Tajikistan Tajikistan also spelled Tadzhikistan is officially known as Republic of Tajikistan. In local tounge, it can also be spelled as Tajik Tojikiston or Jumhurii Tojikiston . It was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1929 until its independence in 1991. The name Tajik, originally given to the Arabs by the local population, came to be applied by Turkic invaders and overlords to those elements of the sedentary population that continued to speak Iranian languages. Until the mid-18th century the Tajiks were part of the emirate of Bukhara, but then the Afghans conquered lands south and southwest of the Amu Darya with their Tajik population, including the city of Balkh, an ancient Tajik cultural centre. The capital city is named Dushanbe and the currency used there is called somoni It is bordering Kyrgyzstan on the north, China on the east, Afghanistan on the south, and [[Wikijunior:Asia/Uzbekistan on the west and northwest. 18.2 million population lived in Tajikistan as of census conducted in 2018. Of which 84,3% are Tajikistani , 12.2% are Uzbeks, 0.8% are Kyrgz , 0.5% are Russians and 2.2% are others. Tajik is the official language of Tajikistan and spoken by most people in Tajikistan. Russian is widely used for administration and business, but very few speak it natively. It is a member of the southwest group of Iranian languages, it is closely related to the mutually intelligible dialects of Farsi and Dari in Iran and Afghanistan, respectively. Russian is widely used for administration and business, but few speak it natively. Uzbek is the second most widely spoken language and is written in the Cyrillic script, unlike in Uzbekistan where Uzbek is written in a modified Latin alphabet. The vast majority of Tajikistanis are Muslim, mostly of the Sunni at 78%. The Christian population(4%) has been predominantly Russian, but most ethnic Russians have left since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Gushtigiri is the national sport of Tajikistan. In Tajiki wrestling, the pahlavons (wrestlers) should wear the national coat and short pants and fasten a light belt around their waists. A pahlavon (wrestler) may grab and hold his opponentʼs belt, sleeve or collar of jacket or coat. Clench below the waist is not allowed. However, the sprints through legs are allowed. The winner is the one, who throws an opponent back down first. Hisor Fortress - Fortified residence of the rulers of the Emir of Bukhara at Hisor Fortress, a well-preserved 16th-century fort perched on a hilltop amid mountains. It was once the home of Cyrus the Great, and was being destroyed and rebuilt 20 times by the different generals of different eras.
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