• English
• Français
• Deutsch
• Pусский

Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 122nd out of 177 in the 2006 human development report. In 2003, 64% of the population reported living on the equivalent of US$ 2.15 or less per day.

Tajikistan is a landlocked country of 143 100 km2, with a population of 6.9 million, nearly three quarters of whom live in rural areas, mostly in valleys in the north and south-west. The country is divided by mountain ranges, which make communication difficult, especially during the winter.

The population has a large share of people aged under 14 years (37.9%), a high growth rate and a low proportion of people over 65 years (4.28%).

Health

Life expectancy in Tajikistan is the second lowest in the WHO European Region, at 61 years (WHO estimate), the official national figure is 72 years. Life expectancy has decreased owing to several factors, such as poor nutrition, polluted water supplies, and increased incidence of communicable (malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, typhoid and cholera) and noncommunicable diseases (especially cardiovascular diseases). Levels of respiratory and digestive-system disease are high throughout the country, and influenza and acute intestinal infections remain urgent health problems.

Maternal and infant mortality rates are high, particularly in rural areas. According to the latest estimates of child mortality for 2006, Tajikistan met and surpassed the national targets. Nevertheless, mortality rates for infants (56 per 1000 live births) and children under 5 (68 per 1000) remain very high: more than double the averages for the eastern part of the region. (24 and 27 per 1000 live births, respectively). The maternal death rate is higher than the average for the Commonwealth of Independent States (33.2 versus 28.2 per 100 000 live births).