drew criticism from Russian media since the bill sought to remove the Russian language as Tajikistan's inter-ethnic lingua franca. In 1989, the original name of the language (Farsi) had been added to its official name in brackets, though Rahmon's government renamed the language to simply "Tajiki" in 1994. On 6 October 2009, Tajikistan adopted the law that removes Russian as the lingua franca and mandated Tajik as the language to be used in official documents and education, with an exception for members Tajikistan's ethnic minority groups, who would be permitted to receive an education in the language of their choosing. See also Bukharan Jews Farsiwan Persian people Chagatai Tajiks Kharduri Tajiks Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County Tajiks of Xinjiang References Further reading External links Tajiks at Encyclopædia Britannica Online Tajik – The Ethnonym: Origins and Application at Encyclopædia Iranica Ethnic groups in Afghanistan Ethnic groups in Tajikistan Ethnic groups in Uzbekistan Iranian ethnic groups Ethnic groups divided by international borders