Dushanbe#Districts

File:Tajikistan (384743913).jpg

Dushanbe was the location of a large bazaar that operated on Mondays. This gave rise to the name Dushanbe-Bazar ({{langx|tg|Душанбе Бозор}}, Dushanbe Bozor){{Cite web|title=Душанбе|trans-title=Dushanbe|url=http://www.diclib.com/cgi-bin/d1.cgi?l=ru&base=geo_rus&page=showid&id=1919|website=DicLib|language=ru}} from Dushanbe, which means Monday in the Persian language{{Cite web|date=2016-01-31|title=دوشنبه {{!}} پارسی ویکی|url=http://loghatnameh.com/dehkhodaworddetail-891c9755f3354b758a96db73b85891b5-fa.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131094924/http://loghatnameh.com/dehkhodaworddetail-891c9755f3354b758a96db73b85891b5-fa.html|archive-date=31 January 2016|access-date=2021-01-16|language=fA}} – literally, the second day (du) following Saturday ({{Transliteration|tg|shanbe}}). In late 1929 the city was renamed Stalinabad (the city of Stalin), but it reverted to the name Dushanbe in late 1961 as a result of de-Stalinization.

{{see also|Timeline of Dushanbe history}}

In the Stone Age, Mousterian tool-users inhabited the Hisar Valley near modern-day Dushanbe.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=15|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} The Gissar culture, whose stone tools were discovered within modern-day Dushanbe at the confluence of the Varzob and Luchob,{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=100|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} Bishkent culture, and Vakhsh culture all were thought to have inhabited the valley in the second millennium BC, during the Neolithic period, and were primarily involved in cattle breeding, agriculture, and weaving.{{Cite web|title=Hissar Culture|url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Hissar+Culture|access-date=2020-08-02|website=TheFreeDictionary.com}}{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|pages=21, 25|language=ru|oclc=32311792}}

Near Dushanbe International Airport, Bronze Age burials were discovered dating from the end of the second to the beginning of the first millennium BC.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|pages=107–108|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} Achaemenid dishes and ceramics were found {{Convert|6|km|mi}} east of Dushanbe in Qiblai,{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=27|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} as the city was controlled by the Achaemenids from the sixth century BC. Archaeological remnants of a small citadel dating to the fifth century BC have been discovered {{Convert|40|km|mi}} south{{Cite book|title=Yavan, Oxford Art Online|date=2002|publisher=Macmillan|others=Macy, Laura Williams.|isbn=1-884446-05-1|location=[Basingstoke, England]|oclc=50959350}} and wedge-shaped copper axes have been discovered from the second century BC.{{cite web|title=Regions: Dushanbe & Surroundings|url=http://www.visittajikistan.tj/en/regions/dushanbe.php|access-date=10 May 2013|work=Official Website of the Tourism Authority of Tajikistan|publisher=Committee of Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism|archive-date=22 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122092635/http://www.visittajikistan.tj/en/regions/dushanbe.php|url-status=dead}}

The Seleucids conquered the region in 312 BC.{{Cite book|last=M.|first=Davidzon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11399951|title=Dushanbe, a guide|date=1983|publisher=Raduga|pages=10–11|oclc=11399951}} A small Greco-Bactrian settlement of about {{convert|40|ha}} was dated to the end of the third century BC.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=110|language=ru|oclc=32311792}}{{Cite web|title=Southern Tajikistan in Kushana period|url=http://www.afc.ryukoku.ac.jp/tj/tajikistanEnglish/C-ancienttime/C-6top.html|access-date=2020-08-02|publisher=National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan}} The oldest coin found in the city is a Greco-Bactrian coin depicting Eucratides (r. 171–145 BC) and another was found depicting Dionysus.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|language=ru|chapter=Historical Sketch|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} There was also a Kushan city on the left bank of the Varzob river from the 2nd century BC to 3rd century AD containing burial sites from the time period.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|pages=125–126|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} The Kushans created other settlements such as Garavkala, Tepai Shah, Shakhrinau, and Uzbekontepa.{{Cite web|last1=Hiebert|first1=F. T.|last2=Kohl|first2=P. L.|date=2012-10-20|others=R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies|title=Garav kala: a Pleiades place resource|url=https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/971757|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Pleiades: a gazetteer of past places}}{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|pages=38–39|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} The Sasanian Empire invaded Sogdiana in the fifth century, possibly giving coins as tribute to the Kidarites which ended up on the site of today's city.{{Cite journal|last1=Gariboldi|first1=Andrea|last2=Saripov|first2=Abduvali|date=2012|title=A Sasanian Hoard from Dushanbe|url=http://www.socnumit.org/estratti/G/GariboldiA2012.Dushambe.pdf|journal=Studia Iranica|volume=41|pages=169–186|access-date=6 March 2021|archive-date=4 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304174526/http://www.socnumit.org/estratti/G/GariboldiA2012.Dushambe.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal|last=Довуди|first=Давлатходжа|title=Древние и средневековые монеты, найденные на территории города Душанбе|url=https://www.academia.edu/41712153|journal=Древние и средневековые монеты, найденные на территории города Душанбе|date=January 2004}}

The ruins of a Buddhist monastery of the Hephthalite period of the late fifth to sixth century, now referred to as Ajina Tepe, lie in the Vaksh valley near Dushanbe.{{Cite web|last=Litvinskiĭ|first=B. A.|title=Ajina Tepe|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ajina-tepe-the-present-day-name-of-the-mound-covering-the-ruins-of-an-early-medieval-buddhist-monastery-sarigharama|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}} Other settlements from the Tokharistan period have also been discovered, like the town of Shishikona that was destroyed during the Soviet era and depopulated during the Mongol invasion.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|pages=54–55, 85, 90|language=ru|oclc=32311792}}{{Cite web|title=Illustrations|url=https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/fub188/8366/02_Illustrations.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y|page=3}} International trade picked up during this period in the region.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=133|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} A castle was also discovered dating from the time period.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=136|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} In 582, the Western Turkic Khaganate gained control over the region. In the seventh century, a Chinese pilgrim visited the region and mentioned the city of Shuman, possibly on the site of modern Dushanbe.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=170|language=ru|oclc=32311792}}{{Cite journal|last1=Turekulova|first1=Natalia|last2=Turekulov|first2=Timur|year=2004–2005|title=Tajikistan: A view from outside|url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/heritage/article/download/21047/14817|journal=Heritage at Risk|publisher=ICOMOS|issn=2365-5615}}

After the Arab conquest, the Samanids controlled the region, which was involved in crafts and trade, and in the 10th-12th centuries the medieval city of Hulbuk developed near Dushanbe, which notably contained the palace of the governor of Khulbuk, "an artistic treasure of the Tajik people", among other smaller medieval settlements like Shishikhona.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|pages=61, 144|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} The Kharakhanids minted coins from 1018 to 1019 found in the city.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|page=163|language=ru|oclc=32311792}} The city came under the influence of the Ghurids from the 12th to 13th centuries.

Other smaller settlements were founded during the Late Middle Ages after the Mongol invasion, such as Abdullaevsky and Shainak. Timur conquered the region during this time period and various other empires controlled the city. The city's economy started to rely more heavily on crafts and trade.{{Cite book|last=Ranov, V. A. (Vadim Aleksandrovich)|url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/43419/1/isawdca_000960.pdf|title=Dushanbe : gorod drevniĭ|date=1993|publisher=Izd-vo "Donish"|others=Solovʹev, V. S. (Viktor Stepanovich), Masov, R. M. (Rakhim Masovich)|isbn=5-8366-0427-4|location=Dushanbe|pages=149–151|language=ru|oclc=32311792}}

File:Bishkent culture.jpg|Bishkent culture

File:Vakhsh culture.jpg|Vakhsh culture

File:Kara-Khanid Khanate.png|Kara-Khanid Khanate

File:Greco-BactrianKingdomMap.jpg|Greco-Bactria

The first time Dushanbe appeared in the historical record was in 1676, in a letter sent from the Balkh khan Subhonquli Bahodur to Fyodor III, the Tsar of Russia. However, the Balkh historian Mahmud ibn Wali mentioned the area in the 1630s in the book Sea of Secrets Regarding the Values of the Noble.{{Cite web|date=2013-04-19|title=АҶАБ ШАҲРИ ДИЛОРОЙӢ|trans-title=The Wonderful City of Dushanbe|url=http://sadoimardum.tj/minta-a-o/dushanbe/a-ab-sha-ri-diloroj/|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Садои мардум|language=tg-cyrl}}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite book|last=Abdullaev, Kamoludin|title=Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan|date=2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-0252-7|pages=130–131|chapter=Dushanbe|oclc=1049912411}}{{Cite web|title=Душанбе (столица Таджикистана)|url=https://geosfera.org/aziya/tadzhikistan/835-dushanbe-stolica-tadzhikistana.html|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Планета Земля|language=ru}} At first, the town was called "Kasabai Dushanbe" ({{langx|fa|قصبه دوشنبه}} қасабаи Душанбе), when it was under the control of Balkh. This name reflected both Dushanbe's status as a town, with Kasaba meaning town, and the influence of trade, as the name Dushanbe, which means Monday in Persian, was due to the large bazaar in the village that operated on Mondays. Dushanbe's location between the caravan routes heading east–west from the Gissar Valley through Karategin to the Alay Valley, and north–south to the Kafirnigan River and then to Vaksh Valley and Afghanistan through the Anzob Pass from the Fergana and Zeravshan valleys that ultimately led traders to Bukhara, Samarkand, the Pamirs, and Afghanistan incentivized the development of its market.{{Cite book|last1=Rusu|first1=Stefan|url=https://issuu.com/suhebator/docs/spaces_on_the_run_dag_tj_2015|title=Spaces on the Run|last2=Dubovitskiy|first2=Victor|publisher=Dushanbe Art Ground|year=2016|isbn=978-99947-892-7-6|location=Turkey. Istanbul|page=31}} At the time, the town had a population of around 7,000–8,000 with around 500–600 households.

File:Alim Khan (1880–1944), Emir of Bukhara, photographed by S.M. Prokudin-Gorskiy in 1911.jpg, Alim Khan]]

By 1826, the town was called Dushanbe Qurghan ({{langx|tg|Душанбе Қурғон}}, Dushanbe Qurghon, with the suffix qurƣon from Turkic qurğan, meaning "fortress"). It was first Russified as Dyushambe ({{lang|ru|Дюшамбе}}) in 1875. It had a caravanserai, a stopping point for travelers to Samarkand, Khujand, Kulob and the Pamirs. It boasted 14 mosques with maktabs, 2 madrassas, and 14 teahouses at the turn of the 19th century. At that time, the town was a citadel on a steep bank on the left bank of the Varzob River with 10,000 residents.{{Cite web|date=2008-12-01|title=Краткая историческая справка|url=http://www.ceroi.net/reports/dushanbe/Rus/history.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201150219/http://www.ceroi.net/reports/dushanbe/Rus/history.htm|archive-date=1 December 2008|access-date=2020-08-02|language=ru}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|language=ru|chapter=Urban Planning and Architecture|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}{{Cite web|date=2019-07-19|title=Аҷаб шаҳри дилороӣ, Душанбе…|url=http://tiroz.org/a-ab-sha-ri-diloro-dushanbe/|access-date=2020-07-31|website=tiroz.org|language=ru}} It was a center for weaving, tanning, and iron smelting production in the region. Various states, including Hisor, exercised control over the city during the 18th and early 19th century despite Bukharan claims of sovereignty. In 1868, the Tsarist government established suzerainty over Bukhara. In the unstable environment of Russian intervention and local revolts, Bukhara took over the Dushanbe region, control over which the Emirate was able to sustain through the gradual establishment of a Russian-influenced centralized state.{{Cite book|last=Becker|first=Seymour.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004408983|title=Russia's protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865-1924.|date=1968|publisher=Harvard University Press|series=Russian Research Center studies|location=Cambridge|pages=48–50}}{{Cite book|last=Morrison|first=Alexander|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1224354503|title=The Russian conquest of Central Asia : a study in imperial expansion, 1814-1914|date=2020|isbn=978-1-139-34338-1|location=Cambridge, UK|page=255|oclc=1224354503}} The first hospital in the village was constructed in 1915 by Russian investment{{Cite web|title="Русский дом", "Заразка" и "Детский садик" - истории инфекционных больниц Душанбе {{!}} Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus|url=https://asiaplustj.info/ru/news/tajikistan/society/20200603/russkii-dom-zarazka-i-detskii-sadik-istorii-infektsionnih-bolnits-dushanbe|access-date=2020-08-02|website=asiaplustj.info|language=ru}} and an early railroad was proposed to connect the market town with the Russian railway system in 1909, but was abandoned after a review determined the venture would not be profitable, although the town did have a functioning railroad to Kagan.{{Cite web|last=Вечёрка|date=2019-07-09|title=Душанбе - столица края|url=https://vecherka.tj/archives/39028|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Вечёрка|language=ru}}

