Tajikistan (/tɑːˈdʒiːkɨstɑːn/, /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/, or /tæˈdʒiːkiːstæn/; Тоҷикистон [tɔd͡ʒikɪsˈtɔn]), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (Tajik: Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Çumhuriyi Toçikiston/Jumhuriyi Tojikiston; Russian: Респу́блика Таджикистан, Respublika Tadzhikistan), is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. Mountains cover more than 97% of the country.
Most of Tajikistan's population belong to the Tajik ethnic group, who speak Tajik which is similar to Dari (spoken in Afghanistan) and Persian (spoken in Iran).
Once part of the Samanid Empire, Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union (the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic) in the 1920s. After independence, Tajikistan suffered a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. Trade in commodities such as cotton, aluminium and uranium have contributed greatly to economic growth.