Shahritus
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Shahritus Шаҳритус |
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| Basic data | |||
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| State : |
 Tajikistan
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| Province : | Chatlon | ||
| Coordinates : | 37 ° 16 ' N , 68 ° 9' E | ||
| Height : | 367 m | ||
| Residents : | 15,500 (2014 (estimate)) | ||
| Structure and administration | |||
| Community type: | city | ||
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Shahritus , Tajik Шаҳритус , Russian Шаартуз , Schaartus , other romanizations Shaartuz, Shahr-i Tuz, is a city and the capital of the district of the same name ( nohija ) in the Khatlon province in the extreme southwest of Tajikistan . The city, known for the cultivation of cotton, is located in the triangle near the border with Uzbekistan and Afghanistan .
location
Schahritus is located at an average height of 367 meters in the wide river plain of the Kofarnihon on its right (western) bank. The Kofarnihon rises in the Hisor Mountains , flows south along or near the Uzbek border and flows into the Amu Darya about 40 kilometers south of the city , which forms the border with Afghanistan over long distances upstream of the confluence under the name of Pandsch . To the east of the city the plain is bounded by a range of hills running north-south, with no vegetation or sparsely overgrown with grass, the highest point of which is 1636 meters. Towards the west, an approximately two-kilometer-wide southern branch of a lower chain of hills separates the valley of the Kofarnihon from a parallel valley with the village of Beschkent, which in turn is closed by the 1319-meter-high Tujuntoj chain along the Uzbek border. The valley of Beschkent, which is 70 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide, is largely dry and has few watercourses.
This valley is the hottest area of Tajikistan with average temperatures of 3 degrees in January and 31 degrees in July. The maximum temperatures can reach 50 degrees between June and August. Only 140 millimeters of precipitation fall there annually, in Shahritus it is 235 millimeters of annual precipitation. There is a subtropical steppe climate. In the summer months there can be dust haze in the air on some days, caused by winds that carry the dusty desert soil with them. The temperature then cools down noticeably and the midday sun can hardly be seen as a bright disk. The extreme southwest of Tajikistan is hardest hit with 500–600 hours of dust per year.
The Shahritus valley is one of the larger cotton-growing areas in Tajikistan. Pumpkins, melons, cereals, yellow beets, onions and potatoes are also grown in the area. Cotton is the main agricultural export product and accounts for 20 percent of the nationwide export revenue, even if production has been falling sharply since 2005, the yield with an average of 1.5 to 1.8 tons of cotton per hectare is below the typical yield of 2 tons for developing countries and the cultivation of fruits and vegetables is increasing. Cotton is the main source of income for 75 percent of the district's poorer population. The state and collective farms ( kolkhozes ) that existed during the socialist era (until independence in 1991) were dissolved and the lands were handed over to the previous administrators. The foremen, who were named “heroes of work” during the kolkhoz economy, now act as managers and mediators between the owners and the farm workers. They are integrated into a system of patronage that is initiated by the governors at the district level and within which tax exemptions and luxury gifts are distributed. The governors themselves are appointed by the president for a fixed period. Only women work in the cotton fields for minimal wages. Most of the young men from Shahritus have emigrated to Russia in search of work and use their remittances to support their parents back home.
Schahritus is on the A384 expressway, which leads from the state capital Dushanbe via Obikiik and west past Qurghonteppa directly south through Kubodijon , 17 kilometers north of Schahritus, then through Schahritus and on to Termiz in Uzbekistan. The slightly longer A385 makes a curve to the east via Danghara , Qurghonteppa and Kolchosobod , which is around 75 kilometers northeast of Shahritus. The importation of Egyptian cotton and its extensive cultivation in the Wachsch Valley from the 1930s onwards made it necessary to build roads and railways. Until then, the region was accessible from Termiz by river boats on the Amu Darya and further on by dirt roads. In 1932 a narrow-gauge railway line from the loading point Panzi Pojon on the Amurdaja via Schahritus to Qurghonteppa was put into operation.
The district ( nohija ) Shahritus is divided into six sub- districts ( jamoat ). The southwest, to which the district of Shahritus belongs, is one of the poorest areas in the country. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), over 78 percent of residents live in extreme poverty. The majority of the population are Tajiks . A small minority in the district are Arabs who are considered the descendants of nomadic Arab tribes who lived during the first Muslim conquest in the 7th / 8th centuries. Century and in a second wave of immigration from the 15th century in the region. Other Arabs live around the village of Aivaj on the Afghan border south of Shahritus, around Kubodijon and in the north around Khujand and Konibodom .
Of the nationwide oil and natural gas reserves - an estimated 113 million tons of oil and 875 billion cubic meters of natural gas - 81 percent are located in the southwestern districts of Hisor , Kulob , Wose (near Kurbon Shahid ), Schahritus and Kumsangir (bordering on the south of Schahritus). Due to a lack of investors, none of this is exploited in the district.