In 1920, the last Emir of Bukhara briefly took refuge in Dushanbe after being overthrown by the Bolshevik revolution. After the Red Army conquered the area the next year, he fled to Afghanistan on 4 March 1921.{{Cite web|date=2018-12-27|title=A Tomb in Kabul: The Fate of the Last Amir of Bukhara and his country's relations with Afghanistan|url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/regional-relations/a-garden-and-a-tomb-in-kabul-2-the-fate-of-the-last-amir-of-bukhara-and-his-countrys-relations-with-afghanistan/|access-date=2020-07-31|website=Afghanistan Analysts Network - English}}{{Cite book|last=Bleuer, Christian|title=Tajkistan: A Political and Social History.|date=2013|publisher=ANU Press|isbn=978-1-925021-15-8|page=56|oclc=1076650077}}{{Cite book|last=M.|first=Davidzon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11399951|title=Dushanbe, a guide|date=1983|publisher=Raduga|pages=13–14|oclc=11399951}} In February 1922, the town was taken by Basmachi troops led by Enver Pasha after a siege, but on 14 July 1922 again came under the power of the Bolsheviks{{Cite book|last=Projorov, A. M.|title=Great Soviet Encyclopedia|date=1973–1982|publisher=Macmillan|chapter=Dushanbe|oclc=435381348}}{{Cite web|title=History|url=http://www.dushanbehotels.ru/eng/dushanbe/history.htm|access-date=2020-08-03|website=www.dushanbehotels.ru|archive-date=1 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401065609/http://www.dushanbehotels.ru/eng/dushanbe/history.htm|url-status=dead}} soon before the death of Enver Pasha on 4 August 1922 outside of Dushanbe. It was a part of the Bukharan PSR until the formation of the Tajik ASSR.{{Cite web|title=Бухарская Народная Советская Республика - это... Что такое Бухарская Народная Советская Республика?|url=https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/bse/72017/%D0%91%D1%83%D1%85%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Словари и энциклопедии на Академике|language=ru}}

File:Map of the national state delimitation of the republics of Central Asia (1924-1925) - not so busy.svg is in light purple]]

Dushanbe was proclaimed the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in October 1924, and the government started to function formally on 15 March 1925.{{Cite web|last=Atkin|first=Muriel|title=Dushanbe|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/dushanbe|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Encyclopaedia Iranica|publisher=Encyclopedia Iranica Foundation, Inc.}}{{Cite book|last=Bleuer, Christian|title=Tajkistan: A Political and Social History|date=2013|publisher=Australian National University|page=41|oclc=940754059}}{{Cite book|last=Abdullaev, Kamoludin|title=Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan|date=2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-0252-7|pages=xxviii–xxxvi|chapter=Chronology|oclc=1049912411}}

Dushanbe was chosen instead of larger-populated villages in Tajikistan because of its role as a crossroads of Tajikistan for its large market served as a meeting place for much of Tajikistan's population. Along with its market, there was a lively livestock trade as well as trade in fabrics, leather, tin products, and weapons. The mild Mediterranean climate was another reason Soviet authorities chose the city as the capital.

Before the Emir's relocation to the city, Dushanbe had the only Jewish population in Eastern Bukhara (of about 600) whom were involved in trade and tailoring. When the Emir moved to the city in 1920, however, the Jewish population's property was plundered and the Jews were relocated to Hisor. They were only let back into Dushanbe with its conquest by the Red Army, and in the 1920s and 1930s their population gradually increased with Bukharan immigrants.{{Cite web|last=Редакция|title=Душанбе|url=https://eleven.co.il/diaspora/communities/11494/|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Электронная еврейская энциклопедия ОРТ|language=ru}} Dushanbe was also officially recognized as the capital of the Emirate of Bukhara during its waning days as it served as the last refuge of the last Emir of Bukhara during its conquest by the Soviet Union, possibly another motivating factor for the decision to establish the new ASSR's capital in the village.{{Cite web|title=Чтобы помнили. Русский Душанбе|url=http://www.fergananews.com//articles/9099|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804044937/http://www.fergananews.com//articles/9099|archive-date=2020-08-04|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Фергана.Ру|language=ru}} The population during Soviet conquest and Basmachi revolts declined from an already meager 3,140 in 1920 to only 283 in 1924 with only 40 houses still standing.{{Cite journal|last=Hughes|first=Katherine|date=2017-05-22|title=From the Achaemenids to Somoni: national identity and iconicity in the landscape of Dushanbe's capitol complex|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2017.1319796|journal=Central Asian Survey|volume=36|issue=4|pages=511–533|doi=10.1080/02634937.2017.1319796|s2cid=149039948|issn=0263-4937|url-access=subscription}} To aid in the recovery, the Soviet authorities temporarily exempted much of the population from having to pay taxes. In 1923, the Soviets created Dushanbe's first telegraph link to Bukhara, initiated its first railroad to Termez, and set up a telephone switchboard in 1924.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|language=ru|chapter=Communication|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} On 12 August 1924, the first newspaper of the town, Voice of the East (Russian: Овози Шарк), was published in Arabic and soon after a Russian-language paper, Red Tajikistan (Russian: Красный Таджикистан), began publication. Power plants and electricity were introduced to Dushanbe during this time. By the end of 1924, the first regular plane routes from Dushanbe came into operation, with one connection to Bukhara and later one to Tashkent. The post office was also set up that year. Construction on the railroad commenced on 24 June 1926, and it was completed in November 1929, connecting Dushanbe with the Trans-Caspian railroad and kickstarting economic growth. In 1925, the first boy's boarding school was constructed in the capital. On 1 September 1927, the first pedagogical college opened in Dushanbe and in November the motor road from Dushanbe to Kulob was completed. Tajiks from the countryside were given assistance and free land plots in the capital to increase its population and development.

File:Dushanabe WWIImonument.jpg monument]]

The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, previously the Tajik ASSR, separated from the Uzbek SSR in 1929, and its capital Dyushambe was renamed Stalinabad (Russian: {{lang|ru|Сталинабад}}; Tajik: {{lang|tg-Cyrl|Сталинобод}} Stalinobod) for Joseph Stalin on 19 October 1929, incorporating the nearby villages of Shohmansur, Mavlono, and Sari Osiyo.{{Cite news|last=Times|first=Walter Duranty Wireless To the New York|date=1929-10-23|title=Tajikistan Capital Becomes Stalinbad – Change Follows Elevation to Soviet Federal State – Regime Starts by Declaring an Amnesty|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/23/archives/tajikistan-capital-becomes-stalinabad-change-follows-elevation-to.html|access-date=2020-07-31|issn=0362-4331}}

In the years that followed, the city developed at a rapid pace. The Soviets transformed the area into a center for cotton and silk production, and tens of thousands of people relocated to the city. The population also increased with thousands of ethnic Tajiks migrating to Tajikistan from Uzbekistan following the transfer of Bukhara and Samarkand to the Uzbek SSR as part of national delimitation in Central Asia.{{cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/tajikistan/dushanbe/history|title=Dushanbe: History|publisher=Lonely Planet|access-date=10 May 2013|archive-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610054456/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/tajikistan/dushanbe/history|url-status=dead}} Industry during the time period was limited, focused on local production, although it had expanded by nine times since 1913 by 1940. The first bus line began operating in 1930 and in 1938, Komsomol members constructed Komsomolskoye Lake in the city.{{Cite book|last=M.|first=Davidzon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11399951|title=Dushanbe, a guide|date=1983|publisher=Raduga|page=44|oclc=11399951}}

Tajik Parliament House, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.JPG|Former Supreme Soviet Building

Dushanbe, Tajikistan - panoramio (19).jpg|Former Central Committee Building, demolished in 2021

Many of these projects occurred under the 1925–1932 mayoralty of Abdukarim Rozykov, one of the first mayors of Dushanbe, who sought to transform it into a "model communist city" through modernization and urban planning. Mikhail Kalitin continued the industrial development of Dushanbe, building the Komsomolskoye Lake and promoting industry in the city.{{Cite web|last=Shermatov|first=Gafur|title=Столица и ее градоначальники: кто был до Рустама Эмомали|url=https://news.tj/ru/news/tajikistan/society/20170210/stolitsa-i-ee-gradonachalniki-kto-bil-do-rustama-emomali|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213164625/https://news.tj/ru/news/tajikistan/society/20170210/stolitsa-i-ee-gradonachalniki-kto-bil-do-rustama-emomali|archive-date=13 February 2017|website=Asia-Plus}} Towards the end of this period, in the late 1930s, there were 4,295 buildings in Dushanbe.{{Cite web|title=История Душанбе|url=https://www.tajik-gateway.org/wp/regions/dushanbe/istoriya-dushanbe/|access-date=2020-09-25|website=Tajik Development Gateway на русском языке|language=ru}}

During World War 2, the population of Dushanbe and Tajikistan swelled with 100,000 evacuees from the Eastern Front that led to the deployment of 17 hospitals in the city. The city's industry also greatly increased during the war, as the Soviets wanted to move critical infrastructure far behind enemy lines, and industries like textile manufacturing and food processing grew. In 1954, there were 30 schools in the city; a medical institute named after Avicenna; the Stalinabad Academy of Sciences; the University of Stalinabad, which was founded in 1947 and had 1,500 students;{{Citation|last1=DeYoung|first1=Alan J.|title=Higher Education in Tajikistan: Institutional Landscape and Key Policy Developments|date=2018|work=25 Years of Transformations of Higher Education Systems in Post-Soviet Countries: Reform and Continuity|pages=363–385|editor-last=Huisman|editor-first=Jeroen|series=Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-52980-6_14|isbn=978-3-319-52980-6|last2=Kataeva|first2=Zumrad|last3=Jonbekova|first3=Dilrabo|editor2-last=Smolentseva|editor2-first=Anna|editor3-last=Froumin|editor3-first=Isak|doi-access=free}} and the Stalinabad Pedagogical Institute for Woman, established on 1 September 1953.{{Cite web|title=CIA Information Report|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-00810A003900400005-0.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122222841/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-00810A003900400005-0.pdf|archive-date=22 January 2017|website=CIA}} In 1960, gas supply reached the capital through a gas pipeline opened from Kyzyl to Tumxuk to Dushanbe. On 10 November 1961, as part of de-Stalinization, Stalinabad was renamed back to Dushanbe, the name it retains to this day.{{Cite web|title=Дюшамбе - Сталинабад - Душанбе|url=https://rus.ozodi.org/a/27357969.html|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Радио Озоди|date=11 November 2015 |language=ru}} In 1960, under the leadership of Mahmudbek Narzibekov, the first zoo was built in the city. Later in the decade the mayor developed a plan to end the housing shortage and provide free apartments.

The Nurek Dam, which was the tallest dam in the world at the time, was completed {{Convert|90|km|mi}} south east of Dushanbe during the 1960s. The Rogun Dam, upstream from Nurek Dam, was started in that period as well. They were both megaprojects meant to showcase Soviet innovation and development in Tajikistan. However, while the Nurek Dam was completed, the Rogun Dam was cancelled in the 1970s because of stagnating Soviet economic growth.{{Cite web|title=H-Diplo Roundtable XX-46 on Laboratory of Socialist Development: Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan {{!}} H-Diplo {{!}} H-Net|url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/4318596/h-diplo-roundtable-xx-46-laboratory-socialist-development-cold|access-date=2020-08-01|website=networks.h-net.org}}{{Cite web|title=Perspectives {{!}} Light and nostalgia in Tajikistan {{!}} Eurasianet|url=https://eurasianet.org/perspectives-light-and-nostalgia-in-tajikistan|access-date=2020-08-01|website=eurasianet.org}} On 2 August 1979, the population of Dushanbe reached 500,000, and it had the highest population growth rate in the Soviet Union.{{Cite book|last=M.|first=Davidzon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11399951|title=Dushanbe, a guide|date=1983|publisher=Raduga|page=15|oclc=11399951}}

{{Main|1990 Dushanbe riots}}

File:RIAN archive 699865 Dushanbe riots, February 1990.jpg

In the 1980s, environmental problems and crime began to increase. Mass violence, hooliganism, binge drinking, and violent assaults became more common. There was an attack on foreign students at the Agricultural Institute in 1987 and a riot in the Pedagogical Institute two years later. Increasing regionalism also destabilized the SSR.{{Cite book|last=Nourzhanov, Kirill|title=Tajikistan a political and social history|date=2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|page=156|oclc=984803513}}

On 10–11 February 1990, 300 demonstrators gathered at the Communist Party Central Committee building after it was rumored that the Soviet government planned to relocate tens of thousands of Armenian refugees to Tajikistan. In reality, only 29 Armenians went to Dushanbe and were housed by their family members. However, the crowd kept growing in size to 3-5 thousand people; soon after, violence broke out. Martial law was quickly declared and troops were sent in to protect ethnic minorities and defend against vandalism and looting. The number of people protesting increased significantly, however, and they attacked the Central Committee building. The 29 Armenians were quickly evacuated on an emergency flight after shots were fired.

