Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic along a waterway. After Stalin's death in March 1953, Stalinabad, was renamed to "Dushanbe" on 10 November 1961 as part of the De-Stalinization program. In February 1990, tensions between the Tajiks and Armenians squared off in the republic's capital Dushanbe. 26 people died and 565 more were injured and the Soviet troops put down the riots. Both Yaqub Salimov, the Interior Minister and the youth activists were convicted for the participation in the riots. Later on 24 August 1990, Tajik SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. By 1991, Tajikistan participated in a referendum in March as part of the
Khorezm People's Soviet Republic Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to the north and to the south, and on the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic to the east. Its western border was a rough continuation of the western coast of Aral Sea, bordering on what was then the Kirghiz ASSR (today's western Kazakhstan). It had an area of and a population of more than 600,000 people, mainly Uzbeks (62.5%), Turkmens (28.6%), Kazakhs (3.5%), and Karakalpaks (3.0%). Its capital was Khiva. Khorezm People's Soviet Republic The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic (; ) was the state created as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva in February 1920, when