Tajikistan (New Union)

Tajikistan (pronounced /təˈdʒɪkɨstæn/ or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/; Тоҷикистон IPA: [tɔd​͡ʒikɪsˈtɔn]), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (Tajik: Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a mountainous landlocked republic of the in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor.

History
Tajikistan remained a Soviet republic during the turbulent years of glasnost and perestroika. It is one of the poorer republics of the Soviet Union, but serious investments have been made by both the state and foreign investers to bolster the standard of living in this small republic.

Economy
The primary sources of income in Tajikistan are aluminium production, cotton growing and remittances from migrant workers. Aluminium industry is represented by the state-owned Talco - the biggest aluminium plant in Central Asia and one of the biggest in the world. Tajikistan has great hydropower potential, and the central government has focused on developing projects for internal use and electricity exports. Tajikistan is home to the hydroelectric power station Nurek with the highest dam in the world. The latest development is the state owned RAO UES energy giant working on Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power station (670 MW capacity) commenced operations on 18 January 2008. Other projects at the development stage include Sangduta-2 by Iran, Zerafshan by Chinese SinoHydro and Rogun power plant with a projected dam height of 335 metres (1,099 ft) to be built by Russia's UES. Other energy resources include sizable coal deposits and smaller reserves of natural gas and petroleum.