A few days after, and with looting still occurring throughout the city, demonstrators created the Provisional People's Committee, or the Temporary Committee for Crisis Resolution, which put forward demands such as "the expulsion of Armenian refugees, the resignation of the government and the removal of the Communist Party, the closure of an aluminum smelter in western Tajikistan for environmental reasons, equitable distribution of profits from cotton production, and the release of 25 protesters taken into custody."

Many high-ranking officials resigned and the protector's goal of toppling the government was almost successful, but Soviet troops moved into the city, declared the demands illegal, and rejected the resignation of the high-ranking officials. 16-25 people were killed in the violence; many if not most were Russian.{{Cite book|last=Nourzhanov, Kirill|title=Tajikistan a political and social history|date=2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|pages=180–183|oclc=984803513}}

The riots were largely fueled by concerns about housing shortages for the Tajik population, but they coincided with a wave of nationalist unrest that swept Transcaucasia and other Central Asian states during the twilight of Mikhail Gorbachev's rule.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0D8103EF930A25751C0A966958260 Ethnic rioting in Dushanbe], New York Times, 13 February 1990. Retrieved 18 October 2008

After the increase of organized opposition from the Democratic Party of Tajikistan and Rastokhez, glasnost by Gorbachev, economic contraction, and increased opposition by regional elites, Qahhor Mahkamov disbanded the Communist Party of Tajikistan on 27 August 1991 and quit the party the next day. On 9 September 1991, Tajikistan's government declared independence from the Soviet Union.{{Cite book|last=Nourzhanov, Kirill|title=Tajikistan a political and social history|date=2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|chapter=The Rise of Opposition, the Contraction of the State and the Road to Independence|oclc=984803513}}

{{See also|Tajikistani Civil War}}

File:Рустами Эмомали (cropped).jpg]]

Dushanbe became the capital of an independent Tajikistan on 9 September 1991. Iran, the United States, and Russia soon opened embassies in Dushanbe in early 1992.

Dushanbe was controlled by the Popular Front-supported government during most of the 1992–1997 Tajikistani Civil War, although the Islamist and Democratic United Tajik Opposition managed to capture the capital in 1992 until 8000 Russian-backed and Uzbekistani-backed government troops regained control of Dushanbe.{{Cite book|last=Bleuer, Christian|title=Tajkistan: A Political and Social History.|date=2013|publisher=ANU Press|isbn=978-1-925021-15-8|pages=327–329|chapter=Epilogue: The Civil War of 1992|oclc=1076650077}} Most of the Russian population fled the capital during the violence of this time period while large amounts of rural Tajiks moved in; by 1993, more than half of the Russian population had fled.{{Cite web|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|title=Refworld {{!}} Chronology for Russians in Tajikistan|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/469f38e51e.html|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Refworld}} The factions during the civil war were organized primarily upon regional lines. The war was ended by a 27 June 1997 armistice, administered by the UN, that guaranteed the opposition 30% of the positions in the government.{{Cite web|title=The long echo of Tajikistan's civil war|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/long-echo-of-tajikistan-s-civil-war/|access-date=2020-08-03|website=openDemocracy|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809210932/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/long-echo-of-tajikistan-s-civil-war/|url-status=dead}}

In 2000, Dushanbe received internet access for the first time. In 2004, the UNESCO declared Dushanbe as a city of peace.{{Cite web|date=11 May 2019|title=Tajikistan and UNESCO Cooperation|url=https://www.mfa.tj/en/main/view/5174/tajikistan-and-unesco-cooperation|website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan}} Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev was declared mayor of Dushanbe in 1996, after during the civil war era many said he was in real control of the government.{{Cite news|title=Analysis: Dushanbe's Ex-Mayor One Of The Last Of Civil War Era|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-ubaidulloev-dushanbe-mayor-dismissal-civil-war-rahmon/28249742.html|access-date=2020-08-03|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=23 January 2017 |last1=Pannier |first1=Bruce }} He was the mayor of the capital for the longest term of any mayor, 21 years, until 2017. From independence, the city's economy has grown consistently up until the COVID-19 recession.{{Cite web|title=/ Исполнительный орган государственной власти города Душанбе|url=https://www.dushanbe.tj/ru/rushdi-i-tisodiyot|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.dushanbe.tj|language=ru}}{{Cite web|title=Пандемия нанесла огромный урон таджикской экономике. ВИДЕО|url=https://rus.ozodi.org/a/30706882.html|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Радио Озоди|date=5 July 2020 |language=ru}} In January 2017, Rustam Emomali, current President Emomali Rahmon's son, was appointed Mayor of Dushanbe, a move which is seen by some analysts as a step to reaching the top of the government.{{Cite web|url=http://thepoliticon.net/analytics/275-tajikistan-regime-eternalization-completed.html|title=Tajikistan: regime eternalization completed?|date=26 January 2017|website=The Politicon|access-date=26 January 2017|archive-date=8 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108093820/http://thepoliticon.net/analytics/275-tajikistan-regime-eternalization-completed.html|url-status=dead}}

{{clear left}}

File:Dushambe 68.77989E 38.58624N.jpg]]

Dushanbe is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Varzob (flowing from north to south) and the Kofarnihon. It is {{Convert|750|m|feet}}–{{Convert|930|m|feet}} above sea level; in the south and west, the elevation is closer to {{Convert|750|m|feet}}–{{Convert|800|m|feet}}, while in the north and northeast it reaches {{Convert|900|m|feet}}–{{Convert|950|m|feet}}. The north and east of the city is bounded by the Gissar range, which can reach up to {{Convert|4000|m|feet}} above sea level, and is bounded on the south by the Babatag, Aktau, Rangontau and Karatau mountains which reach a height from {{Convert|1400|m|feet}}–{{Convert|1700|m|feet}} above sea level; Dushanbe, therefore, is an intermontane basin located in the Gissar Valley. It has a primarily hilly terrain. 80% of Dushanbe's buildings are located within the valley, which has a width of approximately {{Convert|18|km|mi}}–{{Convert|100|km|mi}}.{{Cite book|last=ХУРСАНД МИРЗОШОЕВИЧ|first=ТАЛБОНОВ|url=https://tnu.tj/DisserPhD/6D.KOA-024/TalbonovKhM/TalbonovKhM.pdf|title=БИОТОПИЧЕСКОЕ РАСПРЕДЕЛЕНИЕ И ЭКОЛОГИЯ ПТИЦ ГОРОДА ДУШАНБЕ|pages=17–22|access-date=18 September 2020|archive-date=3 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203185444/http://www.tnu.tj/DisserPhD/6D.KOA-024/TalbonovKhM/TalbonovKhM.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite book|url=https://static.freereferats.ru/_avtoreferats/01003368308.pdf|title=ИСТОРИЯ СТАНОВЛЕНИЯ И РАЗВИТИЯ АРХИТЕКТУРЫ ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫХ ЗДАНИЙ ДУШАНБЕ (1924 началдх2000 гг.)|page=13}} Before the 1960s, most of Dushanbe was located on the left bank of the Varzob river, but increased construction led to the city expanding across it.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|language=ru|trans-title=Dushanbe Encyclopedia|chapter=Natural Conditions|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

File:Dushanbe seismic map.png

Dushanbe is located in an area with high seismicity. The magnitude of potential earthquakes is thought to reach a maximum of 7.5-8. Over the past 100 years, many earthquakes from a 5-6 magnitude have been felt in the city, such as the 1949 Khait earthquake.{{Cite journal|last1=Hakimov|first1=Farkhod|last2=Domej|first2=Gisela|last3=Ischuk|first3=Anatoly|last4=Reicherter|first4=Klaus|last5=Cauchie|first5=Lena|last6=Havenith|first6=Hans-Balder|date=2021-03-31|title=Site Amplification Analysis of Dushanbe City Area, Tajikistan to Support Seismic Microzonation|journal=Geosciences|volume=11|issue=4|page=154|doi=10.3390/geosciences11040154|bibcode=2021Geosc..11..154H|issn=2076-3263|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Hakimov|first1=Farkhod|last2=Havenith|first2=Hans-Balder|last3=Ischuk|first3=Anatoly|last4=Reicherter|first4=Klaus|date=2024-04-26|title=Site Assessment of Site Effects and Numerical Modeling of Seismic Ground Motion to Support Seismic Microzonation of Dushanbe City, Tajikistan|journal=Geosciences|volume=14|issue=5|page=139|doi=10.3390/geosciences14050117|bibcode=2024Geosc..14..117H|issn=2076-3263|doi-access=free}}

Dushanbe features a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa),{{cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=Hylke E. |last2=Zimmermann |first2=Niklaus E. |last3=McVicar |first3=Tim R. |last4=Vergopolan |first4=Noemi |last5=Berg |first5=Alexis |last6=Wood |first6=Eric F. |title=Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution |journal=Scientific Data |date=30 October 2018 |volume=5 |page=180214 |doi=10.1038/sdata.2018.214 |pmid=30375988 |pmc=6207062|issn=2052-4463|bibcode=2018NatSD...580214B}} with some humid continental climate influences (Köppen: Dsa) due to the nearby glaciers and mountain range. The city features hot summers and chilly winters. The climate is damper than other Central Asian capitals, with an average annual rainfall over {{convert|500|mm|in|0}} as moist air is funneled by the surrounding valley during the winter and spring. Winters are not as cold as north of the Gissar Range owing to the shielding of the city by mountains from extremely cold air from Siberia. Snow occurs on an average of 25 days a year and cloudy days make up an average of 24 a year.{{cite web|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav012408.shtml|title=Tajikistan: Citizens Ponder Bleak Future Amid Harsh Winter - Eurasianet.Org|access-date=22 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034901/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav012408.shtml|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=dead}} However, precipitation in winter typically falls as rain and not snow. The surrounding mountains prohibit strong winds from entering the city, although there are consistent mild breezes.{{Cite book|last=M.|first=Davidzon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11399951|title=Dushanbe, a guide|date=1983|publisher=Raduga|pages=6–7|oclc=11399951}}

Winter in Dushanbe begins on 7 December and ends on 22 February; spring starts on 22 February and ends on 17 May. During springtime, cyclones and rain are at their highest along with thunderstorms and hail, which causes significant damage and occurs for around 3 days per year. Summer starts on 17 May and ends on 14 August, the best period for agriculture. Dry weather sets in during this, as evidenced by a sharp drop in precipitation during the summer. A warm and dry autumn begins on 14 August and ends on 7 December.

