Tursunzoda (; also ''Tursunzade'' from ) is a city in western

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, known for its

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

plant TadAZ. It is located 60 km west of

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

(40 km west of

Hisor Hisor () or Hisar (, ''Gissar'') is a city in western Tajikistan, about 15 km west of Dushanbe. The city was the seat of the former Hisar District, and is part of the Districts of Republican Subordination. It lies at an altitude of 799–824 ...

), near the border with

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 ...

. It is near several rivers, Shirkent and

Karatag The Karatag or Qaratogh, Qaratoghdaryo () is a river of northwestern Tajikistan and eastern Uzbekistan. It flows through Shirkent National Park and flows down the south slopes of the Hisar mountain range. At its confluence with the Toʻpolondar ...

immediately to the west and east of the city, and

Kofarnihon The Kofarnihon (, ) is one of the major tributaries of the Amu Darya (together with Vakhsh and Panj) in Tajikistan. The river is long and has a basin area of .

further east. Its population is estimated at 55,700 for the city proper and 298,800 for the city with the outlying communities (2020). Its population was given as 40,600 in the 1989 census, falling to 39,000 in 2000, and estimated at 37,000 in 2006. The city has two television stations, TV-REGAR and TV-TADAZ, two newspapers, ''Aluminiy Tojikiston'' and ''Regar'', and a radio station. Tursunzoda is home to football club

Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda () is a Tajik professional football club based in Tursunzoda. History Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda was formed in 1975 as "Metallurg", and was made up of workers from the TALCO plant. In December 2013, Regar-TadAZ were on the b ...

History

Tursunzoda was originally the village of Regar, meaning "a town on sand". In 1978, the town and with it the whole district were renamed in honor of the Tajik national poet,

Mirzo Tursunzoda Mirzo Tursunzoda (, 2 May 1911 – 24 September 1977) was an important Tajikistani and Soviet poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simpl ...

. Its

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

is still called Regar. The city developed from a village as a regional centre for an agricultural district in the western part of Gissar (Hisor) Valley. Fruits, especially

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

, vegetables, and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

are grown in the district. Thanks to plentiful irrigation from the local rivers, Tursunzoda district is a major

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

-growing region, producing 1,400 tons, or 13% of Tajikistan's rice harvest in 2006. In the 1960s, the nearby

Nurek Dam The Nurek Dam (; Tajik: Нерӯгоҳи обии Норак, ''Nerūgohi obii Norak'', Tajik for Nurek Hydro-electric Station) is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan. Its primary purpose is hydroelectric power generat ...

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power station on the river Vakhsh made the city a good location for industry, and besides the aluminium plant, there are also china, brick, cable, and cotton cleaning plants. During the

Tajikistani Civil War 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 ...

, the city came under the control of warlord Mahmud Khudoyberdiev.

Subdivisions

Before ca. 2018, Tursunzoda was the seat of Tursunzoda District, which covered the rural part of the present city of Tursunzoda. The city of Tursunzoda covers Tursunzoda proper and nine jamoats. These are as follows:Jamoat-level basic indicators
United Nations Development Programme in Tajikistan, accessed 8 October 2020

Aluminium plant

The Tajik aluminium smelting plant, TadAZ, in Tursunzoda, is the largest aluminium manufacturing plant in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, and possibly the world, and Tajikistan's chief industrial asset. The country has no native aluminium ore, so the raw material for the plant has to be imported. Construction of the plant proper began in 1972, and the first pouring of aluminium took place on March 31, 1975. It consumes 40% of the country's electrical power, and a 2002 study found it responsible for notable

fluorine Fluorine is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists at Standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions as pale yellow Diatomic molecule, diatomic gas. Fluorine is extre ...

water pollution in the region and air pollution.

Notes

References

Tursunzade School 101
Web site of a Tursunzade school, provided by Relief International - Schools Online.
Country Analysis : Tajikistan
Originally from the Department of Energy site, now hosted by NIGC.org.

Report by the Virtual Foundation
"Tursunzade", Encyclopædia Britannica
* Including census figures {{Largest cities of Tajikistan Populated places in Districts of Republican Subordination