if you were able to connect Europe
Russia China India and the Middle East
with imaginary lines where they cross
you'll find the protagonist stand of our
video and what looks like the silhouette
of a running rabbit
Tajikistan it's tucked between two big
Rivers the amudarya and the S Daria
almost 10 million people live here in an
impervious snowy land mostly covered by
mountains over 3,000 M High the
mountains shaped tajikistan's borders to
the east is China while kiristan and
usbekistan
to the north and west to the South the
country of Afghanistan where the wacan
corridor provides a passage to
Pakistan maybe on a map it might seem
that Tajikistan is a gigantic post
Soviet suburb easy to get around by car
but that's not the case driving from
west to east a journey of around 800 km
can take around 18 hours by car 20 years
ago traveling from the capital dambe to
huan the second largest city in the fana
Valley meant to drive through the
mountains and briefly through usbekistan
changed in 2006 when the Iranian company
sairo built and opened the anzo tunnel a
dark 5 km long tunnel costing $4 billion
great idea but it turned out to be just
another classic Italian corruption
scheme once open to the public there
were huge problems like no lighting no
way to drain water and poor air
circulation basically a dark tunnel
Dream Come True For
claustrophobics What became known as the
tunnel of death was finally completed
and partially lit in 2018 thanks to
Chinese funding back to that later like
every self- respecting Central Asian
State Tajikistan is on paper a republic
likely de facto personal sat tropy and
indeed we're referring to the typical X
Soviet official known for his
questionable haircut who once managed a
socialist farm he is still leading the
government and consistently winning in
dubious elections for over 30 years it's
post Soviet States baby her isan the
Power Ranger with the hammer and sickle
is emomali ramonov commonly known as
Ramon after the ussr's collapse the OV
and his name was scratched out in my
book the hard life of a dictator Raman
could have had his own section but there
are too many rans in the world and not
enough books to cover them all right ah
I think I broke something let's dive
into the usual geography and politics
Tajikistan consists of four regions soed
cathlon the uniquely named districts
under central government jurisdiction
it's here where the capital dambe gets
its name from the city market held on
Mondays and the autonomous Province gno
badak Shan it's the largest and sparsely
populated region with its eastern border
home to about 200,000 pamier also known
as people of the clouds due to their
high altitude Villages still today
though the pamiri with their distinct
language traditions and religion from
the tajiks face severe discrimination
from the dambe government their leaders
imprisoned their families killed without
reason a recurring story An Inconvenient
population targeted for removal as they
occupy a strategic bit of land for the
government in gorob bakan you'll
discover tajikistan's highest peak some
soaring Beyond 7,000 m one is named Carl
Marx and another was known as communist
Peak during the Soviet era it's no
coincidence that Tajikistan holds half
of Central Asia's ice accounting for
roughly 60% of the Region's Water
Resources this placees it third in the
world for per capita water availability
if it weren't for the fact that half the
population isn't allowed access in rural
areas about 2% of homes actually have
toilets this is because the existing
infrastructure dates back to Soviet
times and lacks adequate maintenance
plans the same goes for energy
production according to the
International Energy agency Tajikistan
ranks eighth globally in hydr power
potential however just 4% of this
potential is currently in use the
Italian company we build is building
building the Rogan Dam on the vax river
a concept dating back to the 1950s once
finished the dam will become the world's
tallest doubling tajikistan's energy
capacity currently the country depends
on gas and oil imports from neighboring
usbekistan and Turkmenistan stand stand
stand stand stand you already know we
dive into details and every former
Soviet state has a rich history the
transoxania which belongs mainly to
today's Tajikistan and usbekistan since
the Stone Age has been continuously
inhabited by the ancestors of today's
tajiks the culture is closely tied to
the Iranian World often referred to as
ancient
Persia in fact tajiks are the only
people in Central Asia who do not speak
language of Turkish origin but rather a
variant of Western Iranian close to far
SE spoken in Iran and Dari in
Afghanistan after gaining independence
in 1991 tajik became the official