{{Weather box

|location = Dushanbe (1991–2020, extremes 1926–present)

|width = auto

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|Jan record high C = 21.8

|Feb record high C = 27.7

|Mar record high C = 32.2

|Apr record high C = 36.2

|May record high C = 38.8

|Jun record high C = 44.1

|Jul record high C = 43.7

|Aug record high C = 45.0

|Sep record high C = 38.9

|Oct record high C = 36.8

|Nov record high C = 31.9

|Dec record high C = 24.3

|year record high C = 45.0

|Jan high C = 9.0

|Feb high C = 11.0

|Mar high C = 17.0

|Apr high C = 22.8

|May high C = 27.9

|Jun high C = 33.6

|Jul high C = 36.4

|Aug high C = 35.5

|Sep high C = 31.3

|Oct high C = 24.4

|Nov high C = 16.7

|Dec high C = 11.1

|year high C = 23.1

|Jan mean C = 3.1

|Feb mean C = 5.0

|Mar mean C = 10.5

|Apr mean C = 15.8

|May mean C = 20.1

|Jun mean C = 25.1

|Jul mean C = 27.4

|Aug mean C = 26.0

|Sep mean C = 21.2

|Oct mean C = 14.7

|Nov mean C = 9.0

|Dec mean C = 4.6

|year mean C = 15.2

|Jan low C = -0.9

|Feb low C = 0.5

|Mar low C = 5.5

|Apr low C = 10.1

|May low C = 13.4

|Jun low C = 17.2

|Jul low C = 18.9

|Aug low C = 17.2

|Sep low C = 12.7

|Oct low C = 7.8

|Nov low C = 3.8

|Dec low C = 0.4

|year low C = 8.9

|Jan record low C = −26.6

|Feb record low C = −17.6

|Mar record low C = −12.9

|Apr record low C = -6.1

|May record low C = 1.2

|Jun record low C = 8.4

|Jul record low C = 10.9

|Aug record low C = 8.2

|Sep record low C = -1.0

|Oct record low C = −4.4

|Nov record low C = −13.5

|Dec record low C = −19.5

|year record low C = −26.6

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 61

|Feb precipitation mm = 94

|Mar precipitation mm = 103

|Apr precipitation mm = 114

|May precipitation mm = 77

|Jun precipitation mm = 17

|Jul precipitation mm = 3

|Aug precipitation mm = 1

|Sep precipitation mm = 4

|Oct precipitation mm = 29

|Nov precipitation mm = 55

|Dec precipitation mm = 60

|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 8.5

|Feb precipitation days = 9.1

|Mar precipitation days = 13.4

|Apr precipitation days = 9.8

|May precipitation days = 7.8

|Jun precipitation days = 1.5

|Jul precipitation days = 0.7

|Aug precipitation days = 0.1

|Sep precipitation days = 0.8

|Oct precipitation days = 3.7

|Nov precipitation days = 5.3

|Dec precipitation days = 8.1

|year precipitation days = 68.8

|Jan humidity = 69

|Feb humidity = 67

|Mar humidity = 65

|Apr humidity = 63

|May humidity = 57

|Jun humidity = 42

|Jul humidity = 41

|Aug humidity = 44

|Sep humidity = 44

|Oct humidity = 56

|Nov humidity = 63

|Dec humidity = 69

|year humidity = 57

|Jan sun = 120

|Feb sun = 121

|Mar sun = 156

|Apr sun = 198

|May sun = 281

|Jun sun = 337

|Jul sun = 352

|Aug sun = 338

|Sep sun = 289

|Oct sun = 224

|Nov sun = 164

|Dec sun = 119

|year sun = 2699

|source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net

{{cite web

| url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/38836.htm

| title = Weather and Climate-The Climate of Dushanbe

| publisher = Weather and Climate

| language = ru

| access-date = 28 October 2021}}

|source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity 1951–1993 and precipitation days 1961–1990)

{{cite web

| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_388360_kt.pdf

| title = Klimatafel von Duschanbe / Tadschikistan

| work = Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world

| publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst

| language = de

| access-date = 18 February 2016}} NOAA (sun, 1961–1990){{cite web

| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/TABLES/REG_II/TK/38836.TXT

| title = Dushanbe Climate Normals 1961–1990

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = 18 February 2016

| archive-date = 29 October 2021

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211029033530/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/TABLES/REG_II/TK/38836.TXT

| url-status = dead

}}

|date=August 2010

}}

Before the 20th century, the city had some vegetation such as bushes of Bukhara almonds, but the creation of the city mostly removed natural vegetation. The green belt, however, and the botanical garden introduced new vegetation to the city. The city has over 150 species of trees and shrubs, with only about 15 native to the city and 22% of the city being occupied by green space.{{Cite book|last=Environmental Protection|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

There are 14 identified species of mammals in urban Dushanbe, including a fox, a weasel, the marbled polecat, the long-eared hedgehog, five bats, and five rodents. There are 130 identified bird species in the city, such as rock pigeons, blue pigeons, and turtle doves. Migratory birds are common, often staying only in fall and summer. There are 47 identified reptiles in Dushanbe, such as geckos, snakes, lizards, and turtles. Amphibians, like the marsh frog and the green toad, live in the cleaner water bodies of the city. The 14 identified fish species of Dushanbe live in the rivers, lakes, and ponds of the city. Some species are the marinka, the Tajik char, and the Turkestan catfish in the Varzob rivers, along with 7 in the Kofarnikhon, and species like carp, goldfish, striped swine, and mosquito fish in the lakes and ponds. 300 identified species of insects inhabit the city, mostly cicadas, psyllids, aphids, scale insects, bugs, beetles, and butterflies. The endemic Hissar grape hawk moth lives in the city as well, and malaria-carrying insects have been increasing in the city. Phytonematodes are a menace to plants in the city, with 55 distinct identified species, the most damaging of which are the root gall nematodes. Rare or endangered species include the radiant tachysphex, the white-bellied arrow eagle, and the European free-tailed bat.

File:Административное деление Душанбе.png
Purple: Ismail Samani
Light Green: Avicenna
Yellow: Ferdowsi]]

Dushanbe is divided into the following districts:

In 2020, the city's boundaries were expanded to take in land from Rudaki District in the southwest.

Some of Dushanbe's major sights include the Tajikistan National Museum; the National Museum of Antiquities; the Ismaili Centre; Vahdat Palace; the Dushanbe Flagpole, which is the second tallest free-standing flagpole in the world, at a height of {{Convert|165|m|ft|0|abbr=off}};{{cite web |title=Tallest unsupported flagpole |date=24 May 2011 |access-date=14 December 2011 |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-1/tallest-unsupported-flagpole |publisher=Guinness World Records}} the Dushanbe Zoo; Rudaki Avenue, the main street of the capital; the Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments; and the National Library, the largest in Central Asia, with 3.11 million copies of books.{{Cite web|title=Шиносномаи шаҳр / Сомонаи расмии Мақомоти иҷроияи ҳокимияти давлатии шаҳри Душанбе|url=http://dushanbe.tj/pasport-goroda|access-date=2021-04-07|website=dushanbe.tj}}{{Cite web|url=https://caravanistan.com/tajikistan/center/dushanbe/|title=Dushanbe travel guide|website=Caravanistan|access-date=2019-07-02}}

File:National Museum of Tajikistan (8).jpg|National Museum of Tajikistan

File:Puppet theatre in Dushanbe.jpg|Puppet Theater

File:National Museum of Antiquities 20141007 Tajikistan 1427 crop Dushanbe (16070647428).jpg|National Museum of Antiquities

File:Rudaki Avenue sidewalk, Dushanbe 02.jpg|Rudaki Avenue

File:Flagpole, Tajkistan.jpg|Dushanbe Flagpole

The population of Dushanbe grew at a rapid pace following the Soviet invasion of the 1920s, declined during the Tajik Civil War and rising unrest of the 1990s, and resumed its growth after that period. During the mid 20th century, the city had a majority Russian/Eastern European population, but after the civil war, many Russians departed the city and the Tajik population became predominant. From 2005 to 2014, 53,118 people migrated to the city in total. The average life expectancy of Dushanbe in 2014 was 74.1 years overall, with 71.9 years for men and 76.3 for women.

{{Historical populations

|1676|7500

|1875|10000

|1911{{Cite book|last=Logofet|first=Dmitry Nikolaevich|url=http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/16368-t-1-1911#mode/inspect/page/200/zoom/6|title=Бухарское ханство под русским протекторатом|year=1911|location=Saint Petersburg|trans-title=Bukhara under Russian rule}}|20000

|1920{{Cite web|title=Бозоре, ки пойтахт шуд {{!}} جدید آنلاین|url=https://www.jadidonline.com/story/07042010/dr/dushanbeh_cyr|access-date=2021-06-20|website=www.jadidonline.com}}

|3140|1924|283

|1926|5600

|1929|7298

|17=1933|18=35818

|19=1939|20=82540

|21=1949|22=150000

|23=1956{{Cite web|title=Dushanbe, Tajikistan|url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Dushanbe%2c+Tajikistan|access-date=2021-06-20|website=Great Soviet Encyclopedia}}|24=227000

|25=1959|26=233500

|27=1965{{Cite book|url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/dybsets/1965%20DYB.pdf|title=Demographic Yearbook 1965|publisher=United Nations|page=171}}|28=312000

|29=1970|30=376200

|31=1971|32=388000

|33=1976{{Cite book|url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/dybsets/1976%20DYB.pdf|title=Demographic Yearbook 1976|publisher=United Nations|page=278}}|34=448000

|35=1979|36=492200

|37=1983{{Cite book|url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/dybsets/1984%20DYB.pdf|title=Demographic Yearbook 1984|publisher=United Nations|page=278}}|38=530000

|39=1987{{Cite book|url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/dybsets/1988%20DYB.pdf|title=Demographic Yearbook 1988|publisher=United Nations}}|40=582000

|41=1989{{Cite web|title=1989 All-Union Population Census.|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/resp_nac_89.php?reg=76|access-date=2021-07-08|website=Demoscope}}|42=601501

|43=1991{{Cite book|last=Matveeva, Anna|title=The perils of emerging statehood : civil war and state reconstruction in Tajikistan : an analytical narrative.|date=2009|publisher=Crisis States Research Centre|page=5|oclc=436344566}} |44=592000

|45=1993{{Cite book|url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/dybsets/1997%20DYB.pdf|title=Demographic Yearbook 1997|publisher=United Nations|page=254}}|46=528600

|49=1996{{Cite web|title=Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of January 1, 2020|url=http://stat.ww.tj/posts/July2020/macmua_20201.pdf|website=Agency on Statistics of the Republic of Tajikistan|access-date=29 August 2020|archive-date=1 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601101228/http://stat.ww.tj/posts/July2020/macmua_20201.pdf|url-status=dead}}|50=505600

|53=1998{{cite book | url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/14505/11/11_chapter%203.pdf | title=Ethnicity, religion and politics in Tajikistan (1989-2004) | last=Mehrotra | first=Mansi | date=2008 | publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru University | page=92 | chapter=3 Regional divide: land and people | access-date=28 September 2020}}|54=538600

|55=2000|56=564000

|57=2002|58=591600

|59=2003|60=619400

|61=2008Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 1 January, State Statistical Committee, Dushanbe, 2008 (Russian)|62=661000

|63=2010|64=731100

|65=2013|66=764300

|67=2014|68=775800

|69=2015|70=788700

|71=2016{{Cite web |url=http://www.stat.tj/ru/img/7a20337ca019c92e18235196b4e62aaa_1470198679.pdf |title=Шумораи аҳолии Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон то 1 январи соли 2016 Ахбороти Агентии омори назди Президенти Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон |access-date=22 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810004846/http://www.stat.tj/ru/img/7a20337ca019c92e18235196b4e62aaa_1470198679.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2017 |url-status=dead}}|72=802700

|73=2018|74=835000

|75=2019|76=851300

|77=2020{{Cite book|url=https://stat.ww.tj/posts/May2021/Tajikistan_Statistical_Publication.pdf|title=Женщины и мужчины Республики Таджикистан|publisher=Agency on Statistics Under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan|year=2020|location=Dushanbe|page=63|language=tg, ru|trans-title=Women and Men of the Republic of Tajikistan|access-date=8 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190138/https://stat.ww.tj/posts/May2021/Tajikistan_Statistical_Publication.pdf|url-status=dead}}|78=863400

|79=2022{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=ШУМОРАИ АЊОЛИИ ЉУМЊУРИИ ТОЉИКИСТОН ТО 1 ЯНВАРИ СОЛИ 2022 |url=https://stat.tj/storage//1.01.2022.pdf |access-date=3 February 2023 |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010195817/https://stat.tj/storage//1.01.2022.pdf |url-status=dead }}This includes the population from the 2020 area increase.|80=1,201,800}}

{{Graph:Chart

| width=500

| height=200

| type=area

| colors=#99B2CC

| xAxisMin=1350|xAxisMax=2018

| xAxisTitle=Year

| x= 1676, 1875, 1911, 1920, 1924, 1926, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1939, 1949, 1956, 1965, 1971, 1979, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020

| yAxisFormat=s | yGrid=

| yAxisTitle=Population

| y= 7500, 10000, 20000, 3140, 283, 5600, 7298, 15540, 20360, 35818, 82540, 150000, 227000, 312000, 388000, 500000, 512000, 582000, 604000, 592000, 528600, 505600, 538600, 561200, 575900, 589400, 604000, 619400, 631700, 646400, 661000, 679400, 779000, 788700, 802700, 846400, 863400

}}

{{Population pyramid|year=2020

|f40=2.9|f10=4.4|f15=4.5|f20=4.8|f25=4.7|f30=4.1|f35=3.2|f45=2.8|f0=4.0|f50=2.5|f55=2.0|f60=1.3|f65=.8|f70=.5|f75=.3|f80=.2|f5=4.2|m85=0.1|m0=4.7|m35=3.1|m5=4.5|m10=4.7|m15=5.5|m20=6.2|m25=6.5|m30=4.8|m40=2.6|m80=0.1|m45=2.5|m50=2.3|m55=2.0|m60=1.3|m65=0.8|m70=0.4|m75=0.2|f85=.1}}

Islam was introduced to Dushanbe in the eighth century and today, the majority of the city follows Sunni Islam.{{Cite journal|last=Stephan|first=Manja|date=December 2010|title=Education, youth and Islam: the growing popularity of private religious lessons in Dushanbe, Tajikistan|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2010.538283|journal=Central Asian Survey|volume=29|issue=4|pages=469–483|doi=10.1080/02634937.2010.538283|s2cid=143808874|issn=0263-4937}} There is a small Catholic community of 120 in the city at St Joseph Church.{{Cite web|last=AsiaNews.it|title=In Dushanbe, the 'little' Catholic community in a 'great' Easter celebration|url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/In-Dushanbe,-the-%27little%27-Catholic-community-in-a-%E2%80%98great%27-Easter-celebration-43572.html|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.asianews.it}} There are around 350 Jews in Tajikistan,{{Cite web|title=History of the Tajikistan Jewish Community|url=http://jewseurasia.org/page275|access-date=2020-09-28|website=jewseurasia.org}} whose synagogue was destroyed in 2006{{Cite news|last=Wilensky-Lanford|first=Ethan|date=2006-03-28|title=As a Synagogue Comes Down, a Culture Disappears, Too|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/world/asia/as-a-synagogue-comes-down-a-culture-disappears-too.html|access-date=2020-09-28|issn=0362-4331}} but was replaced in 2008.{{Cite web|last=AsiaNews.it|title=New synagogue of Dushanbe to open soon|url=http://asianews.it/news-en/New-synagogue-of-Dushanbe-to-open-soon-14856.html|access-date=2020-09-28|website=asianews.it}}

On 9 September 2009, Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev endorsed the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's plan to recognize Dushanbe as the 2010 capital of Islamic culture.{{Cite web|title=Dushanbe proclaimed Capital of Islamic Culture for Asian Region in 2010 {{!}} Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus|url=https://www.asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/power/20090910/dushanbe-proclaimed-capital-islamic-culture-asian-region-2010#:~:text=Dushanbe%20proclaimed%20Capital%20of%20Islamic%20Culture%20for%20Asian%20Region%20in%202010,-17:45,%20september&text=ISESCO%20is%20one%20of%20the,headquarters%20are%20in%20Rabat,%20Morocco.|access-date=2020-10-10|website=www.asiaplustj.info}} In October 2009, President Emomali Rahmon launched the construction of a new central mosque in Dushanbe built at the expense of Qatari investors. It will replace the existing Haji Yakub Mosque and should become the largest in Central Asia. Construction began in 2011 with an original opening date in 2014; however in February 2021, its revised opening date was delayed.{{Cite news|title=Central Asia's Largest Mosque To Be Built in Dushanbe|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/central_asia_largest_mosque_in_dushanbe/24354702.html|access-date=2020-10-10|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=10 October 2011 }}{{Cite web|title=Official opening of Dushanbe's {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|Cental}} Cathedral Mosque suspended due to coronavirus pandemic, says Tajik official {{!}} Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus|url=https://asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/society/20210210/official-opening-of-dushanbes-cental-cathedral-mosque-suspended-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-says-tajik-official|access-date=2021-06-20|website=asiaplustj.info}}

The Russian Orthodox Church is another religious group in the city. St. Nicholas Cathedral in Dushanbe is a center of worship for the Orthodox community.{{Cite web|date=2019-03-01|title=Tajikistan: The Life of the smallest Orthodox community in Central Asia|url=https://cabar.asia/en/tajikistan-the-life-of-the-smallest-orthodox-community-in-central-asia|access-date=2020-10-10|website=CABAR.asia}}{{Cite web|title=Душанбинская епархия / Организации / Патриархия.ru|url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/1589299.html|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Патриархия.ru|language=ru}}

File:Grand Masjid Imam Tirmizi, Dushanbe (9).jpg|Mosque in Dushanbe

File:Свято-Никольский собор (Душанбе) 3.JPG|Cathedral in Dushanbe

File:Dushanbe Synagogue Entrance.jpg|Synagogue in Dushanbe

File:Madrasseh at Hisor - panoramio.jpg

Before the Soviet invasion, education was limited in Dushanbe, mainly consisting of madrasas that taught the Quran and Persian and Arabic along with geography, geometry, algebra, and other sciences. After the invasion, the Soviet Union closed the madrasas down.{{Cite book|title=25 years of transformations of higher education systems in post-Soviet countries : reform and continuity|date=24 April 2018|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|others=Huisman, Jeroen, Smolentseva, Anna, Froumin, Isak|series=Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education|isbn=978-3-319-52980-6|location=Cham, Switzerland|pages=364–366|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-52980-6|oclc=1035812764|doi-access=free}} File:Donishgohi davlatii omuzgorii Tojikiston ba nomi K Juraev.JPG

The Soviet education system was considered a success for its time, achieving close to 100% literacy through a large scale literacy program and compulsory education along with the inclusion of girls in education.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Education|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

The People's Commissariat of Education of the Tajik SSR was created on 11 February 1925 in Dushanbe.{{Cite web|title=Вазорати илм ва маорифи Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон|url=http://maorif.tj/tarih/inilobi-oktyabr-va-taavvuli-soai-maorif-soloi-1917-1940|url-status=live|archive-date=2020-08-04|access-date=2021-01-16|website=Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tajikistan|publisher=Вазорати маориф ва илми Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804145804/http://maorif.tj/tarih/inilobi-oktyabr-va-taavvuli-soai-maorif-soloi-1917-1940|language=tg}} Higher education began to be established in the 1930s with the creation of a pedagogical institute in Dushanbe in 1931. In 1939, the Tajik State Medical University was founded in Dushanbe and soon after in 1944 the Tajik Agrarian Institute moved to Dushanbe. Before the outbreak of World War Two, there were 32 secondary schools and two institutes in the city. While World War 2 slowed the growth of higher education, afterwards in 1947 the Tajik State University was created. In 1956 a polytechnic institute was created in the city along with the Institute of Physical Culture in 1971, the Institute of Arts in 1973, and the Tajik Pedagogical Institute of Russian Language and Literature in 1980 which became the Tajik State Institute of Languages in 1987. In 1990, the Technological University of Tajikistan was founded.

The Soviet system was based on the needs of the economy; the agrarian, medical, and polytechnic institutes were all founded to aid the economy. Outside of that, most higher education in the system were in the form of pedagogical colleges. Restrictions on political subjects such as history hampered advancements in those fields. After independence, universities less precisely tailored their courses to the economy and as a result other professions proliferated in schools such as the Tajik University of Law, Business and Politics.{{Cite book|title=25 years of transformations of higher education systems in post-Soviet countries : reform and continuity|date=24 April 2018|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|others=Huisman, Jeroen, Smolentseva, Anna, Froumin, Isak|series=Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education|isbn=978-3-319-52980-6|location=Cham, Switzerland|page=374|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-52980-6|oclc=1035812764|doi-access=free}}

The civil war after independence devastated the education system of the city, with state budgets falling from 11% to 2% during the time period. While state spending declined, private institutions temporarily developed in the market economy, accounting for growth in the number of universities in Dushanbe after independence.

The modern state university in Dushanbe, the Tajik State Pedagogical University, has an enrollment in the thousands. Institutions such as the Tajik Technical University, the Tajik Agrarian University, the Tajik State University of Commerce and the Technological University of Tajikistan, some of which existed during the Soviet era, grew and admitted anywhere from 5000 to 9000 students.{{Cite book|title=25 years of transformations of higher education systems in post-Soviet countries : reform and continuity|date=24 April 2018|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|others=Huisman, Jeroen, Smolentseva, Anna, Froumin, Isak|series=Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education|isbn=978-3-319-52980-6|location=Cham, Switzerland|pages=368–372|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-52980-6|oclc=1035812764|doi-access=free}} Specialized and technical schools also expanded significantly.File:Tajik National University (Main Building).jpg Today, 60% of university students in Tajikistan are enrolled in Dushanbe, which has 23 universities with 103,600 students, 13 colleges with 16,100 students enrolled and 140 schools that have 180,800 students. As of 2015, there is one national university in Dushanbe, the Tajik National University, 7 specialized universities, 4 international bilateral institutions, and 12 institutes in the capital. In the 2018/2019 academic year, there were 23 higher education institutions with 103,600 students. There were also 124 preschools and 140 general education schools in the city.

The Russian-language Russian-Tajik Slavonic University was created in the 1990s during a trend of closure of Russian language instruction due to the exodus of Russians during the civil war. The Islamic Institute of Tajikistan, created with the goal of countering Islamic extremism, had 924 students as of 2020.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-22|title=Бемайлии донишҷӯёни аз хориҷ бозгашта ба идомаи таҳсил дар Донишкадаи исломии Тоҷикистон|url=https://parstoday.com/tg/news/tajikistan-i55700|access-date=2020-09-20|website=Parstoday|language=tg}}{{Cite web|date=2018-01-01|title=РТСУ – 15 лет {{!}} Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus|url=http://www.news.tj/ru/news/rtsu-15-let|access-date=2020-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101232220/http://www.news.tj/ru/news/rtsu-15-let|archive-date=1 January 2018}} The University of International Relations, which was founded by a Tajik-American, was founded in opposition to the government and produced opposition leaders until it was shut down. In 2009, due to the efforts of Emomali Rahmon, a Dushanbe branch of the Moscow State University was opened. 70% of the instructors are Russian, while only 30% are Tajik. Other branches of Russian universities in Dushanbe include a branch of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloy and a branch of the Moscow Energy Institute.

The Tajik National University is the most prominent in the city and the country. With an enrollment of over 21,000 students and a large number of programs it is the flagship university of Tajikistan. Uniquely, the university is directly funded by the government while also being more independent of it compared to other state universities. While in principle this provides academic freedom, in reality the government is still heavily involved, censors content, and controls appointments at the university.{{Cite book|title=25 years of transformations of higher education systems in post-Soviet countries : reform and continuity|date=24 April 2018|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|others=Huisman, Jeroen, Smolentseva, Anna, Froumin, Isak|series=Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education|isbn=978-3-319-52980-6|location=Cham, Switzerland|pages=376–378|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-52980-6|oclc=1035812764|doi-access=free}} Dushanbe's education system is still heavily managed by the national government, a relic of Soviet times. Other schools include the Tajikistan Humanitarian International University, the Dushanbe International School, and the Tax Law Institute, now the Tajik State University of Finance and Economics.

