U.S. English Foundation Research
TAJIKISTAN
Language Research
3. Language issues: Where does one observe language to be a problem in the country?
During the Soviet era the central government tried to increase the number of Russian workers in Tajikistan through bonuses and scholarships. Many people were also relocated as political prisoners so that by 1940 roughly half of the republic's industrial work force belonged to non-indigenous nationalities; mainly Russians. Between 1926 and 1959 the proportion of Russians among Tajikistan's population grew from less than 1% to 13%. During the same period, the proportion of Tajiks dropped from 80% to about 50%.
Dushanbe, the capital, became a predominantly non-Tajik city. According to the 1989 census, Tajiks constituted 39.1%, Russians 32.4%, Uzbeks 10%, Tatars 4.1%, and Ukrainians 3.5% of Dushanbe's population of about 602,000.
The Language Law from 1989 made Tajik the sole state language by 1996, giving Russian the status “the language of interethnic communication”. An amended version of the Language Law drafted in the summer of 1992 eliminated altogether the status of Russian as a language for conducting official business. While the educational system continued to conduct classes in Tajik, Russian and Uzbek language, government workers had to use Tajik in all written and oral work by the year 1994.
These proposed changes in the Language Law would have a serious negative impact on a large portion of the population. More than 25% of the population is Uzbek, and there are other sizable minorities in Tajikistan who speak little or no Tajik. Russian had been the dominant language used in official institutions in Tajikistan.
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