Travel and Tourism

Travel and Tourism in Tajikistan

Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Tajikistan.

Practical Information

Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.

Travel Alert Status: Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Time Difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Currency: somoni
Climate: There are four distinct seasons in Tajikistan gorgeous springs, with soft breezes and flowers blooming everywhere; hot, dry summers; pleasant autumns with warm days and cool evenings, and in the low altitude city of Dushanbe, relatively mild winters. Snowfall rapidly increases with altitude. The climate of the mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), which occupies the eastern half of Tajikistan, is more extreme. The mountainous east receives 90% of Tajikistan's yearly precipitation, and its average annual temperature is 49°F; in Dushanbe it's 65 °F.
Ethnic Groups: Tajik 64.9%, Uzbek 25%, Russian 3.5% (declining because of emigration), other 6.6%
National Holiday: Independence Day (or National Day), 9 September (1991)
Geographic Coordinates: 39 00 N, 71 00 E
Location: Central Asia, west of China, south of Kyrgyzstan
Airports: 66

Health and Safety

Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.

Medical Facilities and Care

Medical Facilities and Health Information: The quality of Tajikistan’s medical infrastructure is significantly below Western standards, with severe shortages of basic medical supplies, including disposable needles, anesthetics, prescription drugs, and antibiotics. Many trained medical personnel left the country during or after the civil war. Elderly travelers and those with pre-existing health problems may be at particular risk due to inadequate medical facilities. Significant disease outbreaks are possible due to population shifts and a decline in some immunization coverage among the general population. There have been outbreaks of polio in the southwest areas of the country near the borders with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, including the capital city Dushanbe; typhoid outbreaks in the Dushanbe area and in the south of the country; an outbreak of Congo Crimea hemorrhagic fever to the west of Dushanbe; and the risk of contracting malaria, cholera, and water-borne illnesses is high. Throughout Central Asia, infection rates of various forms of hepatitis and tuberculosis (including drug-resistant strains) are on the rise. Tuberculosis is an increasingly serious health concern in Tajikistan. It is advisable to drink only bottled or thoroughly boiled water while in Tajikistan. The government of Tajikistan requires all foreign citizens who remain in the country for more than 90 days to present a medical certificate from a medical facility or to submit to an HIV test in Tajikistan if they are already in Tajikistan without such a certificate (with the exception of persons applying for diplomatic, official, investor, and humanitarian types of visas).
Accessibility: When in Tajikistan, individuals with disabilities may find accessibility and accommodation very different from what you find in the United States. Tajikistan has no laws regarding discrimination against persons with disabilities. Buildings, public transportation, communication, and road crossings are inaccessible.

Disease Risk

Degree of Risk: high
Food and Waterborne Diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne Diseases: malaria

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