language and Russian serves as a second
language spoken by almost the entire
population when it comes to religion
most profess Sunni Islam however the
dami government has inserted
constitutional restrictions to bolster
the state's secular nature and prevent
emergence of extremism for instance
miners under 18 can enter mosques and
those under 35 can't undertake a
pilgrimage to Mecca women can't wear the
hijab and men aren't allowed to grow
excessively long beards to sum up it's a
former Soviet Nation not very religious
with plenty of water but can't really be
used run by a dictator with epic brows
from the 8th Century ad trans xonia was
under the rule of Persian shot except
for occasional takeovers by indo-chinese
dynasties converted to Islam by the umad
and Abbasid caliphates in the centuries
that followed tajik lands later endured
invasions by The Turk peoples and then
by the Mongols it's believed that the
term tajik itself originally Arabic and
middle Persian was used by turkic and
Mongol peoples to refer to those who
spoke an Iranian language and practice
the Muslim religion namely the tajiks in
1785 five certain Turkish Mongol tribes
embraced Islam and United to form the
bukara Emirates an absolute monarchy
that ruled trans oania for approximately
a century no worries when large European
powers start flexing their military
muscles things get spicy during the 19th
century the seemingly Invincible British
Empire faced a new rival tarist Russia
the great game it was called it was all
about strategic interest in Central Asia
the British saw it as a crucial link
between Europe and the Indian sub
continent for Russians it was a chance
to expand their empire and get valuable
textiles in the late 19th century this
great game ended after lots of battles
diplomacy Espionage and discussion
Russia had its eyes on land to the south
of mudar instead they ended up with a
massive chunk of Central Asia including
the northern part of Tajikistan which
they labeled as Russian turkistan it was
as large as France Germany Italy and the
austral Hungarian Empire all rolled into
one austr Hungary still has a place in
my heart kind of like Czechoslovakia in
this context the Emirate of bukata found
itself surrounded and in 1873 it became
a sarus protectorate as a whole the
tajic region provided Moscow with cotton
fields Railway stations and farms in
exchange for hospitals and schools with
a downfall of the zarus in 1917 news of
the Revolution made its way here tajiks
attempted to pursue the road to
Independence but the bvic Army only took
a few years to quilt the uprising in
1924 Joseph Salon appointed by L
reorganized the Soviet republics under
moscow's control at this point turkistan
assr was divided into the Soviet
Socialist republics of usbekistan and
turkistan the Emirate of bukar was
completely wiped from the maps and
merged into the USBC Republic in the
grand scheme of things the Soviet
government had to identify and Define
each nationality to counter potential
State threats for example the tajiks at
the far end of the Iranian World needed
separation from Persia which later
became Iran to prevent any shared
patriotic ideals at an early stage under
the threat of Exile they were forced to
conform to the USCS one of the problems
was that the USCS spoke language of
Turkish origin at the same time the
ancient cities of bukar and Samaran
historically tajik became part of the
Republic of usbekistan Tajikistan still
claims them because most residents in
both cities speak tajik soon Russia knew
that at that rate tajik territories
would become problematic in other words
they applied a div and Rule strategy in
1929 the tajik people were given a
Soviet Socialist Republic that roughly
matches the current borders of
Tajikistan duame which at the time had
just over 3,000 inhabitants was renamed
to stalinabad official name until the
death of Stalin in
1953 although in the Soviet period
Tajikistan underwent slow industrial and
infrastructural development the Republic
remained the poorest and least educated
satellite of Moscow in Central Asia yet
as the history of the stands had it the
Soviet Union was on the path to its
inevitable collapse in March 1991 a
referendum revealed that 95% of tajiks
wanted to remain part of the reformed
USSR led by Gorbachev however on
September 9 of the same year Tajikistan
declared its independence the tajik
Communist Party declared independence
with its members anticipating the Soviet
Union's collapse and a desire to retain
power indeed the subsequent elections
confirmed that Ron naiv a deputy of the
Supreme Soviet as the president as the
deao tajik president to govern Dame
however was another Ramon this time with
