Flag of Tajikistan

The national flag of Tajikistan (Tajik: Парчами Тоҷикистон / پرچم تاجیکستان) was adopted in November 1992, replacing the flag of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic of 1953. It is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and green with a width ratio of 2:3:2, charged with a crown surmounted by an arc of seven stars at the centre.

The tricolour preserves the choice of colours in the Tajik Soviet flag. Red, white and green are the Pan-Iranian colors, introduced by the Qajar Dynasty in the 19th century and used in the flag of Iran, chosen to emphasize Tajikistan's Persian heritage.

National flag

The middle white stripe has one-and-a-half times the width of the red and green stripes. The red represents the unity of the nation; the green represents the fertile valleys, while the white represents both the snow and ice of the mountains and the colour of cotton.

The crown and stars are set in a rectangle taking up 80% of the flag's total width. The crown represents the Tajik people, as the name Tajik is connected with Persian tâj "crown" in popular etymology.

Tajikistan

Coordinates: 39°N 71°E / 39°N 71°E / 39; 71

Tajikistan (ⁱ/tɑːˈdʒiːkᵻstɑːn/, /təˈdʒiːkᵻstæn/, or /tæˈdʒiːkiːstæn/; Тоҷикистон [tɔd͡ʒikɪsˈtɔn]), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (Tajik: Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Çumhuriji Toçikiston/Jumhuriyi Tojikiston; Russian: Респу́блика Таджикистан, Respublika Tadzhikistan), is a mountainous landlocked sovereign country in Central Asia. With an estimated 8 million people in 2013, it is the 98th most populous country and with an area of 143,100 km² (55,300 sq mi), it is the 96th largest country in the world. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. Pakistan lies to the south separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Traditional homelands of Tajik people included present-day Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

The territory that now constitutes Tajikistan was previously home to several ancient cultures, including the city of Sarazm of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including the Oxus civilization, Andronovo culture, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeism. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid Empire, Sassanian Empire, Hephthalite Empire, Samanid Empire, Mongol Empire, Timurid dynasty, and the Russian Empire. As a result of the breakup of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan became an independent nation in 1991. A civil war was fought almost immediately after independence, lasting from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow.