Culture of Tajikistan Malika Sobirova won a gold medal in an international ballet competition. Since independence, there has been a pre-Soviet cultural revival in an attempt to foster a sense of national identity. Novelist Taimur Zulfikarov, and professors Rahim Masov and Bozor Sobir being prominent. Culture of Tajikistan The culture of Tajikistan has developed over several thousand years. Tajik culture can be divided into two areas, Metropolitan and "Kuhiston" (Highland). Modern city centres include Dushanbe (the capital), Khudjand, Kulob, and Panjikent. Zoroastrianism had been adopted by Persian emperors as a state religion, and was practiced in Central Asia as well. It eventually declined
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic the Tajik SSR declared sovereignty in its borders. The republic was renamed to the Republic of Tajikistan on 31 August 1991 and declared its independence from the Soviet Union on 9 September 1991. Geographically, at , it was bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kirghizia to the north, and China to the east. Pakistan was to the south, separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. The name Tajik refers to the name of a pre-Islamic tribe that existed before the seventh century A.D. Based on the Library of Congress's 1997 Country Study of Tajikistan, it is difficult