Relations and cooperation between Tajikistan and the United States of America

Relations and cooperation between Tajikistan and the United States of America 1. The Republic of Tajikistan 2. The United States of America 3. Relations and cooperation between both of this countries Relations and cooperation between Tajikistan and the US have been developing from year to year. Today the

Tajik-American relations are effectively developing in the following fields: trade and economic, humanitarian, security, military-political, fighting against the international terrorism, culture and education, public health services and etc. Intensification of bilateral contacts is evidence of US interest in further strengthening of cooperation between countries. The US Government in 2005 continued its support within the framework of the program of export control

and protection of borders. The US Government provided 16, 5 million dollars from the additional budget of 2005 for protection of border to the Tajik border guards to support Tajikistan in struggle against drugs trafficking and improvement of protection of border. The Republic of Tajikistan History Early history Modern Tajiks regard the Samanid Empire as the first Tajik state.

This monument in Dushanbe honors Ismail Samani, ancestor of the Samanids and a source of Tajik nationalism. The territory of what is now Tajikistan has been inhabited continuously since 4000 BCE. It has been under the rule of various empires throughout history, for the longest period being part of the Persian Empire. Most of modern Tajikistan had formed parts of ancient

Kamboja and Parama Kamboja kingdoms, which find references in the ancient Indian epics like the Mahabharata. Linguistic evidence, combined with ancient literary and inscriptional evidence has led many eminent Indologists to conclude that ancient Kambojas originally belonged to the Ghalcha-speaking area of Central Asia. Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan Arabs brought

Islam in the 7th century CE. The Samanid Empire supplanted the Arabs and enlarged the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, which became the cultural centers of Tajiks (both of which are now in Uzbekistan). The Mongols would later take partial control of Central Asia, and later the land that today comprises Tajikistan became a part of the Emirate of Bukhara.

A small community of Jews, displaced from the Middle East after the Babylonian captivity, migrated to the region and settled there after 600 BCE, though the majority of the recent Jewish population did not migrate to Tajikistan until the 20th century. Soviet Tajikistan In 1924, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as a part of

Uzbekistan, but in 1929 the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR) was made a separate constituent republic. The predominantly ethnic Tajik cities of Samarkand and Bukhara remained in the Uzbek SSR. Between 1926 and 1959 the proportion of Russians among Tajikistan's population grew from less than 1% to 13%.[13]

By the late 1980s Tajik nationalists were calling for increased rights. Real disturbances did not occur within the republic until 1990.[citation needed] The following year, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Tajikistan declared its independence. The first nation to establish an embassy in Dushanbe was Iran, which was also one of the first countries to immediately recognize

Tajikistan as an independent state in 1991. Post-independence A fighter in Tajikistan during the civil war. Emomalii Rahmon came to power in 1994, and continues to rule to this day. Ethnic cleansing was controversial during the civil war in Tajikistan. By the end of the war Tajikistan was in a state of complete devastation.

The estimated dead numbered over 100,000. Around 1.2 million people were refugees inside and outside of the country.[17] In 1997, a ceasefire was reached between Rahmon and opposition parties (United Tajik Opposition). Peaceful elections were held in 1999, but they were reported by the opposition as unfair, and Rahmon was re-elected by almost unanimous vote. Russian troops were stationed in southern

Tajikistan, in order to guard the border with Afghanistan, until summer 2005. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, American, Indian and French troops have also been stationed in the country. Politics President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon Almost immediately after independence, Tajikistan was plunged into a civil war that saw various factions, allegedly backed by

Russia and Iran, fighting one another. All but 25,000 of the more than 400,000 ethnic Russians, who were mostly employed in industry, fled to Russia. By 1997, the war had cooled down, and a central government began to take form, with peaceful elections in 1999. Tajikistan is officially a republic, and holds elections for the President and Parliament. It is, however, a one party dominant system, where the

People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan routinely has a vast majority in Parliament. The parliamentary elections in 2005 aroused many accusations from opposition parties and international observers that President Emomali Rahmon corruptly manipulates the election process. The most recent elections, in February 2010, saw the ruling PDPT lose 4 seats in Parliament, yet still maintain a comfortable majority.

