Armenian, Azerbaijani, Tatar, Turkmen, Kazakh, Chinese, Ukrainian. Among foreign languages, the most popular is English, which is taught in schools in Tajikistan as one of the foreign languages. Some young people, as well as those working in the tourism sector of Tajikistan, speak English at different levels. Of the European languages, there are also a number of native speakers of German and French. Many among the Uzbek population learn Turkish in addition to Russian. Employment In 2009 nearly one million Tajiks worked abroad (mainly in Russia). More than 70% of the female population lives in traditional villages. Culture The Tajik language is the mother tongue of around 80% of the citizens of Tajikistan. The main urban centres in today's Tajikistan include Dushanbe (the capital), Khujand, Kulob, Panjakent, Bokhtar, Khorugh and Istaravshan. There are also Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Russian minorities. The Pamiri people of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the southeast, bordering Afghanistan and China, though considered part of the Tajik ethnicity, nevertheless are distinct linguistically and culturally from most Tajiks. In contrast to the mostly Sunni Muslim residents of the rest of Tajikistan, the Pamiris overwhelmingly follow the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, and speak a number of Eastern Iranian languages, including Shughni, Rushani, Khufi and Wakhi. Isolated in the highest parts of the Pamir Mountains, they have preserved many ancient cultural traditions and folk arts that have been largely lost elsewhere in the country. The Yaghnobi people live in mountainous areas of northern Tajikistan. The estimated number of Yaghnobis is now about 25,000. Forced migrations in the 20th century decimated their numbers. They speak the Yaghnobi language, which is the only direct modern descendant of the ancient Sogdian language. Tajikistan artisans created the Dushanbe Tea House, which was presented in 1988 as a gift to the sister city of Boulder, Colorado. In the country, especially among women from the indigenous population, the wearing traditional national clothing is preserved. The seamstresses and embroiderers of various regions of Tajikistan use modern factory fabrics and local needlework embroidery for home decoration and women's clothing. The practice of Chakan embroidery is preserved among women in certain areas, passing the knowledge down from one generation to the next. Men mainly carry the factory clothing of European style. Some men wear upper national clothes — Jom (Taj. Ҷom), and hats — Tubetsey (Taj. Tқиi). Religion Tajikistan considers itself a secular state with a constitution providing for