{{Main|Dushanbe International Airport}}

Rashid Beck Ahriev and Peter Komarov piloted the first flight to the city from Bukhara on 3 September 1924 on a Junkers F-13; the service ran three times a week from small airfield on modern day Rudaki Avenue.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Transport|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} In 1927, the second air route in the Soviet Union opened from Tashkent to Samarkand to Termez to Dushanbe on the Junkers F-13, two years before the introduction of automobiles and five before the railway. A small Stalinabad airport was created, and in 1930 a first-class airport was constructed in the city. The first scheduled flight from the city began in 1945 on the Li-2. The state airline, Tojikiston - now known as Tajik Air - was created in 1949. In the 50s and 60s, many new aircraft were introduced to the Tajik Civil Air Fleet. The Tajik Civil Aviation Administration won first place in the USSR for efficiency in the 1980s.{{Cite web|title=Транспорт - Страница 3 из 3|url=https://www.tajik-gateway.org/wp/tag/transport/|access-date=2020-12-07|website=Tajik Development Gateway на русском языке|date=2 December 2020 |language=ru-RU}}

File:Dushanbe Airport.jpeg|View of Dushanbe International Airport

File:Dushanbe Airport (DYU).jpg|Terminal of Dushanbe International Airport

File:Dushanbe airport 161 (26129451585).jpg|Air Astana plane at Dushanbe International Airport

The city is served by Dushanbe International Airport which, as of April 2015, had regularly scheduled flights to Ürümqi, Kabul, Delhi, Dubai, Istanbul, Frankfurt, and major cities in Russia and Central Asia, amongst others. Tajik Air had its head office on the grounds of Dushanbe Airport in Dushanbe."Directory: World Airlines." Flight International. 30 March-5 April 2004. [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/2004/2004-09%20-%200321.html?search=%22Tajik%20Air%22 78]. "Titov Street 31/2, Dushanbe Airport, Dushanbe, 734006, Tajikistan." Somon Air, which opened in 2008, has its head office in Dushanbe."[http://www.somonair.com/en/page.php?pageid=65 Contacts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129052324/http://www.somonair.com/en/page.php?pageid=65 |date=29 January 2013 }}." Somon Air. Retrieved on 4 December 2010. "Contacts: 40, Titova Str. Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 734012." [http://www.somonair.com/page.php?pageid=6 Address in Tajik] : "734012, Таджикистан, Душанбе, ул. Титова, 40" The government planned to devote .18% of Tajikistan's GDP to the development of aviation in a large part in Dushanbe. Japanese investors created a cargo terminal at the airport, costing $28 million.{{Cite news|title=Маркази боркашонии фурудгоҳи Душанбе бо сармояи Ҷопон сохта шуд|url=https://www.ozodi.org/a/29317657.html|access-date=2020-11-29|website=Радиои Озодӣ|date=25 June 2018 |language=tg}}

The first road in the country, from the early 19th century, was to Guzor, traversed by camels, and made into a modern road by the Soviets. The first bus line was started in 1930 and taxi service began in 1937. Automobiles are the main form of transportation in the country and in Dushanbe. One major road goes through the mountains from Khujand to Dushanbe through the Anzob Tunnel, constructed by an Iranian operator.{{Cite web|date=2014-05-08|title=Envoy: Iran to complete Tajikistan's independence tunnel by next year|url=https://theiranproject.com/blog/2014/05/08/envoy-iran-to-complete-tajikistans-independence-tunnel-by-next-year/|access-date=2020-08-05|website=The Iran Project}} A second major road goes east from Dushanbe to Khorog in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, then to Murghab, and then splits into roads towards China and Kyrgyzstan.{{Cite web|title=2.3 Tajikistan Road Network - Logistics Capacity Assessment - Digital Logistics Capacity Assessments|url=https://dlca.logcluster.org/display/public/DLCA/2.3+Tajikistan+Road+Network|access-date=2020-08-05|website=dlca.logcluster.org|archive-date=28 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128122009/https://dlca.logcluster.org/display/public/DLCA/2.3+Tajikistan+Road+Network|url-status=dead}}

Many highway and tunnel construction projects are underway or have recently been completed ({{As of|2014|lc=y}}). Major projects include rehabilitation of the Dushanbe – Chanak (Uzbek border), Dushanbe – Kulma (Chinese border), Bokhtar – Nizhny Pyanj (Afghan border) highways and construction of tunnels under the mountain passes of Anzob, Shakhristan, Shar-SharThe {{convert|2.3|km|0|abbr=on}} [http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/2009/09/03/feature-06 Shar-Shar auto tunnel links Tajikistan to China, The 2.3km Shar-Shar car tunnel linking Tajikistan and China opened to traffic on Aug. 30, 2009 Siyavush Mekhtan] and Chormazak.[http://news.tj/en/news/chormaghzak-tunnel-renamed-khatlon-tunnel-and-shar-shar-tunnel-renamed-ozodi-tunnel Chormaghzak Tunnel renamed Khatlon Tunnel and Shar-Shar Tunnel renamed Ozodi Tunnel, 12/02/2014 15:49, Payrav Chorshanbiyev] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531131121/http://news.tj/en/news/chormaghzak-tunnel-renamed-khatlon-tunnel-and-shar-shar-tunnel-renamed-ozodi-tunnel|date=31 May 2014}}

{{See also|Rail transport in Tajikistan}}

File:Duschanbe Bahnhof.jpg]]

The first rail line in Dushanbe, which was {{Convert|245|km|mi}} long, was built from 1926 to 1929 and opened on 10 September 1929 from Vhadat to Dushanbe to Termez{{Cite web|last=Rustamov|first=Aziz|date=2017-03-22|title=Наследие Российской империи в Таджикистане: железная дорога, вокзалы, водонапорные башни|trans-title=The legacy of the Russian Empire in Tajikistan: railway, railway stations, water towers|url=http://www.fergananews.com//articles/9332|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808002049/http://www.fergananews.com//articles/9332|archive-date=2020-08-08|access-date=2020-08-05|website=Фергана.Ру|publisher=Ferghana International News Agency}}{{Cite book|last=Abdullaev, Kamoludin|title=Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan|date=2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-0252-7|page=364|chapter=Railways|oclc=1049912411}} that ultimately connected Dushanbe with Moscow. In 1933 and 1941, two other narrow-gauge railroad lines were laid from Dushanbe, to Gulpista and Kurgan-Tyube. In 2002, a new railroad administration took over that modernized the system.{{Cite web|title=Дорога через века|trans-title=Road through the Centuries|url=http://eav.ru/publ1.php?publid=2009-04a07|access-date=2020-08-05|website=eav.ru|publisher=Евразия Вести}}

Today, Tajikistan's principal railways are in the southern region and connect Dushanbe with the industrial areas of the Gissar and Vakhsh valleys and with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2009-09-01|title=Migrant Express Part 1: Good-bye Dushanbe|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBSardpSH0E| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211108/BBSardpSH0E| archive-date=2021-11-08 | url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Youtube|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}{{cbignore}} Tajikistan's railways are owned and operated by Tajik Railway. In the early 2000s, a new railway line from Dushanbe to Gharm to Jirghatol was constructed that would connect the country to Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan while not going through Uzbekistan due to contemporary geopolitical tensions. A proposed line from Dushanbe to Herat and Mashad is also being promoted by the government. On 18 June 2018, the first railway between Dushanbe and Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, completed its trip through Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan region.{{Cite news|title=Dushanbe-Astana Train Makes First Journey|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-tajikistan-train-dushanbe-astana/28563464.html|access-date=2020-08-05|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=19 June 2017 }} Tajikistan's northern railway system remains isolated from its other railway lines, including those of Dushanbe. There is also a service from Dushanbe to Khujand and the northern Uzbek town of Pakhtaabad.

{{Main|Trolleybuses in Dushanbe}}

File:Троллейбус (шаҳри Душанбе).jpg

The Dushanbe trolleybus system began on 6 April 1955 when a trolleybus administration was organized in the city. On 1 May 1955, the first Trolza trolleybus began operation on Lenin Avenue, the main avenue of Dushanbe. Routes continued to be added in 1957 and 1958 and in 1967, 9 routes were opened and the length of the network reached {{Convert|49|km|mi}}. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a crisis in the system, as fuel increased in price and looting became a consistent problem, with one incident occurring at the central bus station leading to the temporary suspension of lines. During the period, the number of trolleybuses declined from a high of 250 during the late 1980s to only 45–50. 100 new trolleybuses were ordered in 2004 which were delivered a couple years after and aided in the resumption of service.{{Cite web|date=2012-04-16|title=КАвЗ: в будущее - с оптимизмом|url=http://www.omnibus.ru/arhiv/1-2_2008/arhivarius/|access-date=2020-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416110626/http://www.omnibus.ru/arhiv/1-2_2008/arhivarius/|archive-date=16 April 2012}}{{Cite web|last=Kluczewska|first=Karolina|title=Dushanbe buses and what it means to live in a capital city|url=https://www.academia.edu/42097027|website=www.academia.edu}}

In 2020, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development gave $8 million to repair the system. As of 2020, Dushanbe had 7 trolleybus routes with 11 million passengers a years.{{Cite web|date=2020-01-27|title=EBRD finances Dushanbe trolleybus infrastructure modernisation|url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/infrastructure/ebrd-finances-dushanbe-trolleybus-infrastructure-modernisation/55572.article|access-date=2020-08-04|website=Railway Gazette International}} While trolleybuses were the main mode of transport in the Soviet era, today they account for only 2% of motorized trips.{{Cite web|title=Toward safer, cleaner, and more convenient public transport in Central Asian cities|url=https://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/toward-safer-cleaner-and-more-convenient-public-transport-central-asian-cities|access-date=2020-08-04|website=blogs.worldbank.org|date=31 July 2019 }}

Dushanbe trolleybuses are based upon the ZiU-9 trolleybus design.

• TrolZa-5264.01 "Capital" (nos 1000–1003);
• ZiU-682H-016 (012) (nos 1004–1039, 2000–2027);
• ZiU-682H-016 (018) (nos 1042, 1053, 1054, 1058, 1059, 1072–1083, 2038, 2046, 2051–2079);
• ZiU-682V (nos 1177, 2095, 2099).{{Cite web|title=Dushanbe, trolleybus — Roster|url=https://transphoto.org/list.php?t=2&cid=384|access-date=2020-08-04|website=transphoto.org}}

The construction of an above-ground metro system is due to begin in 2025.{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/19/demolishing-dushanbe-former-stalinabad-erasing-soviet-past|title=Demolishing Dushanbe: how the former city of Stalinabad is erasing its Soviet past|website=The Guardian|date=19 October 2017|access-date=7 November 2019}} The first aerial metro line is expected to be completed in 2040 and connect the Southern Gate and Gulliston (circus area).{{cite web|url=https://asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/power/20190201/subway-system-expected-to-be-built-in-tajik-capital-by-2040|title=Subway system expected to be built in Tajik capital by 2040|website=Asia plus}}

File:Tea House Rohat, Dushanbe, Tajikistan 2.jpg

Before the Soviet invasion, Dushanbe consisted of narrow streets with adobe buildings.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Buildings|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} None of the buildings from that time survived.{{cite news |last1=Robert |first1=Judith |title=Redeveloping Dushanbe |url=https://mailchi.mp/meduza.io/redeveloping-dushanbe?e=263588e574 |work=The Beet |date=December 2023}} The development of the 1920s, soon after the Soviet invasion, laid the groundwork for future development and established the beginning of the city. In the 1930s, constructivist architecture gained prominence along with the building of larger structures, often made out of concrete.{{Cite book|url=https://static.freereferats.ru/_avtoreferats/01003368308.pdf|title=ИСТОРИЯ СТАНОВЛЕНИЯ И РАЗВИТИЯ АРХИТЕКТУРЫ ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫХ ЗДАНИЙ ДУШАНБЕ (1924 началдх2000 гг.)|pages=14–16}} Several architects played a major role in the city's construction in a group headed by Peter Vaulin. He drew up a piece of legislation called "On the construction of the city of Dushanbe" which the city adopted on 27 April 1927. He implemented a constructivist design in the city, possibly inspired by his meeting with Le Corbusier in Moscow in 1929.{{Cite web|title=Первый архитектор Душанбе. Кто спроектировал главную улицу таджикской столицы {{!}} Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus|url=https://asiaplustj.info/ru/news/tajikistan/society/20200107/pervii-arhitektor-dushanbe-kto-sproektiroval-glavnuyu-ulitsu-tadzhikskoi-stolitsi|access-date=2020-08-01|website=asiaplustj.info}}

In 1934 and 1935, the Griprogor Institute, based in Leningrad, created a master plan for the construction of Dushanbe. It was approved on 3 March 1938. The city center during the reconstruction shifted to Red Square and Frunze Park, the location of many workers demonstrations and military parades into the forties. In the later half of the decade, much of the modern infrastructure and utilities for the city were created. In the 1940s, architecture was focused more on decoration and the neoclassical style.

1955 heralded in a new era of architecture with the publication of "On the elimination of excesses in the design," which eventually ended the neoclassical period and integrated the city architecture into modernist, minimalistic Soviet trends. In 1966, a new master plan for the city was created due to the city's rapid growth. File:Биноҳои Душанбе 23.jpg The first skyscraper in Dushanbe, the Hotel Dushanbe, was erected in 1964. High-rise buildings were developed in the mid-70s against the wishes of the Tajik Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, which viewed such developments as dangerous in an earthquake which they predicted would occur in the near future.

In the 1980s, more technically complex and creative designs were built by a new generation of architects along with more attention on ecological issues. In the late 1990s, more 9-12 story concrete houses were built and private companies grew to 75% of the housing market. Minimalist influences continued to be felt from the 60s up to the 90s.