OSCE election observers said the 2010 polling "failed to meet many key OSCE commitments" and that "these elections failed on many basic democratic standards."[21][22] The government insisted that only minor violations had occurred, which would not affect the will of the Tajik people.[21][22] The presidential election held on November 6, 2006 was boycotted by "mainline" opposition parties, including the 23,000-member

Islamist Islamic Renaissance Party. Four remaining opponents "all but endorsed the incumbent", Rahmon.[20] Tajikistan has given Iran its support in Iran's membership bid to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, after a meeting between the Tajik President and the Iranian foreign minister.[23] Administrative divisions

Tajikistan consists of 4 administrative divisions. These are the provinces (viloyat) of Sughd and Khatlon, the autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan (abbreviated as GBAO), and the Region of Republican Subordination (RRP – Raiony Respublikanskogo Podchineniya in transliteration from Russian or NTJ –

Ноҳияҳои тобеи ҷумҳурӣ in Tajik; formerly known as Karotegin Province). Each region is divided into several districts (Tajik: Ноҳия, nohiya or raion), which in turn are subdivided into jamoats (village-level self-governing units) and then villages (qyshloqs). As of 2006, there were 58 districts and 367 jamoats in Tajikistan.[24] Division ISO 3166-2 Capital Area (km²)

Pop (2008) Sughd TJ-SU Khujand 25,400 2,132,100 Region of Republican Subordination TJ-RR Dushanbe 28,600 1,606,900 Khatlon TJ-KT Qurghonteppa　 24,800 2,579,300 Gorno-Badakhshan TJ-BG Khorugh 64,200 218,000 FOREIGN RELATIONS With the ouster of the former Taliban government from

Afghanistan, Tajikistan now has much friendlier relations with its neighbor to the south. Though a withdrawal of Russian border guards was completed in July 2005, Tajikistan continues to permit basing of the Russian 201st Motorized Rifle Division that never left Tajikistan when it became independent. Tajikistan has a difficult relationship with

Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is concerned about Tajikistan's plans to develop hydropower, which Uzbekistan views as a threat to downstream irrigation. Border disagreements arise sporadically between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. For the most part these are minor disagreements concerning people moving across mostly unmarked borders, but occasionally disputes develop into situations where gunfire

is exchanged. For the most part relations are strained but peaceful. Geography Satellite photograph of Tajikistan Overview Map of Tajikistan Mountains of Tajikistan Fann Mountains Tajikistan is landlocked, and is the smallest nation in Central Asia by area. It is covered by mountains of the

Pamir range, and more than fifty percent of the country is over 3,000 meters (approx. 10,000 ft) above sea level. The only major areas of lower land are in the north (part of the Fergana Valley), and in the southern Kofarnihon and Vakhsh river valleys, which form the Amu Darya. Dushanbe is located on the southern slopes above the Kofarnihon valley. Mountain Height Location Ismoil

Somoni Peak (highest) 7,495 m 24,590 ft North-western edge of Gorno-Badakhshan (GBAO), south of the Kyrgyz border Ibn Sina Peak (Lenin Peak) 7,174 m 23,537 ft Northern border in the Trans-Alay Range, north-east of Ismoil Somoni Peak Peak Korzhenevskaya 7,105 m 23,310 ft North of Ismoil

Somoni Peak, on the south bank of Muksu River Independence Peak (Revolution Peak) 6,974 m 22,881 ft Central Gorno-Badakhshan, south-east of Ismoil Somoni Peak Akademiya Nauk Range 6,785 m 22,260 ft North-western Gorno-Badakhshan, stretches in the north-south direction Karl Marx Peak 6,726 m 22,067 ft GBAO, near the border to

Afghanistan in the northern ridge of the Karakoram Range Mayakovskiy Peak 6,096 m 20,000 ft Extreme south-west of GBAO, near the border to Afghanistan. Concord Peak 5,469 m 17,943 ft Southern border in the northern ridge of the Karakoram Range Kyzylart Pass 4,280 m 14,042 ft Northern border in the

Trans-Alay Range The Amu Darya and Panj rivers mark the border with Afghanistan, and the glaciers in Tajikistan's mountains are the major source of runoff for the Aral Sea. There are over 900 rivers in Tajikistan longer than 10 kilometers. About 2% of the country's area is covered by lakes, the best known of which are the following: • Kayrakum (Qairoqqum) Reservoir (Sughd) • Iskanderkul (Fann

Mountains) • Kulikalon (Kul-i Kalon) (Fann Mountains) • Nurek Reservoir (Khatlon) • Kara-Kul (Tajik: Qarokul; eastern Pamir) • Sarez (Pamir) • Shadau Lake (Pamir) • Zorkul (Pamir) Lesser known lakes (all in the Pamir region) include • Bulunkul • Drumkul • Rangkul • Sasykkul • Shorkul •

Turumtaikul • Tuzkul • Yashilkul Economy A young man selling dried fruit at a local market On August 21, 2001, the Red Cross announced that a famine was striking Tajikistan, and called for international aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan's economy grew substantially after the war. The GDP of Tajikistan expanded at an average rate of 9.6 % over the period of 2000–2004 according to

the World Bank data. This improved Tajikistan's position among other Central Asian countries (namely Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), which seem to have degraded economically ever since.[25] Tajikistan is an active member of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The recently completed Anzab tunnel which connects the previously hard to access

Northern part of the country to the capital Dushanbe has been labeled as part of the new Silk Road. It is part of a road under construction that will connect Tajikistan to Iran and the Persian Gulf through Afghanistan. Aluminium industry is represented by the state-owned Talco - the biggest aluminium plant in Central Asia and one of the biggest in the world.

