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GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

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24

Aug

Salinization of Irrigated Soils

In the irrigated lowlands of Tajikistan, soil is not just ground—it is the country’s quiet infrastructure. It holds the water that feeds cotton, wheat, and vegetables; it anchors the livelihoods of millions who depend on the river-fed plains of Khatlon, Vakhsh, and Sughd. Yet these same fertile fields are turning saline. White crusts appear on
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12

May

Energy Geographies: Rural Hydropower Microgrids

Across the narrow valleys of Tajikistan, where rivers fall fast and villages cling to slopes far from the national grid, hydropower has taken on a new geography. Not the monumental kind of Soviet-era dams like Nurek or Baipaza, but a network of smaller, quieter installations—micro-hydropower stations built along tributaries, canals, and alpine streams. These rural
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6

Apr

Glacial Outburst Floods: Case Studies

In the high valleys of Tajikistan, glaciers are not static masses of ice—they are reservoirs under tension. They move, melt, shift, and sometimes fail. When they do, the result can be one of the most sudden and destructive phenomena in mountain geography: a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF. These floods, unleashed from moraine-dammed or
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10

Mar

Snow Leopards: Apex Predator in a Changing Landscape

Snow leopards move like weather along the ridgelines of Tajikistan’s high mountains. You rarely see them, but you can read their passage in the landscape: a damp pad print on wind-scoured scree, the clean break of a hoof on a cliff where an ibex misjudged its leap, a string of scent marks on the only
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3

Dec

The Fann Mountains: Tourism, Ecology, and Pressure

The Fann Mountains rise like a sudden wall from the Zeravshan Valley, their jagged limestone peaks and turquoise lakes drawing both mountaineers and local families during the brief, luminous summers. Tucked in northwestern Tajikistan between the Zeravshan and Gissar ranges, this compact but dramatic mountain system has become one of the country’s primary destinations for
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2

Nov

Wetlands for Migratory Birds

In southern Tajikistan, along the lower reaches of the Panj and Amu Darya, there are marshy patches, reed belts, and seasonally flooded meadows. To wander through these wetlands in spring is to step into one of the great migratory highways of Central Asia: a place where birds pause to rest and refuel before continuing across
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2

Sep

Women and Water: Gendered Geographies of Labor

In many Tajik villages, the sound of water is inseparable from women’s daily lives. At dawn, before the heat rises, women walk to canals, springs, or village taps with buckets and plastic containers, chatting softly as they queue. Later, they return to wash clothes at stream edges, irrigate kitchen gardens, or clean tools. These scenes
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14

Jul

Riverine Fisheries: Decline and Adaptation

On the lower reaches of Tajikistan’s rivers, as spring runoff gives way to summer flows, fishermen gather at dawn along the banks with nets, handlines, and aging wooden boats. Their activity is both timeless and newly fragile. Riverine fisheries, which once was an abundant, integral part of local livelihoods and riparian ecosystems have been steadily
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8

Jun

Pamir Highway: Roads as Lifelines and Fault Lines

The Pamir Highway begins in whispers. Asphalt emerges from Dushanbe’s dense urban fabric and slowly winds into hills, climbing toward the high plateaus like a ribbon laid across the bones of the Earth. Officially known as the M41, this road is one of the world’s highest international highways, crossing passes over 4,000 meters as it
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3

Mar

Mountain Biodiversity Corridors: Linking Reserves

In Tajikistan’s mountains, biodiversity persists in unexpected places: along narrow valleys, across wind-swept ridges, and in the steep transition zones between ecological belts. These landscapes are more than isolated habitats- they form corridors that allow species to move, adapt, and survive in a changing environment. In recent years, scientists and conservationists have turned their attention
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