Religion in Tajikistan Religion in Tajikistan Islam, the predominant religion throughout Central Asia, was brought to the region by the Arabs in the 7th century. Since that time, Islam has become an integral part of Tajik culture. Tajikistan is a secular country, but the post-Soviet era has seen a marked increase in religious practice in the country. The majority of Tajikistan's Muslims adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam, and a smaller group belongs to the Shia branch of Islam. The Russian Orthodox faith is the most widely practiced of other religions, although the Russian community shrank significantly in the early 1990s. Some
Indonesian invasion of East Timor to represent almost all of the educated sector and the vast majority of the population. The Timorese Popular Democratic Association (; APODETI), a third minor party, also sprang up, and its goal was integration with Indonesia. The party had little popular appeal. By April 1975, internal conflicts split the UDT leadership, with Lopes da Cruz leading a faction that wanted to abandon Fretilin. Lopes da Cruz was concerned that the radical wing of Fretilin would turn East Timor into a communist front. Fretilin called this accusation an Indonesian conspiracy, as the radical wing did not have a power base. On