Istaravshan ( tg, Истаравшан; fa, استروشن; russian: Истаравшан) is a city in
Sughd Province
Sughd Province ( tg, Вилояти Суғд, Viloyati Sughd, Sogdia Region , fa, ولایت سغد) is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces ( tg, вилоятҳо, viloyatho , fa, ولایت) that make up ...
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 ...
. In 2000, the Tajik government changed the name of the city from earlier Uroteppa ( tg, Ӯротеппа; ''Ura-Tyube'', russian: Ура-Тюбе).
The city lies in the northern foothills of the
Turkistan mountain range, 78 kilometers southwest of
Khujand
Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لنی ...
, on the main road connecting Tajikistan's two largest cities, Khujand and
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 ...
. Bordered by
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
in the north and west, and
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 ...
in the east, the territorial area of Istaravshan stretches 1,830 square kilometers, and with an administrative population of 273,500 people, the majority of its citizens (76%) live in the outlying countryside.
[
Istaravshan is a city-museum, one of central Asia's oldest towns of commerce and crafts. 2002 saw the 2.500 anniversary of the city celebrated by Istaravshan. The city is one of three proposed locations of ancient ]Cyropolis
Cyropolis (Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ( and , literally "the city of Cyrus") was an ancient city founded by Cyrus the Great to mark the northeastern border of his Achaemenid Empire.
Location
The actual location of this ancient city is cur ...
built on the north-eastern outskirts of the Achaemenid Empire by the king Cyrus in the 6th century B.C.
Climate
Istaravshan has a cold 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-ar ...
(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, notabl ...
''BSk''). There is more rainfall in winter than in summer. The average annual temperature in Istaravshan is . About of precipitation falls annually.
Subdivisions
Before ca. 2018, Istaravshan was the seat of Istaravshan District, which covered the rural part of the present city of Istaravshan.[ These are as follows:][Jamoat-level basic indicators]
United Nations Development Programme in Tajikistan, accessed 3 October 2020
Istaravshan on stamps
File:Stamps of Tajikistan, 031-02.jpg, Stamps of Tajikistan, 2002
File:Stamps of Tajikistan, 032-02.jpg, Stamps of Tajikistan, 2002
File:Stamps of Tajikistan, 033-02.jpg, Stamps of Tajikistan, 2002
File:Stamps of Tajikistan, 034-02.jpg, Stamps of Tajikistan, 2002
Notable people
* Ulmas Mirsaidovich Mirsaidov (born 1945), theoretical chemist and professor
See also
* List of cities in Tajikistan
* Osrūshana
References
{{Sughd, state=collapsed
Populated places in Sughd Region
Jamoats of Tajikistan