In the 21st century, new construction projects such as tall skyscrapers, a new parliament building, and the national museum were or are being built. However, the new architectural styles of the modern day resulted in the demolition of many historical, Soviet-era buildings in the center of the city, such as the Central Post Office and the Mayakovsky Theatre, with the exception of a small list of 15 historically significant buildings.{{Cite web|last=Dushanbe|first=Esfandiar Adineh in|date=2017-10-19|title=Demolishing Dushanbe: how the former city of Stalinabad is erasing its Soviet past|url=http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/19/demolishing-dushanbe-former-stalinabad-erasing-soviet-past|access-date=2020-09-19|website=the Guardian}} The central city mainly consists of wide boulevards and Russian-style buildings today,{{Cite book|last=Humphrey|first=Caroline|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/815668567|title=Post-Cosmopolitan Cities : Explorations of Urban Coexistence.|date=2012|publisher=Berghahn Books|others=Vera Skvirskaja|isbn=978-0-85745-511-6|location=New York, NY|chapter=‘For Badakhshan – the Country without Borders!’: Village Cosmopolitans, Urban-Rural Networks and the Post-Cosmopolitan City in Tajikistan|oclc=815668567}} while suburban areas are comparatively underdeveloped.

File:The tallest dam in the world - 304 m (984 ft) - panoramio.jpg

In the 1930s, the use of hydroelectricity began to take off in Dushanbe, leading it to be one of the most advanced in terms of energy production in the Soviet Union at the time; today, 96% of Tajikistan's power comes from hydroelectricity.{{Cite web|title=A second coal fired power plant for the Tajik capital|url=https://bankwatch.org/blog/a-second-coal-fired-power-plant-for-the-tajik-capital|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Bankwatch}}{{Cite web|title=ИМРӮЗ — РӮЗИ ЭНЕРГЕТИКҲО. Дар давраи Истиқлолият иқтидори истеҳсолии соҳа бе назардошти НБО "Роғун" 1520 МВт зиёд шуд {{!}} АМИТ "Ховар"|url=https://khovar.tj/2019/12/imr-z-r-zi-energetik-o-dar-davrai-isti-loliyat-i-tidori-iste-solii-so-a-be-nazardoshti-nbo-ro-un-1520-mvt-ziyod-shud/|access-date=2020-09-18|language=ru|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927202136/https://khovar.tj/2019/12/imr-z-r-zi-energetik-o-dar-davrai-isti-loliyat-i-tidori-iste-solii-so-a-be-nazardoshti-nbo-ro-un-1520-mvt-ziyod-shud/|url-status=dead}} In Dushanbe, 990 million kWh were generated in 1980 which reached 1161 million kWh in 1985 but decreased significantly in 2001.

In 2007, there was a major energy crisis because of the cold winter in Dushanbe that rendered Dushanbe's Soviet-era energy system ineffective and caused a severe crisis due to lack of heating.{{Cite web|title=Crisis Looms as Bitter Cold, Blackouts Hit Tajikistan|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18784716|access-date=2020-09-18|website=NPR.org}} Since 2007, there have been energy shortages during the winter in Dushanbe.{{Cite book|last1=Fields|first1=Daryl|url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/15795/796160PUB0REPL00Box377374B00PUBLIC0.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Tajikistan's Winter Energy Crisis|last2=Kochnakyan|first2=Artur|last3=Mukhamedova|first3=Takhmina|last4=Stuggins|first4=Gary|last5=Besant-Jones|first5=John|publisher=World Bank|year=2013|location=Washington D.C.|doi=10.1596/978-0-8213-9967-5|hdl=10986/15795 |isbn=978-0-8213-9967-5}} In 2009, Tajikistan's energy trade with other countries was suspended, and in 2012, natural gas imports from Uzbekistan were cut off, which further exacerbated the crisis, although the natural gas imports were restored in 2018.{{Cite web|title=Uzbekistan resumes gas deliveries to Tajikistan {{!}} Eurasianet|url=https://eurasianet.org/uzbekistan-resumes-gas-deliveries-to-tajikistan|access-date=2020-09-18|website=eurasianet.org}} The Nurek hydroelectric dam, as of 2016, provides around 3/4 of the country's power.{{Cite news|title=Tajikistan Hit By Three-Hour Nationwide Blackout|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-nationwide-blackout-hydro-plant/28081189.html|access-date=2020-09-18|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=28 October 2016 }} New hydroelectric plants are being planned{{Cite news|title=Tajikistan Experiences Rolling Blackouts Amid Freezing Winter Temperatures|url=https://jamestown.org/program/tajikistan-experiences-rolling-blackouts-amid-freezing-winter-temperatures/|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Jamestown}} and in 2017, the government proclaimed an end to the rolling blackouts; however, in 2020, rolling blackouts continued.{{Cite web|title=Two streets and two neighborhood units of Tajik capital will be left without electricity for several hours today – Tajikistan News Gazette|url=https://tajikistannewsgazette.com/two-streets-and-two-neighborhood-units-of-tajik-capital-will-be-left-without-electricity-for-several-hours-today/|access-date=2020-11-29|archive-date=12 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212212438/https://tajikistannewsgazette.com/two-streets-and-two-neighborhood-units-of-tajik-capital-will-be-left-without-electricity-for-several-hours-today/|url-status=dead}} Barqi Tojik is the major energy producer for the city and produces 75% of the electricity in the country.{{Cite web|title=Alstom Wins 500 kV Substation Project Using GIS Tech in Tajikistan - The Gazette of Central Asia|url=http://gca.satrapia.com/+alstom-wins-500-kv-substation-project-using-gis-tech-in-tajikistan+|access-date=2020-09-18|website=gca.satrapia.com}} To alleviate the energy crisis, a second coal plant for the city is planned with extensive Chinese involvement, but has been criticized for pollution and negative environmental effects.

Varzob's three power plants generated 150 million kWh per year in 2004, and Dushanbe's power supply, built on the idea of a double ring, has an outer ring of power transmission lines from Nurek Dam to Dushanbe to Yovon at a voltage of 220 kW and an inner ring which covers the perimeter of the city and consists of 110 kW power lines.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Economic Outline|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

Tajikistan has the highest average annual precipitation in its region, along with numerous rivers, natural lakes (such as Lake Karakul), and glaciers. Most of the outdated Dushanbe water system was built during the Soviet era in 1932 and not significantly expanded afterwards even with a rising population.{{Cite web|url=https://www.acted.org/en/water-in-tajikistan-abundant-yet-challenging/|title=Water in Tajikistan, abundant yet challenging|date=5 December 2017|website=ACTED}} The Big Gissar Canal was constructed in 1942 and irrigates much of southern Tajikistan and goes from the Kofarnihon river to the Surxondaryo.{{Cite web|date=2020-03-13|title=Tajik and Uzbek specialists clear 'Big Gissar Canal'|url=https://dailymailnews.pk/2020/03/14/tajik-and-uzbek-specialists-clear-big-gissar-canal/|access-date=2020-09-27|website=Daily Mail Pakistan}} {{Dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} As of 2004, the length of the city's water supply network was {{cvt|476|km}} and mainly got its water from the Varzob, Kofarnikhon and the South-West.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Housing and Utilities|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} Water is supplied through two ground and two surface water treatment plants.{{Cite journal|last=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)|date=1998-09-18|title=Epidemic typhoid fever--Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 1997|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23309014|journal=MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report|volume=47|issue=36|pages=752–756|jstor=23309014|issn=0149-2195|pmid=9756457}} As of 2018, 40% of the city's population did not have access to sewage systems.{{Cite web|date=2019-04-28|title=Антимонопольная служба объяснила, почему вода в Душанбе подорожала {{!}} Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus|url=https://news.tj/ru/news/tajikistan/economic/20190130/antimonopolnaya-sluzhba-obyasnila-pochemu-voda-v-dushanbe-podorozhala-na-300|access-date=2020-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428130746/https://news.tj/ru/news/tajikistan/economic/20190130/antimonopolnaya-sluzhba-obyasnila-pochemu-voda-v-dushanbe-podorozhala-na-300|archive-date=28 April 2019}}

As of 2020, there are 15 parks in Dushanbe.{{Cite web|title=Ҳамаи боғҳои Душанбе дар як харита {{!}} Хабарҳои Тоҷикистон ASIA-Plus|url=https://asiaplustj.info/tj/news/tajikistan/20200831/amai-booi-dushanbe-dar-yak-harita|access-date=2020-09-19|website=asiaplustj.info}} One of the most well known is Rudaki Park, created in the mid-1930s along with a bronze statue of Lenin.{{Cite web|date=2018-12-09|title=Парк "Рудаки"|url=https://diyor.tj/park-rudaki-v-dushanbe/|access-date=2020-09-19|website=Diyor.tj|language=ru|archive-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918194214/https://diyor.tj/park-rudaki-v-dushanbe/|url-status=dead}} The park was renovated in 2007.{{Cite web|date=2013-12-03|title=ПРЕЗИДЕНТ ТАДЖИКИСТАНА ОТКРОЕТ ПАРК ИМ. РУДАКИ » "Ховар" - Национальное Информационное Агентство Таджикистана|url=http://khovar.tj/rus/archive/398-prezident-tadzhikistana-otkroet-park-im.-rudaki.html|access-date=2020-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203024311/http://khovar.tj/rus/archive/398-prezident-tadzhikistana-otkroet-park-im.-rudaki.html|archive-date=3 December 2013}} Another park is Victory Park, which was created in 1975 to commemorate the Great Patriotic War.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/767857578|title=Ėnsiklopedii︠a︡i millii Tojik|others=Qurbonov, A., Amirshoḣī, Nurmuḣammad, Қурбонов, А, Амиршоҳӣ, Нурмуҳаммад|year=2011|isbn=978-99947-33-45-3|location=Dushanbe|oclc=767857578}} The Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan was founded in 1933, and trees planted then are still prominent in the park. In 2007 a collection of folk architecture was added the park.{{Cite web|title=Ботанический сад Академии наук Таджикистана|url=https://mvd.tj/index.php/ru/kulturnoe-nasledie/27339-bo-i-markazii-botanikii-to-ikiston-2|access-date=2020-09-19|website=mvd.tj|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417104944/https://mvd.tj/index.php/ru/kulturnoe-nasledie/27339-bo-i-markazii-botanikii-to-ikiston-2|url-status=dead}}

File:Ustod Rudaki Park and Palace of the Nation in Dushanbe - panoramio.jpg|Rudaki Park with the Palace of the Nation in the background.

File:Лошадь и мельница 01.jpg|Folk architecture area of the botanical gardens

File:Botanical gardens 2 - panoramio.jpg|Dushanbe botanical gardens

File:Российские военнослужащие приняли участие в параде в Таджикистане 02.jpg|A parade in Victory Park

File:World war 2 memorial, victory park (2) - panoramio.jpg|World War 2 memorial in Victory Park

File:Hammond Slides Dushanbe 08.jpg

There are 5 main and 14 unrecognized cemeteries in Dushanbe.{{Cite web|title=Сколько захоронено в Душанбе людей и как содержатся столичные кладбища? {{!}} Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus|url=https://asiaplustj.info/ru/news/tajikistan/society/20191013/skolko-zahoroneno-v-dushanbe-lyudei-i-kak-soderzhatsya-stolichnie-kladbitsha|access-date=2020-09-19|website=asiaplustj.info}} One of the 5 mains ones is Mekhrobod, founded in 2013, that consists of 74 acres of primarily tombstones. For a period of 9 months in 2019, 78 people were buried there. Luchob cemetery, also one of the five, uses commemorative steles to remember the dead and houses more well-known figures. As of October 2019, 54 people were buried there such as Jabbor Rasulov, Bobojon Ghafurov, Muhammad Osimi, Mirzo Tursunzade, Loik Sherali, Muhammadjon Shakuri, Malika Sabirova, Tufa Fozylova, and Mukaddima Ashrafi. It was founded in 1977 and uses the smallest amount of land of the five. In 2017, the government secretly moved many national figures from Aini park to Luchob cemetery, sparking outrage.{{Cite news|title='A Park Isn't A Graveyard': Tajikistan Secretly Reburies Remains Of The Elite|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-park-graveyard-remains-reburied/28808001.html|access-date=2020-09-19|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=21 October 2017 }}

Sari Osiyo, founded in 1933, is another one of the five cemeteries. It is one of the oldest in the city and has graves from the late 19th century. For the 9-month period in 2019, 225 were buried here. The Christian cemetery is another one of the five, the least visited although frequented by the 201st Russian division. It uses 84.3 hectares of land and saw 197 new graves over the same nine-month period. Shokhmansur is the last of the five main cemeteries and saw 65 burials over the 9-month period. The Jewish cemetery of the city, one of the fourteen unofficial ones, is looked after by the Congress of Bukharian Jews.{{Cite web|date=2018-11-13|title=The history of the last synagogue in Tajikistan|url=https://cabar.asia/en/the-history-of-the-last-synagogue-in-tajikistan/|access-date=2020-09-19|website=CABAR.asia}}

