Khatlon Region (), one of the four provinces of Tajikistan, is the most populous of the four first-level administrative regions in the country. It is situated in the southwest of the country, between the Hisor (Gissar) Range in the north and the river Panj in the south and borders on Districts under Republican Subordination in the north, on GBAO in the east, on

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

(

Balkh Balkh is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan. It is located approximately to the northwest of the provincial capital city Mazar-i-Sharif and approximately to the south of the Amu Darya and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border. In 2021 ...

Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...

, Takhar and

Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising the Wakhan Corridor in northeast Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic ...

provinces) in the southeast and on

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

( Surxondaryo region)in the west. During Soviet times, Khatlon was divided into Kurgan-Tyube (Qurghonteppa) Oblast (Western Khatlon) – with the Kofarnihon and Vakhsh river valleys – and Kulob Oblast (Eastern Khatlon) – with the Kyzylsu and ''Yakhsu'' river valleys. The two regions were merged in November 1992 into today's Khatlon Region (or ''viloyat''/''oblast''). The capital city is

Bokhtar Bokhtar (), previously known as Qurghonteppa, Kurganteppa and Kurgan-Tyube, is a city in southwestern Tajikistan, which serves as the capital of the Khatlon region. Bokhtar is the largest city in southern Tajikistan, and is located south of Dusha ...

, formerly known as ''Qurghonteppa'' and ''Kurgan-Tyube''. Khatlon has an area of 24,700 square kilometres and consists of 21 districts and 4 district-level cities. The total population of Khatlon in 2020 was 3,348,300, up from 2,677,251 in the 2010 population census. The population in Khatlon is mainly engaged in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

History

During the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

era, Khatlon became one of the two main cotton regions in Tajikistan, along with

Sughd Sughd Province, also referred to as the Sogdia Region, and Leninabad before 2001, is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces of Tajikistan, provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in the historical Sogdiana, it ...

(Leninabad).

Collectivisation Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

of agriculture was implemented aggressively in the early 1930s, to expand cotton cultivation in Tajikistan as a whole, with particular emphasis on the southern part of the republic. The process included violations against peasants, substantial expansion of the

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

network, and forcible resettlement of mountain peoples and people from

to the lowlands. Muriel Atkin. ''Tajikistan'' in: Glenn E. Curtis (ed.): Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, Country Studies,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

: 1997. pp. 197–290. The results of this policy are to be seen in the ethnic composition of Salua oblast as well as in the fact that the Tajik population identifies themselves either as Gharmis (resettled from the mountains) or Kulobis. These groups never melted, and fought against each other during the

Civil War in Tajikistan The Tajikistani Civil War,, group=pron also known as the Tajik Civil War, began in May 1992 and ended in June 1997. Regional groups from the Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan regions of Tajikistan rose up against the newly formed government of Preside ...

. Khatlon oblast suffered the heaviest damage in Tajikistan. Since the conflicts leading to the civil war were never really resolved, tensions in the region still exist. The eastern part – Kulob – is home to the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and his clan and has thus gained a lot of political influence. During Soviet times, the region cooperated with the then ruling elite from Leninabad, and was responsible for the militia, the army and the security forces. Kulob is regarded as a very conservative region. In the capital

and parts of Kulob, the

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

opposition has a lot of support among the Garmis. The Kulyab clan is based in Khatlon.Ethnic groups at risk: The status of Tajiks
Heritage Society In February 1996 Colonel Mahmud Khudoiberdiyev launched a rebellion, insisting that three officials from the Kulyab clan resign before he ended the rebellion. The government complied. Additionally,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Dzhamshed Karimov and Abudzhalil Khamidov, the Chairman of the Leninabad Oblast executive committee, resigned.Tajikistan: Central Asian Powderkeg
The Jamestown Foundation

Administrative divisions

The Khatlon Region is subdivided into 21

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

and 4 district-level cities: Kulob, Levakant, Norak and

. The districts are: * Baljuvon District * Danghara District * Dusti District (Jilikul District) * Farkhor District * Hamadoni District (Moskovskiy District) * Jaloliddin Balkhi District (Kolkhozobod District, Rumi District) *

Jayhun District Jayhun District (; , before 2016: ''Qumsangir District'') is a district in Khatlon Region, Tajikistan. Its capital is the town Dusti. The population of the district is 139,000 (January 2020 estimate). During part of the Soviet The Union of ...

(Qumsangir District) * Jomi District * Khovaling District * Khuroson District (Ghozimalik District) * Kulob District * Kushoniyon District (Bokhtar District) * Mu'minobod District * Norak District * Nosiri Khusrav District (Beshkent District) * Panj District * Qubodiyon District * Sarband District * Shahrtuz District * Shamsiddin Shohin District (Shuro-obod District) * Temurmalik District (Qizil-Mazor District, Sovetskiy District) * Vakhsh District * Vose' District * Yovon District

Demography

In 2010, the ethnic composition of the Khatlon region was 81.8% Tajik, 12.9% Uzbek, 0.5% Turkmen and 4.6% other. The ethnic composition of Kulob region is: 85%

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

, 13%

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

, 2% others. In Bokhtar the breakdown is 59% Tajiks, 32% Uzbeks and 3%

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

Terrorist attack

On 29 July 2018, four cyclists, two

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

, one Dutch national and one Swiss national, were killed by a hit and run driver while three others were injured. Officials said the terrorists rammed into the group before getting out and attacking them with knives. 4 suspects were killed by security forces and 1 suspect was arrested.

References

{{Authority control Regions of Tajikistan States and territories established in 1992

History

Administrative divisions

Demography

Terrorist attack

See also

References