in the region Education The city is home to Khujand State University, Tajikistan State University of Law, Business, & Politics, Polytechnical Institute of Technical University of Tajikistan, and Khujand Medical College as well as 2-year technical colleges. Secondary education is funded by the state except for when administered at private institutions. Higher education in universities and colleges is subsidized by the Tajik Ministry of Education. Demographics Khujand is mainly inhabited by ethnic Tajiks. Results of population census carried out in 2010: Tajiks – 84%, Uzbeks – 14%, Russians – 0.4%, and others – 1.6%. Sunni Islam is a mainly practiced religion in the city. The population of the city is 181,600 (Report of Statistical Agency 2019). The population in Khujand agglomeration is 931,900 people (2019). Cultural sites The city is home to the Historical Museum of Sughd located within the Khujand Fortress and having around 1200 exhibitions with most being open to the public. The Sheikh Muslihiddin mausoleum is located on the main square across the Panjshanbe Market (Бозори Панҷшанбе / Persian for "Thursday's Market"), one of the largest covered markets in Central Asia. Climate Khujand experiences a temperate desert climate (Köppen: BWk) with long, hot summers and short, cool winters. Precipitation is light, and it generally falls in winter and autumn. Sister cities Shymkent, Kazakhstan Bukhara, Uzbekistan Samarkand, Uzbekistan Nishapur, Iran Tabriz, Iran Religious persecution Christianity is seen as an "alien faith" in Tajikistan. The international religious-freedom watchdog Open Doors believes that ‘Islamic oppression’ and ‘dictatorial paranoia,’ two of the eight "engines of persecution" Open Doors uses as sources of pressure upon Christians, have made Tajik Christians a target of persecution. In April 2017, Pastor Bakhrom Kholmatov was detained after a raid on Sunmin Sunbogym Protestant Church in Khujand. Kholmatov was accused of singing too loudly and "interfering with the comfort and rest" of people who lived nearby, and jailed for three years. Notable residents Ashura Nosirova (1924–2011), Tajikistani dancer Bakhtiyor Odinaev, Tajikistani stage manager, costume designer and artist Manzura Uldjabaeva (born 1952), Tajikistani artist Henri Weber (1944–2020), French politician See also Hephthalites Khujand Airport Technological University of Tajikistan Khujand State University Historical Museum of Sughd Khujand prison riot References Sources Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265. Draft annotated English translation. Weilue: The Peoples of the West (See