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Khorugh ( tg, Хоруғ, ; russian: Хорог, translit=Khorog; ) is the capital of the
Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region,, abbr. / is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area, but only two percen ...
(GBAO) in
Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
. It is also the capital of the Shughnon District of Gorno-Badakhshan. It has a population of 30,500 (2020 ). Khorugh is above sea level in the
Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the wor ...
(ancient Mount Imeon) at the confluence of the rivers Ghunt and
Panj Panj () is a city in southern Tajikistan which is situated on the Afghan border, some south of the capital Dushanbe. It is located along the north bank of the river Panj, from which it derives its name. The population of the town is 12,500 (Jan ...
. The city is bounded to the south (Nivodak) and to the north (Tem) by the deltas of the Shakhdara and Ghunt, respectively. The two rivers merge in the eastern part of the city flow through the city, dividing it almost evenly until its delta in the Panj, on the border with
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
. Khorugh is known for its poplar trees that dominate the
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...
of the city.


History

Until the late 19th century, Khorugh was in an area disputed between the Emir of
Bukhara Bukhara ( Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and the city ...
, Shah of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
and Britain. The Russians emerged the winners of the region after The Great Game, which fixed the current northern border of Afghanistan on the Panj River and established the territory of Russian Pamir around Khorugh. Before 1896, when the Russians arrived and built a fort, the main town in the area was Kala-i Bar Panj (or Bar Panja Qal'a) somewhat downriver on the Afghan side. Following the fall of
czar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the t ...
ist Russia and the rise of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, Khorugh became the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan in 1925. Soviet leaders encouraged the migration of settlers to the area with promises of pay, medals and automobiles, but with no industry and little arable land, the effort was not successful. Khorugh occupied headlines in July 2012 due to a government forces clash with guerrillas. Over 40 people, including 12 soldiers were killed (many reports indicated that the number of casualties could be higher). The country’s security forces moved in to arrest suspects in the murder of secret services General Abdullo Nazarov. The alleged criminals were linked to former guerrilla leader-turned-border patrol commander Tolib Ayombekov. Ayombekov is alleged to have been involved in drug trafficking and the smuggling of tobacco and precious stones for many years. In 2014, 2018, 2021 and most recently in May 2022, Khorugh was the scene of violent clashes and demonstrations against suspected human rights violations by security forces. Pamir's botanical garden is the most popular view of Khorog. It was established in 1940 to test the survival rate of various plants in mountain climate conditions. More than 30,000 varieties of plants have been checked according to official statistics, which now covers around 4,000 types of garden collection. Located close to Khorog, the botanic garden of Pamir opens up a great panoramic view of the entire city.


Facilities and education

Modern Khorugh is one of the poorest areas of Tajikistan, with the private, not-for-profit, non-denominational, international development agency Aga Khan Foundation providing almost the only source of cash income. However, the city does have its own university (
Khorugh State University Khorugh State University (also known as Khorog State University), is a public university located in Khorugh, GBAO, Tajikistan. It is located in the center of Khorugh (the capital of GBAO), the only urban center in the region. The University has an ...
), founded in 1992), twelve schools, and several hospitals. There is a museum, the Khorugh Regional Museum, an
Ismaili Centre The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Nizari Ismailis in the countries and regions in which they are established, characterised by the Aga Khan IV as 'ambassadorial buildings'. Each building is architecturally un ...
, and the second-highest botanical garden in the world, the Pamir Botanical Garden. Khorugh is also host to the Aga Khan Lycee and one of the three campuses of the
University of Central Asia The University of Central Asia (UCA) ''(russian: Университет Центральной Азии) i''s a secular, non-profit, research university in Central Asia. It was founded by an international charter between the governments of Tajiki ...
(UCA)
/small>. The
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
was founded in 2000 by the governments of
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
, the Kyrgyz Republic and
Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, and The Aga Khan. It is the world’s first internationally chartered institution of higher education. UCA has three Schools - School of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Development and the School of Professional and Continuing Education. The Khorugh Campus offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Global Economics and Earth and Environmental Sciences.


Transportation

There is a bridge to the Afghan side of the river. Khorugh is situated along the Pamir Highway at the point where it leaves the Panj valley and heads east up the Ghunt valley. The Pamir highway is the main road in Gorno-Badakhshan and connects the Tajik capital of
Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (ru ...
toward the west to the Republic of
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
to the northeast. The highway is very difficult to pass in both directions, especially during winter and spring. Khorugh also has a small
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
, which can accommodate smaller airplanes like AN-28 turboprop and the Yakovlev YAK-40, or helicopters.


Climate

Khorugh experiences a
semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''BSk'') with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers.


Sports

Khorugh is the locality of highest altitude where
bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
has been played.


Photo gallery


Notes


References


External links


"Welcome to Xoroq (Khorogh)"
© Tirdâd Gorgâni, May 2005; (web archive, 1 August 2008). * http://www.pamirs.org * Photo of Khorugh Airport: https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/4/1/3/1101314.jpg?v=v40 (found on https://www.airliners.net/photo/Aeroflot/Yakovlev-Yak-40/1101314). * A Bird's Eye View of Khorugh: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ed_hill/205843943/ {{Authority control Populated places in Gorno-Badakhshan