A bazaar in Panjakent Tajikistan has great hydropower potential, and has focused on attracting investment for projects for internal use and electricity exports. Tajikistan is home to the hydroelectric power station Nurek with the highest dam in the world.[29] The latest development is the Russia's RAO UES energy giant working on Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power station (670

MW capacity) commenced operations on 18 January 2008.[30][31] Drug trafficking is the major illegal source of income in Tajikistan as it is an important transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; some opium poppy is also raised locally for the domestic market.[39]

However with the increasing assistance from international organizations, such as UNODC, and cooperation with the US, Russian, EU and Afghan authorities a level of progress on fight against illegal drug-trafficking is being achieved.[40] Tajikistan holds the third place in the world for heroin and raw opium confiscations (1216.3 kg of heroin and 267.8 kg of raw opium in the first half of 2006).[41][42]

Drug money corrupts the country's government; according to some experts the well-known personalities that fought on both sides of the civil war and have held the positions in the government after the armistice was signed are now involved in the drug trade.[39] UNODC is working with Tajikistan to strengthen border crossings, provide training, and set up joint interdiction teams. It also helped to establish Tajikistani

Drug Control Agency.[43] Demographics Elderly man from Tajikistan Tajikistan has a population of 7,349,145 (July 2009 est.).[4] Tajiks who speak the Tajik language (a variety of Persian) are the main ethnic group, although there is a sizable minority of Uzbeks and a small population of Russians, whose numbers are declining due to emigration.[44]

In 1989, ethnic Russians made up 7.6% of the population.[45] The Pamiris of Badakhshan are considered to belong to the larger group of Tajiks. All citizens of Tajikistan are called Tajikistanis[4] The official and vernacular language of Tajikistan is Tajik. The constitution mentions Russian as the "language for interethnic communication"[46]

even if its use is banned in government documents[2]. Nevertheless it is widely used in business and other fields. Despite its poverty, Tajikistan has a high rate of literacy with an estimated 99.5% of the population having the ability to read and write.[4] The majority of the population follow Sunni Islam. There is also a sizeable minority of Ismailis and following increased nationalism after

the 1992–1997 Civil War, a growing interest in and conversions to Zoroastrianism. Bukharian Jews had lived in Tajikistan since the 2nd century BC, but today almost none are left. There is also a small population of Yaghnobi people who have lived in the mountainous district of Sughd Viloyat for many centuries. The German population in

Tajikistan was 38,853 in 1979.[47] Nearly one million Tajik men worked abroad in 2009.[48] Culture Tajik family celebrating Eid Historically, Tajiks and Persians come from very similar stock, speaking variants of the same language and are related as part of the larger group of Iranian peoples. The Tajik language is the mother tongue of around 80% of the citizens of

Tajikistan. The main urban centers in today's Tajikistan include Dushanbe (the capital), Khujand, Kulob, Panjakent and Istaravshan. The Pamiri people of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the southeast, bordering Afghanistan and China, though considered part of the Tajik ethnicity, nevertheless are distinct linguistically and culturally

from most Tajiks. In contrast to the mostly Sunni Muslim residents of the rest of Tajikistan, the Pamiris overwhelmingly follow the Ismaili sect of Islam, and speak a number of Eastern Iranian languages, including Shughni, Rushani, Khufi and Wakhi. Isolated in the highest parts of the Pamir Mountains, they have preserved many ancient cultural traditions and folk arts that have been largely

lost elsewhere in the country. Education: Schools and their systems Schools in Tajikistan provide all students with a middle school education. It means that when students finish their school year, they will go to universities, colleges, institutes or other places in order to receive a higher education. There are three kinds of schools. They are: Lyceum,

Gymnasium (school) and Middle schools. So all schools have the same same type of teaching. But there might be some differences. For example in the Middle schools they will teach as government says there are not so many things that students can do, like out of government says. Lyceum is a special type of school that provides students with outdoor activities and additional activities, but they also follow what government says.

Gymnasium (school) is similar to Lyceum, but there you can see that students can study in any language they want ( they have Russian language, Tajik language. Religion A mosque in Isfara Tajikistan considers a secular state with a Constitution providing for freedom of religion. The Government has declared two Islamic holidays, Id Al-

Fitr and Idi Qurbon, as state holidays. According to a 2009 U.S. State Department release, the population of Tajikistan is 98% Muslim, (approximately 95% Sunni and 3% Shia).[53] The remaining 2% of the population are Jews, Zoroastrians and ethnic Russian followers of Russian Orthodoxy. The great majority of

Muslims fast during Ramadan, although only about one third in the countryside and 10% in the cities observe daily prayer and dietary restrictions. Relationships between religious groups are generally amicable, although there is some concern among mainstream Muslim leaders that minority religious groups undermine national unity. There is a concern for religious institutions becoming active in the political sphere.

The Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), a major combatant in the 1992–1997 Civil War and then-proponent of the creation of an Islamic state in Tajikistan, constitutes no more than 30% of the government by statute. Membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Emancipation), a party which today aims for a nonviolent overthrow of secular governments and the unification of Tajiks under one

Islamic state, is illegal and members are subject to arrest and imprisonment. Numbers of large mosques appropriate for Friday prayers are limited and some feel this is discriminatory. Sport Tajikistan's mountains provide many opportunities for outdoor sports, such as hill walking, mountain biking, and more challenging mountain climbing. Facilities are limited so tourists need to be largely self sufficient and plan carefully. Mountain climbing tours to the

Fann Mountains and the Pamirs, including the 7,000 m peaks in the region, are seasonally organized by local and international alpine agencies. Football is a popular sport. The Tajikistan national football team competes in the FIFA and AFC leagues. It also hosts many football clubs The United States of America United States of America

Flag Great Seal Motto: In God We Trust (official) E Pluribus Unum (traditional) (Latin: Out of Many, One) Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner" Capital Washington, D.C. 38°53′N 77°01′W38.883°N 77.017°W Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at federal level[a]

National language English (de facto)[b] Demonym American Government Federal constitutional presidential republic - President Barack Obama (D) - Vice President Joe Biden (D) - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) - Chief Justice John Roberts Independence from the Kingdom of Great

Britain - Declared July 4, 1776 - Recognized September 3, 1783 - Current constitution June 21, 1788 Area - Total 9,826,675 km2 [1][c](3rd/4th) 3,794,101 sq mi - Water (%) 6.76 Population - 2010 estimate 308,977,000[2] (3rd[d]) - 2000 census 281,421,906[3] - Density 32/km2 (178th) 83/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate - Total $14.441 trillion[4] (1st) -

Per capita $47,440[4] (6th) GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate - Total $14.441 trillion[4] (1st) - Per capita $47,440[4] (17th) Gini (2007) 45.0[1] (44th) HDI (2007) ▲ 0.956[5] (very high) (13th) Currency United States dollar ($) (USD) Time zone (UTC−5 to −10) - Summer (DST) (UTC−4 to −10) Date formats m/d/yy (AD)

Drives on the right Internet TLD .us .gov .mil .edu Calling code +1 ^ a. English is the official language of at least 28 states—some sources give a higher figure, based on differing definitions of "official".[6] English and Hawaiian are both official languages in the state of Hawaii. ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at

home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language. ^ c. Whether the United States or the People's Republic of China is larger is disputed. The figure given is from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook. Other sources give smaller figures. All authoritative calculations of the country's size include only

the 50 states and the District of Columbia, not the territories. ^ d. The population estimate includes people whose usual residence is in the fifty states and the District of Columbia, including noncitizens. It does not include either those living in the territories, amounting to more than 4 million U.S. citizens (most in Puerto Rico), or U.S. citizens living outside the United

States. The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C the capital district, lie between the

Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the

Caribbean and Pacific. At 9.83 million km2 (3.79 million square miles) and with about 309 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest both by land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic

product (GDP) of US $14.4 trillion (a quarter of nominal global GDP and a fifth of global GDP at purchasing power parity) Indigenous peoples of Asian origin have inhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands of years. This Native American population was greatly reduced by disease and warfare after

European contact. The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determination and their establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated the British Empire in the

American Revolution, the first successful colonial war of independence. The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights

and freedoms, was ratified in 1791. Geography, climate, and environment Satellite image showing topography of the contiguous United States The land area of the contiguous United States is approximately 1.9 billion acres (770 million hectares). Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by

Canada, is the largest state at 365 million acres (150 million hectares). Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the central Pacific, southwest of North America, has just over 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares).[16] After Russia and Canada, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest nation by total area, ranking just above or below China. The ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by

China and India are counted and how the total size of the United States is calculated: the CIA World Factbook gives 3,794,101 square miles (9,826,675 km2), the United Nations Statistics Division gives 3,717,813 sq mi (9,629,091 km2), and the Encyclopædia Britannica gives 3,676,486 sq mi (9,522,055 km2). Including only land area, the United States is third in size behind

Russia and China, just ahead of Canada. The Teton Range, part of the Rocky Mountains The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way further inland to deciduous forests and the rolling hills of the Piedmont. The Appalachian Mountains divide the eastern seaboard from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest. The Mississippi–Missouri

River, the world's fourth longest river system, runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat, fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado. Farther west are the rocky Great Basin and deserts such as the

Mojave. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast. At 20,320 feet (6,194 m), Alaska's Mount McKinley is the tallest peak in the country and in North America. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands.

