Gorno-Badakhshan - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

An autonomous region of Tajikistan that occupies 45% of the country. It is located in the Pamir Mountains. It has territorial borders with several states, such as Kyrgyzstan, China and Afghanistan. It was formed in 1925 as an autonomous region within the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. After the collapse of the USSR, the autonomous status was confirmed.

The titular ethnic group of the autonomy is the people, which are united in the category "Pamiris". The Pamiris speak dialects that belong to the eastern subgroup of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family, while the Tajik language belongs to the western subgroup of the Iranian languages. Religious differences are also important. Tajiks profess Sunni Islam, and the Pamir people - Ismailis, belong to the Shiite branch of Islam.

Since officially the Pamiris are considered Tajiks, the composition of the population of the region can only be judged by expert estimates, according to which approximately 70% of the autonomy population speaks Pamir languages. The fact that the Pamir languages are non-written makes it difficult to study them at schools. Pamir languages play the role of the languages for everyday communication.

In the early 1990s, Gorno-Badakhshan was at the center of the civil war that was taking place in Tajikistan, and ethnic splits were an important component in the confrontation between the parties. At present, compared to that period, the ethnopolitical situation in the region is characterized by relative stability.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer