Istaravshan
Istarawschan ( Tajik Истаравшан, in Persian script: استروشن ) is a town in north-west Tajikistan. It is located in Sughd province and has 54,200 inhabitants (2003 ). By 2000, it was under the Russian form of the name Ura - Tyube (Russian Ура - Тюбе of Tajik Уротеппа / Uroteppa ) known. It is the administrative seat of the district Istaraschwan, in which a total of 199,000 people live.
Geography
The center of the city lies at an altitude of 992 meters above sea level about 78 km southwest of Khujand on the northern foothills of Turkestan mountain range. The district covers 1830 km ² Istaraschwan, the west and north it borders on Uzbekistan, on the southwest by Kyrgyzstan.
Population
69.55 percent of the population belong to the people of the State Tajiks, plus 40 percent of Uzbeks and 4.5 percent are members of other nationalities ( Russians, Koreans, Moldovans, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, German, Tatars, Armenians and Ukrainians ). In the city is Tajik, Uzbek and Russian spoken. About 60 percent of the population live in extended families. The vast majority of the population professes Islam.
History
The foundation of the city is attributed by some to the Persian king Cyrus II. In 329 BC, Alexander the Great is said to have conquered the city in Greek sources, it is therefore referred to as Kiropol. From the 15th century it received, with the arrival of the Uzbeks in this territory the name of Ura - Tyube. On 2 October 1866, the city was captured by Russian troops.
End of the 19th century the city had 20,837 inhabitants under Russian rule (1897 ); Tajiks and Uzbeks in the majority. In the Russian part, near the citadel located on the mountain at that time lived about 300 Russians, in this neighborhood, there was an orthodox church, a telegraph office, a hospital and a Russian school. In the Tajiks and Uzbeks of the inhabited part were over 1,800 homes and 65 mosques.
Attractions
The old town with houses from the 18th to the 20th century received their typical oriental character. An architectural monuments are specifically mentioned the Madrasa Abd -al- Latifa, also known as Kok - Gumbes (Russian Кок - Гумбез, 15th century ), the mausoleum of Baba - Togo (Russian Баба - Того ) and the architectural ensemble Sary Mazar (Russian Сары - Мазар (both from the 16th century).
Economy
Food processing industry and textile industry are the main branches, comes to the traditional wood - and metal-working craft and the production of glazed crockery, leather working and tailoring.