No worries, I really do appreciate your input. In this case however, I think the BBC article may well be a misprint. Here’s why I think so (beyond what I outline above).

Open the article in Internet Explorer, and mouse-over the graph in the article you cite. The following message pops up:

“…Kazakhstan has the highest GDP/cap, Tajikistan the lowest…”

This from the very same article, and over a graph that doesn’t support that statement. I think the legend is simply mislabled.

I know Tajikistan is doing well right now. My posts indicate as much. However, I have yet to see any data to suggest they have overtaken other Central Asian repbulics, although that day may well come soon.

We are comparing apples to oragnes here. BBC Data is based on 2000 constant US$, while the data you refer to gives estimates based on current US$. Constant US$ are used to negate the effect of the exchange rates hence are more representative of real economic performance.

Thanks for the article, but I think it could be a bit too old. It is based on both economic and political data that is at least 4-5 years old. The world has definitely moved forward (including Tajikistan) since then. You can’t assume the country to be the poorest in Central Asia if it’s GDP has been growing at 9.6% for the past 4 years.

My objective here is not to discredit your ability to reason, but merely make the blog more accurate. Overall I am pretty glad that someone (not Tajik I assume based on your name) has decided to dedicate his time to Tajikistan. Cheers!

That BBC article is interesting- I haven’t seen that data anywhere else. Here is what I have seen.
According to the CIA World Factbook:
GDP Per Capita Income (Purchasing Power Parity)
Tajikistan: $1,100
Turkmenistan: $5,740
Kazakhstan: $7,800
Kyrgyzstan: $1,700
Uzbekistan: $1,800

According to World Bank estimates used by the UN (and the BBC article also cites WB sources, which I don’t understand)

Country or Area 2001 2002 2003
Kazakhstan 5,330 5,897 6,671
Kyrgyzstan 1,637 1,632 1,751
Tajikistan 913 981 1,106
Turkmenistan 4,303 5,133 5,938
Uzbekistan 1,600 1,667 1,744

Also consider this article, which cites Tajikistan as not only the poorest country in Central Asia, but as having the “the lowest per capita Gross Domestic Product among the 15 former Soviet republics.”

If having a bipartisan parlament is an indication of a democratic (hence pro-west) government Tajikistan beats all other countries in the region as it has intergrated a real opposition in the government.

Re: Venichka’s comment: I think every nation has a right to defend itself by its own means and having a national army patrol borders is no surprise. Of course after having been repressed by Russians for so long the country needs time to get to a needed level. The ride could be a bit bumpy in the first few years but it is worth it. No russian can effectively speak the language of Afghans which is persian and understand these folks as Tajiks.

It’s funny that you mention Tajikistan taking over border patrol duties and Russia being skeptical, since I was busy writing about that exact topic when I saw your comment. There have also been some issues with Tajik border guards running into old Russian mines, which I posted on earlier.

One minor point/clarification:
I presume the word “Russian” should be inserted in the paragraph at where i have marked “***”:

“Tajikistan is the only Central Asian republic with a sustained and significant *** military presence. These troops show no sign of leaving any time soon, and in 2004 were increased and reaffirmed. ”

Although if I rememebr correctly, Tajikistani troops have recently taken over some border patrol duties (along border with Afghanistan) from Russia??? I think there was some scepticism as to how effective the new troops would be at keeping out drug-traffickers etc?

Anyway, keep up the good work