also crosses the Roshtqal’a district, and this river, called Gunt, starts from mountains at a height of about three thousand, seven hundred and twenty metres, or 3720 m. So, maybe also from some higher peaks or place of Pamir Mountains. So Gunt River crosses the south territory of Roshtqal’a district, and also goes through Khorugh city which is situated near Afghanistan border, but is not officially included in Roshtqal’a district. So, Gunt River also is not an exception, and with other ones which in geography are referred to as rivers, of course, has had some changes. For example, the river water area or aquatorium is not so large, while in spring, and also one can say this about July and August, Gunt river water area is, of course, quite large. Winters in mountainous areas of Tajikistan can be very snowy, and for this reason most water resources when the sun starts to shine very warm and hot are starting to have quite a big water area after snow melting. So, if necessary, it may be written that in the south part of the Tajikistan Republic one district division, called Roshtqal’a district, is situated which is included in Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region. It’s one of six districts of that Autonomous Province, and the administrative centre has the same name – Roshtqal’a town,