a different last name that's right emo
Mali big brows tried to take charge from
the start but things quickly went
downhill from 1992 to 1996 Tajikistan
turned into war zone resulting in tens
of thousands of deaths and a million
people left homeless the unrecognized
communist government backed by the UN
and supported by the Russian Federation
established control over the Northwest
including dambe on the flip side the
United tajik opposition a mix of
liberalism and Democratic forces had
some solid support from the premier
folks in gorob badak Shan and they even
got helping hand from the musin Afghan
allies the government faction won and
signed a un supervised ceasefire while
ethnic cleansing in the East boosted
Ramon's power in the very beginning big
brows Ron worked as a Soviet bureaucrat
managing a farm in dangara found in the
western part of Tajikistan from there
our Friendly Farmer gradually climbed
the ranks from Agriculture and tractors
to the upper echelons of Soviet
bureaucracy until elected toik Supreme
Soviet during a time of civil turmoil
Raman became a symbol of stability seen
as the nation's Only Hope in 99 he won
the tajik elections with an overwhelming
97% of the vote it's quite evident that
in the end only Ramon's family and the
hierarchs and his inner circle managed
to find Comfort strangely enough raon
won elections in 2006 2013 and 2020
following a stre c that didn't quite pin
out and the clamp down of any group not
singing to the tune of the people's
Democratic party of Tajikistan in in
2015 Ramon boldly went ahead and
declared himself the founder of peace
and national uniting leader King of the
first men lord of the Seven Kingdoms
father of
dragons cities are adorned with
photographs and posters of the
benevolent leader and tajik National
Hotes often serve as celebrations of His
Image similar to an Egyptian pharaoh
Ramon has seen as one of the wealthiest
individuals in the post Soviet era
nepotism excluded the so Aluminum
Company Talco which is technically
state-owned but eff ly controlled by
Ramon's brother-in-law accounts for the
largest portion of national exports and
serves as a lucrative source of Revenue
the company alone consumes approximately
40% of tajik electricity but the profits
are funneled through an offshore company
in the British Virgin Islands from there
the company funds are spent in the most
Unthinkable ways Ramon's wife uses them
for extravagant shopping trips while his
daughters to leas an entire fleet of
private jets his son Ram is president of
the Upper House of the tajic parliament
and is also mayor of
dambe if you think Ramon is just another
money-grabbing leader compared to the
West think again he's a cunning maavalan
prince who puts on a friendly face while
playing a clever game apart from strong
ties with the Russian Federation which
has a military base in dambe Tajikistan
doesn't cause any concern for the US and
the EU in fact it has close
relationships with Iran Afghanistan and
Pakistan ah small parenthesis for
Putin's 70th birthday Ramon gifted this
pyramid of watermelons a mix of key and
romantic the birthday card might have
said eat them all if you want to make it
out of here alive if you're wondering
why watermelons Tajikistan has over 70
varieties and are one of the most
exported fruits in recent years Raman
has been working closely with China
especially through the new Silk Road
program however it has led to Tajikistan
accumulating a Dept of over a billion
dollars which is quite an amount
xijinping is interested in Tajikistan
for three reasons first goal is to
expand beijing's influence in Central
Asia at the expense of Russia and irans
the second is to set up military bases
for defending neighboring Shin Jang the
third secure control of the country's
mineral reserves starting with gold coal
and aluminum in this case shares of the
state-owned aluminum company's talum
gold subsidiary are divided equally
between raon and the Chinese mining
giant Tibet huou mining which has
invested over 200 million to expand
roads bring electricity and conduct high
altitude mining it doesn't end there in
2011 dambe seeded over 1,000 k of pamier
Mountain's territory to the People's
Republic of China putting an end to a
dispute lasting over 130 years in return
China renounced its claims on the entire
province of gorab badak Shan an area
where the pamier population still
resides let's hope ping doesn't forget
or you know how it goes today 1,000 sare
km tomorrow might be Gordo Shan once
again anyways things are looking good
with another neighboring giant new
delhi's government owns a military base
in southern Tajikistan provides hundreds
of thousands of dollars in humanitarian
and economic and sends Engineers to
