Dushanbe
[key], city, capital of Tajikistan, W Tajikistan. It is a major industrial
and cultural center in a rich agricultural area. Coal, lead, and arsenic are
mined nearby. A leading cotton textile center, Dushanbe also produces silk,
textile machinery, electrical appliances, clothing, leather goods, tractor
parts, and foodstuffs. There is a rail line to Termez, and air links with
Moscow and the capitals of the Central Asian Republics. The city
served as the headquarters for Ibrahim Bek, a Tajik leader who fought the
Bolsheviks. From 1929, when the city became the capital of the Tadzhik SSR,
to 1961, it was known as Stalinabad. Dushanbe became the capital of
independent Tajikistan in 1991. A university and the Tajik Academy of
Sciences are in the city.
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