The two most famous art-historical sights in the area of Shahritus are
- the former madrasah Chodscha Mahschad , a restored brick building from the 9th century, six kilometers south near the road to Termiz. One kilometer earlier, the remains of the Chodscha Sarbos mausoleum from 10/11 were left in a modern cemetery west of the road . Century preserved.
- the excavation site of the Achaemenid city of Tacht-i Sangin , located 37 kilometers south on the banks of the Pandsch , in the vicinity of which the Oxus treasure was probably found. The last third of the route is only accessible with all-wheel drive. The visit is subject to permission from a military post three kilometers from the site.
The “44 springs” ( Tschilu-chor Tschaschma ) in the Beschkent Valley eight kilometers west of Shahritus are a popular excursion destination, especially on public holidays . The picturesque pond in the otherwise treeless plain is surrounded by shady mulberry trees. The spring water is considered to be miraculous because of an Islamic legend.
Cityscape
The city was founded in 1938. According to official censuses, the population was 5,691 in 1959, 9,000 in 1970 and 10,455 in 1979. In 1989 the number had risen to 11,618, in 2000 it was 11,857 and in 2010 it was 14,660. For 2014, 215,500 inhabitants are estimated.
The A384 crosses the Kofarnihon on a bridge on the north-eastern outskirts of the city and runs along the city center to the south. The side streets in a roughly rectangular grid open up rural residential areas with mostly single-storey houses. The farms and houses are surrounded by gardens with fruit trees and separated from the road by high walls. The business center with a few shops and the market district is located in the northeast of the city. The Kofarnihon and tributaries derived from the river flow past the eastern edge of the city. The areas of the river level a few meters below the built-up urban area that are not planted with cotton serve as pastureland. Along the roads and between the cotton fields, which have to be irrigated intensively, the water is channeled into small canals ( arik ).
The road to Tacht-i Sangin leads over the bridge in the north and on the east side of the river through several villages between cotton and vegetable fields. Shahritus leaves the road to Beschkent straight to the southwest through the extensive suburb Parischskaya Kommuna, until after three kilometers the dry steppe is reached at the last houses. In this suburb, the road to the "44 springs" branches off at right angles to the northwest. The main route to Termiz turns south in the center of Shahritus and leads through a slightly more affluent residential area with brick and plastered brick houses. Simpler houses further out are made of adobe bricks . The UNDP administration established in 1997 for the Schahritus district is located in the southern residential district. Its guest house offers the only overnight accommodation in town.
literature
- Kamoludin Abdullaev, Shahram Akbarzadeh: Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2010
- Robert Middleton, Huw Thomas: Tajikistan and the High Pamirs . Odyssey Books & Guides, Hong Kong 2012, p. 216
Individual evidence
- ↑ Beshkent . In: Kamoludin Abdullaev, Shahram Akbarzadeh: Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan, p. 80
- ↑ Sharitus, Tajikistan. weatherbase.com (climate table)
- ↑ Alexander Finaev: Processes of Transportation and Sedimentation of Dust Aerosol. Pamir and Tian Shan: Glacier and Climate Fluctuations during the Pleistocene and Holocene. International Workshop. Bayreuth, April 22-23 July 2000, p. 3
- ^ Acquaintance with the agricultural work of Shahritus district. ( Memento of the original from December 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Jahonnamo, October 13, 2014
- ^ The Economics of Land Degradation for the Agriculture Sector in Tajikistan. A scoping study. UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative in Tajikistan, Dushanbe 2012, pp. 20f
- ↑ Hafiz Boboyorov: Masters and Networks of Knowledge Production and Transfer in the Cotton Sector of Southern Tajikistan. (Working Paper Series 97) Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, 2012, p. 11f
- ^ Sophie Roche: Domesticating Youth: Youth Bulges and their Socio-political Implications in Tajikistan. Berghahn, New York / Oxford 2014, p. 44
- ^ MV Hambly: Road vs. Rail. A Note on Transport Development in Tadzhikistan. In: Soviet Studies, Vol. 19, No. January 3 , 1968, pp. 421-425, here pp. 422f
- ^ UNDP Shaartuz Area Office. UNDP in Tajikistan
- ↑ Arabs . In: Kamoludin Abdullaev, Shahram Akbarzadeh: Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan, p. 62
- ^ Oil and Gas. In: Kamoludin Abdullaev, Shahram Akbarzadeh: Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan, p. 260
- ↑ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 г. demoscope.ru
- ↑ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 г. demoscope.ru
- ↑ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 г. demoscope.ru
- ^ The provinces of Tajikistan as well as all cities and urban settlements of more than 10,000 inhabitants. City population