The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature. The bald eagle, national bird of the United States since 1782 The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid

subtropical in the south. The southern tip of Florida is tropical, as is Hawaii. The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are semi-arid. Much of the Western mountains are alpine. The climate is arid in the Great Basin, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in coastal Oregon and Washington and southern

Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoes occur within the country, mainly in the Midwest's Tornado Alley. The U.S. ecology is considered "megadiverse": about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in

Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to more than 400 mammal, 750 bird, and 500 reptile and amphibian species. About 91,000 insect species have been described. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the United States Fish and Wildlife

Service. There are fifty-eight national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas. Altogether, the government owns 28.8% of the country's land area. Most of this is protected, though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching; 2.4% is used for military purposes. History Native Americans and European settlers The indigenous peoples of the

U.S. mainland, including Alaska Natives, are most commonly believed to have migrated from Asia. They began arriving at least 12,000 and as many as 40,000 years ago.[27] Some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture, developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies. After Europeans began settling the Americas, many millions of indigenous Americans died from epidemics of imported diseases such as smallpox.

[28] The Mayflower transported Pilgrims to the New World in 1620, as depicted in William Halsall's The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, 1882 In 1492, Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus, under contract to the Spanish crown, reached several Caribbean islands, making first contact with the indigenous people.

On April 2, 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed on what he called "La Florida"—the first documented European arrival on what would become the U.S. mainland. Spanish settlements in the region were followed by ones in the present-day southwestern United States that drew thousands through Mexico. French fur traders established outposts of

New France around the Great Lakes; France eventually claimed much of the North American interior, down to the Gulf of Mexico. The first successful English settlements were the Virginia Colony in Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims' Plymouth Colony in 1620. The 1628 chartering of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony resulted in a wave of migration; by 1634, New England had been settled by some 10,000 Puritans. Between the late 1610s and the American Revolution, about 50,000 convicts were shipped to Britain's American colonies. Beginning in 1614, the Dutch settled along the lower Hudson River, including

New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1674, the Dutch ceded their American territory to England; the province of New Netherland was renamed New York. Many new immigrants, especially to the South, were indentured servants—some two-thirds of all Virginia immigrants between 1630 and 1680. By the turn of the century,

African slaves were becoming the primary source of bonded labor. With the 1729 division of the Carolinas and the 1732 colonization of Georgia, the thirteen British colonies that would become the United States of America were established. All had local governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient rights of

Englishmen and a sense of self-government stimulating support for republicanism. All legalized the African slave trade. With high birth rates, low death rates, and steady immigration, the colonial population grew rapidly. The Christian revivalist movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the Great Awakening fueled interest in both religion and religious liberty. In the French and Indian War, British forces seized

Canada from the French, but the francophone population remained politically isolated from the southern colonies. Excluding the Native Americans (popularly known as "American Indians"), who were being displaced, those thirteen colonies had a population of 2.6 million in 1770, about one-third that of Britain; nearly one in five Americans were black slaves. Though subject to British taxation, the

American colonials had no representation in the Parliament of Great Britain. Independence and expansion Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull, 1817–18 Tensions between American colonials and the British during the revolutionary period of the 1760s and early 1770s led to the American Revolutionary War, fought from 1775 through 1781.

On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress, convening in Philadelphia, established a Continental Army under the command of George Washington. Proclaiming that "all men are created equal" and endowed with "certain unalienable Rights," the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted largely by Thomas

Jefferson, on July 4, 1776. That date is now celebrated annually as America's Independence Day. In 1777, the Articles of Confederation established a weak confederal government that operated until 1789. Attitudes toward slavery were shifting; a clause in the Constitution protected the African slave trade only until 1808.

The Northern states abolished slavery between 1780 and 1804, leaving the slave states of the South as defenders of the "peculiar institution." The Second Great Awakening, beginning about 1800, made evangelicalism a force behind various social reform movements, including abolitionism. Territorial acquisitions by date Contemporary era The World Trade Center on the morning of

September 11, 2001 Under President George H. W. Bush, the United States took a lead role in the UN–sanctioned Gulf War. The longest economic expansion in modern U.S. history—from March 1991 to March 2001—encompassed the Bill Clinton administration and the dot-com bubble.

A civil lawsuit and sex scandal led to Clinton's impeachment in 1998, but he remained in office. The 2000 presidential election, one of the closest in American history, was resolved by a U.S. Supreme Court decision—George W. Bush, son of George H. W. Bush, became president. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists struck the

World Trade Center in New York City and The Pentagon near Washington, D.C killing nearly three thousand people. In response, the Bush administration launched a "War on Terrorism". In late 2001, U.S. forces led an invasion of Afghanistan, removing the Taliban government and al-

Qaeda training camps. Taliban insurgents continue to fight a guerrilla war. In 2002, the Bush administration began to press for regime change in Iraq on controversial grounds. Lacking the support of NATO or an explicit UN mandate for military intervention, Bush organized a Coalition of the Willing; coalition forces preemptively invaded

Iraq in 2003, removing dictator Saddam Hussein. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused severe destruction along much of the Gulf Coast, devastating New Orleans. On November 4, 2008, amid a global economic recession, Barack Obama was elected president. He is the first African American to hold the office. In early 2010, he oversaw the enactment of major health care reform.

