Dushanbe

Dushanbe (Душанбе), population 582,400 (1991), is the capital of Tajikistan. The name is derived from the Tajik word for "Monday" (du "two" + shamba or shanbe "day", lit. "day two").

History

The city served as the headquarters for Ibrahim Bek, a Tajik leader who fought the Bolsheviks. From 1929, when the city became the capital of the Tadzhik Soviet Socialist Republic, to 1961, it was known as Stalinabad, after Joseph Stalin. A university and the Tajik Academy of Sciences are in the city. The city was badly damaged as a result of a civil war that sprang up in Tajikistan shortly after its independence.

Economy

Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby. A leading cotton textile center, Dushanbe also produces silk, machinery, electrical appliances, clothing, leather goods, tractor parts, and foodstuffs.