Tajikistan – Page 6 – GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

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1

Nov

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Cotton vs Wheat: Balancing Export and Bread

In the irrigated valleys of southern Tajikistan, late summer means the cotton fields turn white. Bolls crack open in the heat, revealing the soft fiber that once earned this region the name “white gold.” The crop’s geometry is clear from above: rectangular plots, evenly furrowed, stretching toward the horizon. Alongside them, though, another geometry is…
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30

Oct

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Soils and Agriculture: Living with the Earth

The earth in Tajikistan is never just earth. In the Vakhsh Valley, it crumbles between fingers like powder, light and pale, laced with salt from decades of irrigation. In Gissar, it is darker, richer, holding the roots of wheat and apricot trees. In the Pamirs, it is thin, clinging to terraces carved by hand. Soils…
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1

Sep

Cities & Society

GeoSociety

Urban Growth in Dushanbe: Expanding Edges

From the rooftop of an old Soviet apartment block near Rudaki Avenue, the city stretches out in layers. The center hums with traffic, broad boulevards lined with new glass-fronted shops. Beyond, cranes swing above construction sites, and dust rises from the edges where farmland once lay. Dushanbe is changing before its residents’ eyes. The capital…
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25

Jul

Hazards & Safety

GeoSociety

Vulnerable Basins

The sound comes first—a low rumble that grows into a roar. By the time villagers hear it clearly, the brown torrent is already spilling down the mountainside, carrying stones, branches, and the unmistakable smell of wet earth. In Tajikistan floods and mudflows are not rare events. They are seasonal realities, woven into life in valleys…
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25

Jun

Water & Rivers

GeoSociety

Irrigation Systems, Decades of Use and Decay

The water begins high in the glaciers, clear and frigid, tumbling through rock gorges until it flattens into the valleys. By the time it reaches the cotton fields of the Vakhsh or the orchards of the Zarafshan, the water is a different thing altogether: it is clouded, diverted, slowed by gates and channels built decades…
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5

May

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Biodiversity in Tajikistan: Flora

On the slopes above the Varzob Valley, the air smells of thyme and wet soil. Spring rains coax green shoots from the ground, and the hillsides shift from brown to vivid color almost overnight. Wild tulips flare red and gold; almond trees burst into blossom. Tajikistan’s flora is astonishing in its variety: more than 5,000…
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12

Feb

Cities & Society

GeoSociety

Safed Dara Reopens: Tourism Geography and Access

In January 2016, the snow lies thick across the Varzob Valley, a two-hour drive from Dushanbe. The mountains, usually admired from the capital as a hazy backdrop, are alive with noise: children shouting, skis scraping, music spilling from loudspeakers that echo off the slopes. After decades of silence, Safed Dara, once known as Takob, is…
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