maintain hydroelectric power stations in
the region oh here's something the tajik
audience really loves Bollywood
movies let's address the sore notes of
her complicated LoveHate relationship
with a man of great mustaches because
yes raon can't be loved by everyone in
mountainous Aid regions focused on
Farming and pastures water is precious
tajiki San is well aware of this with
three remaining territories bearing the
legacy of Soviet rule one of these the
sarvan valley is located on USC
territory while the other two the
municipalities of vuk and LA laar are
situated within kiristan former
president Islam karimov mentioned in our
usbekistan video was concerned that the
Rogan Dam construction might reduce
River flow and harm uzbekistan's textile
industry after Kimo's death relations
between Tajikistan and usbekistan have
improved however the dam remains a taboo
subject in kirstan again they've opted
for a more direct approach with strong
arm tactics in April 2021 tajik and kek
troops had a standoff near the voru en
Club splitting a river that's part of
kirstan dambe in fact has claimed and
continues to assert ownership of a
significant portion of that River after
an 8-month ceasefire in January 2022 a
series of incidents including the deaths
of USC and K's border guards reignited
the dispute with the involvement of
heavily armed Vehicles tensions remain
high with at least 100,000 displaced
people and even Putin had to step in to
personally try to Cal tempers especially
because kirek s into Tajikistan are part
of the CST Raman didn't take Putin's
intervention well to which he replied
quite
annoyed however the real concern given
remon's eyebrow raising power is clearly
Afghanistan because well um it's
Afghanistan
also as a result of the Civil War there
are more tajiks in Afghanistan than in
Tajikistan itself 11.5 million versus 9
million with the return to power of the
Taliban in 2021 Raman has had to
increase the patrols on the southern
border but from setting up Refuge camps
the sad reality is that duame cannot
afford to accommodate more people
Tajikistan ranks among the 40 poorest
Nations globally and it Remains the
poorest in Central Asia 27% of
inhabitants do not have enough money to
lead a decent life outside of
Agriculture and Ramon's praised
activities the main source of money
flowing in Tajikistan comes from
external sources money from tajiks
working in Russia and the black market
according to the economist in 2012 the
total trafficking of weapons drugs and
human beings through Tajikistan as a com
between Afghanistan Russian Europe
accounted for about 40% of tajikistan's
GDP the line between a transition comedy
in a failed state is thin to make his
rule more acceptable to the people Ramon
has heavily promoted the idea that he's
the spiritual hair of Ismael samani
first airor of transoxania in the late
9th century ad the country's main
currency and highest mountain actually
bear his name in your face PE communism
unlike Brad Pit though Ramon is getting
older and some AES and pains are
starting to show one of the world's
longest serving heads of state longer
than Italy's lucon hair turned gray but
eyebrows inexplicably blacker and
thicker than they used to be maybe he'll
hand over power to his Sun soon what's
certain is that the future of Tajikistan
and its people people is closely tied to
all this history I've definitely had my
feel of humor but there's not much to
joke about especially when I knew I had
20 minutes of graphics and editing to do
for this crazy video all of this however
to tell you that in the vast majority of
cases surprises come from where we least
expect even from a stand State that's
supposed to be everyone's friend but
sometimes they can feel a little bit
left behind at the mercy of a corrupt
leader lost out there in the vast steps
of Central Asia it's finally time the
the only country I haven't covered yet
is kirstan obviously the missing dragons
fear to complete the series of countries
ending with Stan incredible would you
like to see a documentary there in 2024
we obviously would we'd love to finish
this series in such an epic way I don't
know if you remember the documentary
project in Iceland funded by you last
year it had over 30,000 likes well I
think it's time to do the same thing in
kirstan if you help fund the project
we'll film a full 50-minute documentary
without any type of advertising for
those who want to end up on the list of
all those contributors to the project
just like in the one for Iceland you'll
find a link in the description with all
the details in the meantime thank you
all for watching we hope that Ramon's
eyebrows always remain thick and Lush
pasas
[Music]
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