Government and elections The west front of the United States Capitol, which houses the United States Congress The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law."[43] The government is regulated by a system of checks and

balances defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. In the American federalist system, citizens are usually subject to three levels of government, federal, state, and local; the local government's duties are commonly split between county and municipal governments. In almost all cases, executive and legislative officials are elected by a plurality vote of citizens by district. There is no proportional representation at the federal level, and it is very rare at lower

levels. The south façade of the White House, home and workplace of the U.S. president The federal government is composed of three branches: • Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the

government. • Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the members of the Cabinet (subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies. • Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the president with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.

The west front of the United States Supreme Court Building The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each representing a congressional district for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population every tenth year. As of the 2000 census, seven states have the minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, has fifty-three.

The Senate has 100 members with each state having two senators, elected at-large to six-year terms; one third of Senate seats are up for election every other year. The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice. The president is not elected by direct vote, but by an indirect electoral college system in which the determining votes are apportioned by state. The Supreme

Court, led by the Chief Justice of the United States, has nine members, who serve for life. All laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review, and any law ruled in violation of the Constitution is voided. The original text of the Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states. Article One protects the right to the "great writ" of habeas corpus,

and Article Three guarantees the right to a jury trial in all criminal cases. Amendments to the Constitution require the approval of three-fourths of the states. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments, which make up the Bill of Rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment form the central basis of Americans' individual rights. Parties, ideology, and politics

Barack Obama taking the presidential oath of office from U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, January 20, 2009 The United States has operated under a two-party system for most of its history. For elective offices at all levels, state-administered primary elections choose the major party nominees for subsequent general elections. Since the general election of 1856, the major parties have been the

Democratic Party, founded in 1824, and the Republican Party, founded in 1854. Since the Civil War, only one third-party presidential candidate—former president Theodore Roosevelt, running as a Progressive in 1912—has won as much as 20% of the popular vote. The winner of the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama, is the 44th U.S. president. All previous presidents were men of solely

European descent. The 2008 elections also saw the Democratic Party strengthen its control of both the House and the Senate. In the 111th United States Congress, the Senate comprises 57 Democrats, two independents who caucus with the Democrats, and 41 Republicans; the House comprises 253 Democrats and 177

Republicans (five seats are vacant). There are 26 Democratic and 24 Republican state governors. Political divisions The United States is a federal union of fifty states. The original thirteen states were the successors of the thirteen colonies that rebelled against British rule. Early in the country's history, three new states were organized on territory separated from the claims

of the existing states: Kentucky from Virginia; Tennessee from North Carolina; and Maine from Massachusetts. Most of the other states have been carved from territories obtained through war or purchase by the U.S. government. One set of exceptions comprises Vermont, Texas, and Hawaii: each was an independent republic before joining the union.

During the American Civil War, West Virginia broke away from Virginia. The most recent state—Hawaii—achieved statehood on August 21, 1959. The states do not have the right to secede from the union. Foreign relations and military Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom and President Obama The

United States exercises global economic, political, and military influence. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and New York City hosts the United Nations Headquarters. Almost all countries have embassies in Washington, D.C and many have consulates around the country.

Likewise, nearly all nations host American diplomatic missions. However, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Bhutan, Sudan, and the Republic of China (Taiwan) do not have formal diplomatic relations with the United States. The United States enjoys strong ties with the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan,

South Korea, and Israel. It works closely with fellow NATO members on military and security issues and with its neighbors through the Organization of American States and free trade agreements such as the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. In 2008, the United States spent a net $25.4 billion on official development assistance, the

most in the world. As a share of gross national income (GNI), however, the U.S. contribution of 0.18% ranked last among twenty-two donor states. In contrast, private overseas giving by Americans is relatively generous. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier Total U.S. military spending in 2008, more than $600 billion, was over 41% of global military spending and greater than the next fourteen largest national military

expenditures combined. The per capita spending of $1,967 was about nine times the world average; at 4% of GDP, the rate was the second-highest among the top fifteen military spenders, after Saudi Arabia. The proposed base Department of Defense budget for 2010, $533.8 billion, is a 4% increase over 2009 and 80% higher than in 2001; an additional $130 billion is proposed for the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan In September 2009 there were about 62,000

U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan, and as of February 2010 there were 98,000 U.S. troops deployed to Iraq. As of October 9, 2009, the United States had suffered 4,349 military fatalities during the Iraq War,[ and 869 during the War in Afghanistan. Economy Economic indicators Unemployment 9.7% (January 2010) [56]

GDP growth 5.9% (4Q 2009) [-2.4%(2009)] [57] CPI inflation 2.6% (January 2009 – January 2010) [58] Public debt $12.303 trillion (January 5, 2010) [59] Poverty 13.2% (2008) [60] Household net worth $54.2 trillion (4Q 2009) [▲1.3% 2009] [61] The United States has a capitalist mixed economy, which is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. According to the

International Monetary Fund, the U.S. GDP of $14.4 trillion constitutes 24% of the gross world product at market exchange rates and almost 21% of the gross world product at purchasing power parity (PPP). The largest national GDP in the world, it was about 5% less than the combined GDP of the European Union at PPP in 2008. The country ranks seventeenth in the world in nominal GDP per capita and sixth in GDP per capita at PPP.

The United States is the largest importer of goods and third largest exporter, though exports per capita are relatively low. In 2008, the total U.S. trade deficit was $696 billion. Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany are its top trading partners. In 2007, vehicles constituted both the leading import and leading export commodity. China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. public debt.

After an expansion that lasted just over six years, the U.S. economy has been in recession since December 2007. The United States ranks second in the Global Competitiveness Report. The New York Stock Exchange, on Wall Street In 2009, the private sector is estimated to constitute 55.3% of the economy, with federal government

activity accounting for 24.1% and state and local government activity (including federal transfers) the remaining 20.6%. The economy is postindustrial, with the service sector contributing 67.8% of GDP, though the United States remains an industrial power. The leading business field by gross business receipts is wholesale and retail trade; by net income it is manufacturing. Chemical products are the leading manufacturing field.

The United States is the third largest producer of oil in the world, as well as its largest importer. It is the world's number one producer of electrical and nuclear energy, as well as liquid natural gas, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. While agriculture accounts for just under 1% of GDP, the United States is the world's top producer of corn and soybeans. The New York Stock Exchange is the world's largest by dollar volume.

Coca-Cola and McDonald's are the two most recognized brands in the world. In the third quarter of 2009, the American labor force comprised 154.4 million people. Of those employed, 81% had jobs in the service sector. With 22.4 million people, government is the leading field of employment. About 12% of workers are unionized, compared to 30% in

Western Europe. The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers. Between 1973 and 2003, a year's work for the average American grew by 199 hours. Partly as a result, the United States maintains the highest labor productivity in the world. In 2008, it also led the world in productivity per hour, overtaking

Norway, France, Belgium and Luxembourg, which had surpassed the United States for most of the preceding decade Compared to Europe, U.S. property and corporate income tax rates are generally higher, while labor and, particularly, consumption tax rates are lower. Science and technology Astronaut Buzz Aldrin during the first human landing on the

Moon, 1969 The United States has been a leader in scientific research and technological innovation since the late 19th century. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone. Thomas Edison's laboratory developed the phonograph, the first long-lasting light bulb, and the first viable movie camera. Nikola Tesla pioneered alternating current, the AC motor, and radio.

In the early 20th century, the automobile companies of Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford promoted the assembly line. The Wright brothers, in 1903, made the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight. Demographics Leading population centers view • talk • edit Rank Core city Metro area pop.[132] Metropolitan Statistical

Area Region[134] New York City Los Angeles 1 New York 19,006,798 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA MSA Northeast 2 Los Angeles 12,872,808 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA West 3 Chicago 9,569,624 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI MSA Midwest 4 Dallas 6,300,006

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA South 5 Philadelphia 5,838,471 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA Northeast 6 Houston 5,728,143 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA South 7 Miami 5,414,772 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA South 8 Atlanta 5,376,285 Atlanta-Sandy

Springs-Marietta, GA MSA South 9 Washington, D.C. 5,358,130 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA South 10 Boston 4,522,858 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH MSA Northeast based on 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates Language Main article: Languages of the United States

Languages (2006)[135] English (only) 224.2 million Spanish, incl. Creole 34.0 million Chinese 2.5 million French, incl. Creole 2.0 million Tagalog 1.4 million Vietnamese 1.2 million German 1.1 million Korean 1.1 million English is the de facto national language. Although there is no official language at the federal level,

some laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English. In 2006, about 224 million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish, spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language.[135][136] Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-

eight states Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law. While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French. Other states, such as California, mandate the publication of

Spanish versions of certain government documents including court forms. Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by American Samoa and Guam, respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of

Puerto Rico. Religion Main article: Religion in the United States A Presbyterian church; most Americans identify as Christian. The United States is officially a secular nation; the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids the establishment of any religious governance. In a 2002 study, 59% of

Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives," a far higher figure than that of any other wealthy nation. According to a 2007 survey, 78.4% of adults identified themselves as Christian, down from 86.4% in 1990. Protestant denominations accounted for 51.3%, while Roman Catholicism, at 23.9%, was the largest individual denomination.

