Sughd Region

Sughd Province Вилояти Суғд (Tajik) Согдийская область (Russian)
Province
From the top to bottom-right, Khujand, Panjakent District, Rudaki's Tomb, Ayni District, Yaghnob River
Sughd in Tajikistan
Coordinates: 39°30′N 69°0′E
Country	Tajikistan
Capital	Khujand
Area
• Total	25,200 km2 (9,700 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,707,300
• Density	110/km2 (280/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	TJ-SU
HDI (2017)	0.659 medium
Official languages	Russian (Interethnic) Tajik (State)

Sughd Province, also referred to as the Sogdia Region, and Leninabad before 2001, is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in the historical Sogdiana, it is located in the northwest of the country, with an area of some 25,400 square kilometers and a population of 2,707,300 (2020 estimate), up from 2,233,550 according to the 2010 census and 1,871,979 in 2000. The capital is Khujand. The Province's ethnic composition in 2010 was 84% Tajik, 14.8% Uzbek, 0.6% Kyrgyz, 0.4% Russian and 0.1% Tatar.

The province shares a border with the Jizzakh, Namangan, Samarkand and Fergana regions of Uzbekistan, and the Osh and Batken regions of Kyrgyzstan. The Syr Darya river flows through it. It contains the Akash Massif and Mogoltau Massif Important Bird Areas. Sughd is separated from the rest of Tajikistan by the Gissar Range (passes may be closed in winter). The southern part of the region is the east-west valley of the upper Zarafshan River. North, over the Turkestan Range, is the Ferghana Valley. The region has 29% of Tajikistan's population and one-third of its arable land. It produces two-thirds of the country's GDP.

Economy

Indoor market in Khujand

The economy of Sughd has been growing steadily since 2000, at the average rate of 13.2% in 2008 and 13.3% in 2009. In 2009, farming, trade and industrial production contributed 28.2%, 25.8% and 14.0% to the GRP (gross regional product) of Sughd, respectively. Since 2000, the output of industrial production increased two-fold, at an average annual growth rate of 5–8%.

A free economic zone has been established in the region called Sughd Free Economic Zone.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1979	1,194,683	—
1989	1,558,158	+2.69%
1999	1,871,979	+1.85%
2010	2,233,550	+1.62%
2020	2,707,300	+1.94%
Source: Citypopulation

Cities

Khujand

Sughd province counts the following 8 district-level cities (with population estimate as of 2020):

• Buston (Chkalovsk) (34,000)
• Guliston (Kayrakkum) (18,000)
• Isfara (51,700)
• Istaravshan (Ura-Tyube) (65,600)
• Istiqlol (Taboshar) (17,600)
• Khujand (Leninabad) (183,600)
• Konibodom (52,500)
• Panjakent (43,300)

Districts

The province is divided into 10 districts (Tajik: ноҳия, nohiya or Russian: район, raion). Furthermore, several cities (shahr) also cover other towns (shahrak) and rural localities. These are listed under "city districts".

Districts of Sughd

• Asht District
• Ayni District
• Devashtich District
• Ghafurov District
• Kuhistoni Mastchoh District
• Mastchoh District
• Spitamen District
• Jabbor Rasulov District
• Shahriston District
• Zafarobod District

City districts

• Buston
• Isfara
• Istaravshan
• Konibodom
• Panjakent

Notable people

• Ruslan Ablayev (born 1972), Russian professional football coach and former player
• Lex Fridman, Host of the Lex Fridman podcast and Youtube series, researcher at MIT

See also

• Yaghnobi people
• Yagnob Valley
• Extreme points of Tajikistan

Further reading

• Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb (2007). The Arab Conquests in Central Asia. Read Books. ISBN 978-1-4067-5239-7. reprinted from the 1923 edition, published by the Royal Asiatic Society OCLC 474026895.
• Le Strange, Guy (1905). The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia, from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc. OCLC 1044046.

External links

• citypopulation.de
• Official Website of the Free Economic Zone of Sughd