Motorcycle trip

Tajikistan

Geography Tajikistan

Tajikistan, located in Central Asia, is a territory covered almost entirely by mountains. It shares its borders with Kirghizstan in the North, Afghanistan in the South, China in the East and Uzbekistan in the West and the North-West. A motorcycle trip in Tajikistan takes you to the heart of spectacular gorges and canyons. The eastern part of the country is occupied by the Pamir-Alai range with peaks at an altitude of more than 7 000m including the famous Lenin Peak and the Communism Peak, which reach a height of respectively 7 134 m and 7 495 m. The Pamir is home to several glaciers including Fedchenko glacier, which is the longest glacier in the world. In the West, there are fertile valleys, the Fergana valley in the North and the Kafirnigan and Vakhsh valleys in the South. Three mountain ranges separate the north from the south: the Turkestan, Zeravshan and Gissar mountains. The smallest of the ex-soviet socialist republics in Central Asia has two great rivers: Syr-Darya and Amu-Darya. These two great rivers flow into the Aral Sea. The capital, Dushanbe is located in the central western area of the country. Tajikistan has two national parks: the Pamir National park and the Natural and History Park of Shirkent.  

History and culture in Tajikistan

Tajikistan was occupied by different empires throughout its history. A motorcycle trip in Tajikistan takes you on an encounter with multiple cultural influences. This country with its strategic location in Central Asia was coveted by many. Alexander the Great, the Iranian Persians, the famous Samanids. In this period, Tajikistan experienced great artistic and cultural growth. Bukhara became one of the main cultural centres of the Islamic world. Today, several remains provide an insight into this glorious era. From the 10th century onwards, Tajikistan fell into the hands of Central Asian Turks, the great Mongol emperor Genghis Khan and later Tamerlane. The 19th century was marked by the Russian colonisation. In 1924, The Republic of Tajikistan was created and included in Uzbekistan. In 1929, it became a full-fledged Soviet Socialist Republic. To proclaim its independence in 1991, Tajikistan had a difficult political history of overthrows, civil wars and several clashes. In 1999, a peace agreement was signed under the aegis of the United Nations. Since 2000, the situation in Tajikistan has stabilised.