Bokhtar (Tajik: Бохтар), previously known as Qurghonteppa, Kurganteppa and Kurgan-Tyube, is a city in southwestern Tajikistan, which serves as the capital of the Khatlon region. Bokhtar is the largest city in southern Tajikistan, and is located 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Dushanbe and 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Kunduz, Afghanistan.
Bokhtar Tajik: Бохтар | |
|---|---|
 Bokhtar in 2018 | |
  Bokhtar Location in Tajikistan | |
| Coordinates: 37°50′11″N 68°46′49″E / 37.83639°N 68.78028°E | |
| Country |  Tajikistan |
| Province | Khatlon |
| Area | |
| • City | 26 km2 (10 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 430 m (1,410 ft) |
| Population (2019) | |
| • City | 126 700 |
| • Density | 4,261/km2 (11,040/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 190 000 |
| Area code | 992-3222 |
| Official languages | |
Population
As of 2019, the city's population was estimated at 110,800, making it the third-largest city in the country. The population fluctuates depending on the season, due to the many Tajik migrant workers in Russia.
Along with the capital Dushanbe, Bokhtar is more demographically diverse than other major Tajik cities such as Khujand, Kulob or Istaravshan. Its population includes Tajiks, Uzbeks, Russians, Pashtuns, Tatars, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Greeks, and many more.[citation needed] The city had a large number of ethnic Russians who worked in the industrial and agricultural complexes in and around the city.
Bokhtar is a stronghold of Tajikistan's political opposition.
Overview
During the civil war in Tajikistan, Bokhtar (then Qurghonteppa) became the epicenter of conflict by the summer of 1992, and was seriously damaged. Many of the local Kulobi and Uzbeks were forced to flee in 1992, following attacks by the pro-opposition Gharmi forces.
The city was officially renamed from Qurghonteppa to Bokhtar on 22 January 2018. The name change was one of many in Tajikistan targeting places whose names derive from the Uzbek and Kyrgyz languages.
Near Bokhtar are the ruins of a Buddhist monastery complex called Ajina Tepe, believed to be built in the 7th or 8th centuries CE. It features a 12-meter-long image of Buddha in Nirvana.
Bokhtar International Airport provides flights to a handful of cities in Tajikistan, Russia and Kazakhstan.
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon with personnel of the India-Tajik Friendship Hospital in Bokhtar, 13 July 2015.
- Bokhtar Bazaar
- Taxi station in Bokhtar
- Bokhtar library
Climate
Bokhtar has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk), with cool winters and very hot summers. Precipitation is quite low. It is highest in the spring, while summers are very dry.
| Climate data for Bokhtar (1991-2020, extremes 1929-present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 24.0 (75.2) | 28.8 (83.8) | 35.3 (95.5) | 37.0 (98.6) | 41.3 (106.3) | 43.6 (110.5) | 46.0 (114.8) | 42.8 (109.0) | 40.2 (104.4) | 38.1 (100.6) | 31.3 (88.3) | 24.3 (75.7) | 46.0 (114.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.7 (49.5) | 12.2 (54.0) | 18.7 (65.7) | 25.0 (77.0) | 30.7 (87.3) | 36.1 (97.0) | 37.7 (99.9) | 36.0 (96.8) | 32.1 (89.8) | 25.6 (78.1) | 17.5 (63.5) | 11.0 (51.8) | 24.4 (75.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.4 (39.9) | 6.5 (43.7) | 12.3 (54.1) | 18.2 (64.8) | 23.4 (74.1) | 28.1 (82.6) | 29.4 (84.9) | 27.5 (81.5) | 23.0 (73.4) | 16.8 (62.2) | 10.5 (50.9) | 5.6 (42.1) | 17.1 (62.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.6 (33.1) | 2.2 (36.0) | 7.4 (45.3) | 12.5 (54.5) | 16.7 (62.1) | 20.2 (68.4) | 21.5 (70.7) | 19.5 (67.1) | 15.0 (59.0) | 10.1 (50.2) | 5.5 (41.9) | 1.7 (35.1) | 11.1 (52.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −24.1 (−11.4) | −22.6 (−8.7) | −12.7 (9.1) | −5.6 (21.9) | 4.0 (39.2) | 9.1 (48.4) | 11.0 (51.8) | 9.4 (48.9) | 3.5 (38.3) | −4.2 (24.4) | −10.9 (12.4) | −20.0 (−4.0) | −24.1 (−11.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 35 (1.4) | 47 (1.9) | 48 (1.9) | 49 (1.9) | 32 (1.3) | 10 (0.4) | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 2 (0.1) | 8 (0.3) | 29 (1.1) | 33 (1.3) | 295 (11.6) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.2 | 11.2 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 3.7 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 55.7 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 73.2 | 70.1 | 62.3 | 57.6 | 50.2 | 45.5 | 45.6 | 48.3 | 51.0 | 57.1 | 66.6 | 73.0 | 58.4 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 112 | 125 | 164 | 213 | 291 | 339 | 351 | 334 | 294 | 235 | 174 | 115 | 2,747 |
| Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net, climatebase.ru (precipitation days, humidity) | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (sun only, 1961-1990) | |||||||||||||
Notable people
- Sergei Mandreko (1971-2022) - football coach
- Nurudin N. Mukhitdinov (1959-) - politician
Trivia
Finnish electronic duo Pan Sonic have a track entitled "Radio Qurghonteppa" on their 2010 farewell album Gravitoni.
See also
References
External links
- Kurgan Tepe in Encyclopaedia Iranica Online