The study categorizes white evangelicals, 26.3% of the population, as the country's largest religious cohort; another study estimates evangelicals of all races at 30–35%. The total reporting non-Christian religions in 2007 was 4.7%, up from 3.3% in 1990. The leading non-Christian faiths were Judaism (1.7%), Buddhism (0.7%), Islam (0.6%), Hinduism (0.4%), and

Unitarian Universalism (0.3%). From 8.2% in 1990, 16.1% in 2007 described themselves as agnostic, atheist, or simply having no religion. Culture Main articles: Culture of the United States and Society of the United States American cultural icons: apple pie, baseball, and the American flag The United States is a multicultural nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups,

traditions, and values. Aside from the now small Native American and Native Hawaiian populations, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries. The culture held in common by most Americans—mainstream American culture—is a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of

European immigrants with influences from many other sources, such as traditions brought by slaves from Africa. More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has added to a cultural mix that has been described as both a homogenizing melting pot and a heterogeneous salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics. According to Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions analysis, the

United States has the highest individualism score of any country studied. While the mainstream culture holds that the United States is a classless society, scholars identify significant differences between the country's social classes, affecting socialization, language, and values. The American middle and professional class has initiated many contemporary social trends such as modern

feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism. Americans' self-images, social viewpoints, and cultural expectations are associated with their occupations to an unusually close degree.[185] While Americans tend greatly to value socioeconomic achievement, being ordinary or average is generally seen as a positive attribute. Though the American Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy high social mobility, plays a key role in attracting immigrants, some analysts find

that the United States has less social mobility than Western Europe and Canada. Women now mostly work outside the home and receive a majority of bachelor's degrees. In 2007, 58% of Americans age 18 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 25% had never been married. Same-sex marriage is contentious. Some states permit civil unions in lieu of marriage.

Since 2003, several states have permitted gay marriage as the result of judicial or legislative action, while voters in more than a dozen states have barred the practice via referendum. Sports Main article: Sports in the United States A college football quarterback looking to pass Since the late 19th century, baseball has been regarded as the national sport; American football, basketball, and ice hockey are the country's three other leading professional team

sports. College football and basketball attract large audiences. Football is now by several measures the most popular spectator sport. Boxing and horse racing were once the most watched individual sports, but they have been eclipsed by golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR. Soccer is played widely at the youth and amateur levels. Tennis and many outdoor sports are popular as well.

While most major U.S. sports have evolved out of European practices, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, snowboarding, and cheerleading are American inventions. Lacrosse and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate Western contact. Eight Olympic Games have taken place in the United

States. The United States has won 2,301 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, more than any other country, and 253 in the Winter Olympic Games, the second most Relations and cooperation between both of this countries As a matter of fact everybody knows that the US is one of the most powerful and highly developed country of the world. Relations and cooperation between Tajikistan and the

US have been developing from year to year. Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Tajikistan and the United States of America were established on February 14, 1992. The Embassy of the United States in Dushanbe was opened in March 1992. The Republic of Tajikistan opened its Embassy in Washington in December 2002.

For the period of establishment of bilateral relations between the U.S. Government and the Government of Tajikistan 25 documents regulating the legal base have been signed: 13 on trade and economy, 12 in the fields of military-technical cooperation, combating terrorism and illegal drugs trafficking. Within the framework of realization of the Agreement on promoting investment in Tajikistan nine

Tajik-American joint ventures and eight enterprises belonging to the American investors are functioning. Today the Tajik-American relations are effectively developing in the following fields: trade and economic, humanitarian, security, military-political, fighting against the international terrorism, culture and education, public health services and etc. Intensification of bilateral contacts is evidence of

US interest in further strengthening of cooperation between countries. The U.S. continues providing technical assistance in the various areas of cooperation. In July, 2002 the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the USA and the Republic of Tajikistan about rendering of the technical assistance in preparation of the legislation on micro financing has been signed. The document became the important step for improvement

of vital conditions of citizens of Tajikistan and stimulation of growth of small business in the country, which has opened access of citizens to credit facilities. The US Government in 2005 continued its support within the framework of the program of export control and protection of borders. The US Government provided 16, 5 million dollars from the additional budget of 2005 for protection of border to the Tajik border guards to support

Tajikistan in struggle against drugs trafficking and improvement of protection of border. The important event on bilateral relations between the Republic of Tajikistan and the United States of America was the opening of bridge on August 26, 2007 in the Pyanj River joining the Tajikistan with Afghanistan which was constructed by financial support of

USA. The official opening ceremony took place with the participation of presidents of Tajikistan and Afghanistan as well as the US Secretary of Commerce, Carlos M. Gutierrez.