File:Big Hospital.jpg

In 1925, Dushanbe city hospital and the ambulance system was created, and numerous medical facilities sprung up during the decade. In 1939, an infectious disease hospital was created and in the same year the Stalinabad Medical Institute was founded. During World War 2 up to the Tajik Civil War, the healthcare system significantly expanded through hospitals and specialized clinics.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Health Care|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

File:Sanatorium Khodjaobigarm 01.jpg

Tajikistan's health care system is concentrated in Dushanbe.{{Cite web|title=Tajikistan Health system review|url=https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/119691/E94243.pdf|access-date=19 September 2020|archive-date=4 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104181020/https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/119691/E94243.pdf|url-status=dead}} There is a well-developed network of city clinics, hospitals, medical centers, maternity hospitals, orphanages, sanitary and epidemiological centers - a total of 62 medical institutions in the city as of spring 2010. These 62 treatment and prevention facilities include 17 hospitals, 2 orphanages, 14 city health centers, 5 dental clinics, 8 centers of sanitary and epidemiological surveillance and disincentives, 12 city branch centers and 4 support centers.{{Cite web|date=2010-06-09|title=Чархи Гардун|url=http://www.gazeta.tj/index%20vd.htm|access-date=2021-01-16|website=Charkhi Gardun|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609023654/http://www.gazeta.tj/index%20vd.htm|archive-date=9 June 2010}} In 2019, the number of hospitals grew to 43. Primary health care for Dushanbe residents (and guests of the city) is provided in 39 institutions (city health centers, dental clinics, centers for sanitary and epidemiological surveillance and de-stations, city branch centers).{{Cite web|date=2019-10-09|title=Здравоохранение > Социальная сфера > Официальный сайт Исполнительного органа государственной власти города Душанбе|url=http://dushanbe.tj:80/ru/social/health/|access-date=2021-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009042715/http://dushanbe.tj/ru/social/health/|archive-date=9 October 2019|url-status=live}}

Among the main medical institutions of Dushanbe are specialized republican hospitals and centers, city polyclinics No. 1-5, the city infectious diseases hospital, the children's infectious diseases hospital, and the departmental hospitals of the country's power ministries.[http://www.yellow-pages.kz/tj/ru/companies/0/000110/ Медицина: лікарні, госпіталі, клініки] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817015636/http://www.yellow-pages.kz/tj/ru/companies/0/000110/|date=17 серпень 2010}} на [http://www.yellow-pages.kz/tj/ www.yellow-pages.kz/tj/ (Таджикистан: індустріально-комерційний довідник)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518192329/http://www.yellow-pages.kz/tj/|date=18 травень 2014}} («Жовті сторінки» Таджикистану) Citizens receive care through their assigned clinics in the city. Some hospitals in Dushanbe include the Mansurov Clinic, the Tajik Railways Hospital, the Shifobakhsh National Medical Center, and the Istiqlol Medical Complex.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-05|title=Бозгашти беморхонаҳо ба ҳолати муқаррарӣ дар Душанбе|url=https://pressa.tj/tajikistan/bozgashti-bemorhona%d2%b3o-ba-%d2%b3olati-mu%d2%9barrar%d3%a3-dar-dushanbe/|access-date=2020-09-19|website=Pressa.tj|language=tg}} Khoja Obi Garm, a Soviet-era sanatorium, still is in operation today and uses radon treatments, among others.{{Cite web|title=In the Soviet Sanatorium {{!}} Khoja Obi Garm Spa - Koryo Tours|url=https://koryogroup.com/blog/in-the-soviet-sanatorium|access-date=2020-09-19|website=koryogroup.com|date=7 November 2018 }} Temporary hospitals were established during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|title=Temporary Hospital for COVID-19 Patients Opened in Dushanbe Today – Tajikistan News Gazette|url=https://tajikistannewsgazette.com/temporary-hospital-for-covid-19-patients-opened-in-dushanbe-today/|access-date=2020-12-07|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920170446/https://tajikistannewsgazette.com/temporary-hospital-for-covid-19-patients-opened-in-dushanbe-today/|url-status=dead}}

File:Офис Амонатбанка.jpg

In 2018, the gross regional product (GRP) of Dushanbe was 13,808,000,000 somoni, equaling approximately $1,508,900,000, with a growth rate of 7.3%. That comprised 20.1% of the overall GDP of Tajikistan.{{Cite web|date=2020-01-28|title=Рушди иқтисодиёт / Сомонаи расмии Мақомоти иҷроияи ҳокимияти давлатии шаҳри Душанбе|url=https://www.dushanbe.tj/rushdi-i-tisodiyot|access-date=2020-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128210204/https://www.dushanbe.tj/rushdi-i-tisodiyot|archive-date=28 January 2020}} In the first half of 2020, the GRP of Dushanbe was 20.7% of the GDP of the country.{{Cite web|title=Рушди иқтисодиёт / Сомонаи расмии Мақомоти иҷроияи ҳокимияти давлатии шаҳри Душанбе|url=https://www.dushanbe.tj/rushdi-i-tisodiyot|access-date=2020-09-24|website=www.dushanbe.tj}} The average salary of the city {{As of|2014|lc=y}} is 1402.67 somoni, or ${{To USD|1402.67|Tajikistan|year=2019}}. As the center of financial activity of the republic, Dushanbe housed more than 30 commercial banks in 2004.

Dushanbe has extensive international trade. Exports from Dushanbe consisted of $8,343,200 during the first half of 2019,{{Cite web|title=Саноат / Сомонаи расмии Мақомоти иҷроияи ҳокимияти давлатии шаҳри Душанбе|url=https://www.dushanbe.tj/promyshlennost-|access-date=2020-09-25|website=www.dushanbe.tj}} and overall foreign trade turnover was $398,080,900 in 2018. The primary countries Dushanbe exports to are Turkey (42.8% of the total), Iran (28.0%), Russia (10.8%), Afghanistan (7.3%), China (1.2%), Poland (1.2%), and others. For imports, Russia makes up 54.5% of the total, Kazakhstan 13.5%, China 6.8%, Italy 3.4%, Turkey 2.6%, Turkmenistan 2.5%, Ukraine 2.1%, Iran 1.4%, the United Arab Emirates 1.2%, and others make up the rest.{{Cite web|title=Шарҳи мухтасари рушди иҷтимоию иқтисодии шаҳри Душанбе > Маълумот > Сомонаи расмии Мақомоти иҷроияи маҳаллии ҳокимияти давлатӣ дар шаҳри Душанбе|url=http://old.dushanbe.tj/info/socioecondevelop/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=old.dushanbe.tj|archive-date=4 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604211614/http://old.dushanbe.tj/info/socioecondevelop/|url-status=dead}} File:Dushanbe, Tajikistan - panoramio (102).jpg

During and during the decade after the Soviet invasion, most industries were focused on meeting local demand with local materials. Meat packing, soap production, bricks, lumber, silk thread, leather, clothing, and generation of electric power were all local industries during the time period. In 1932, 776 workers were employed in industry, while in 1938, 12 thousand were. During World War 2, the city's industry grew significantly with the Soviet decision to relocate industry eastwards to cities like Dushanbe, specifically light industries like textile manufacturing and food processing. Industry output increased by 2.5 times from 1940 to 1945. About 1/3 of the industrial and white-collar labor force of Tajikistan is located in Dushanbe, despite containing less than 10 percent of Tajikistan's population. From January to August 2019, there were 455 manufacturing companies in Dushanbe, producing 1,644,745,400 Somoni worth of products. The majority of that, 63.9%, was from the processing industry, 34.5% was from electricity, water, gas, and air purification, and the other 1.6% was from the non-metallic construction industry. The industry produces over 300 types of products.{{Cite web|title=/ Исполнительный орган государственной власти города Душанбе|url=https://www.dushanbe.tj/ru/promyshlennost-|access-date=2020-09-25|website=www.dushanbe.tj}} Exports from the industrial sector consisted of $1,535,500 during the time period.

The main industrial products exported from the city are cotton yarn, finished cotton fabrics, hosiery, cable products, agricultural products, tobacco products, and trade equipment, among others. Industry, as of 2019, employed 20746 people, with an average salary of 1428.02 somoni. Light industry is the most mature industry in the city, aided by the location of raw materials in the country. Some large companies in light industry are Nassoch, which processes large amounts of cotton fiber, Chevar and Guliston, which both produce garments, and Nafisa, which produces hosiery. The electrical, engineering, and metallurgical industries are also prominent in the republic. Tajiktekstilmash, which produces varied products for agriculture and electricity, and Tajikcable, which produces cables, are two well known companies from that sector of the economy. Somon-Tachkhizot, which produces electronic goods, Torgmash, which produces goods for trading companies, and Valve Plant, which produces iron products are some other prominent companies in the industry. The food processing industry also has a presence in the city with many wineries, dairy and meatpacking plants, canneries, and bakeries all in the city. Various other industries exist in the city as well. These include the building materials industry, which produces cement, oil (with 3 main gas deposits) and plastics;{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Natural Conditions|oclc=65068362}} the wood industry; and the printing industry, which consists of 80% of the republic's capacity and began in 1926.

In 2014, the retail sector was involved in 2.6 billion somoni of transactions. In the service sector, hotels, restaurants, canteens and cafes sold services worth 296.6 million somoni. The paid services of the city in 2014 amounted to 5662.2 somoni per capita.File:Dushanbe 2010 01 Hotel Tajikistan.jpg

Dushanbe is the capital of tourism of the Economic Cooperation Organization and is served by more than 40 hotels. The building of 9 modern hotels, with room for more than 1000 people, is being planned.{{Cite web|title=Душанбе - столица туризма|url=http://narodnaya.tj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10135:2019-10-10-05-02-36&catid=109:god-turizma-i-remesel&Itemid=267|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Народная газета|language=ru|archive-date=10 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810182927/http://narodnaya.tj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10135:2019-10-10-05-02-36&catid=109:god-turizma-i-remesel&Itemid=267|url-status=dead}}

In 2018 and 2019, numerous initiatives, such as Dushanbe becoming a member of the World Tourism Cities Federation, different festivals, legislation promoting the city, an art gallery, and the establishment of the Year of Tourism and Folk Crafts in 2018 all served to promote the tourism industry. The Dushanbe Summer Fest, another promoted festival, is notable for its internet connectivity.{{Cite web|title=Сайёҳӣ / Сомонаи расмии Мақомоти иҷроияи ҳокимияти давлатии шаҳри Душанбе|url=https://www.dushanbe.tj/turizm|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.dushanbe.tj}}{{Cite web|title=/ Исполнительный орган государственной власти города Душанбе|url=https://www.dushanbe.tj/ru/turizm|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.dushanbe.tj}}{{Cite web|date=2018-09-14|title=Dushanbe's Millennials Are Reconnecting a Broken City — With the Internet|url=https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/dushanbes-millennials-are-reconnecting-a-broken-city-with-the-internet/89082/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=OZY|archive-date=26 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926022338/https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/dushanbes-millennials-are-reconnecting-a-broken-city-with-the-internet/89082/|url-status=dead}} Compared with the rest of the country, however, Dushanbe is a less popular tourist destination, partially due to its relatively recent founding and lack of historical significance.{{Cite web|title=Туризм в Таджикистане: достижения и барьеры|url=http://project75783.tilda.ws/tj_travel|access-date=2020-09-26|website=project75783.tilda.ws}} Museums in the city include the Tajikistan National Museum, founded in 1934,{{Cite web|title=Tajikistan National Museum|url=https://mvd.tj/index.php/en/cultural-heritage/27341-osorkhonai-millii-to-ikiston-3|access-date=2020-10-10|website=mvd.tj|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927044721/https://mvd.tj/index.php/en/cultural-heritage/27341-osorkhonai-millii-to-ikiston-3|url-status=dead}} and the Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments, which contains Pamiri and Badakshani musical instruments.{{Cite web|title=Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments {{!}} Aga Khan Development Network|url=https://www.akdn.org/akma/project/gurminj-museum-musical-instruments|access-date=2020-10-10|website=www.akdn.org}}

Culture in Dushanbe, first developed during the period of Bukharan rule, grew under the Soviet Union, which established many of the first cultural institutions of the city. After independence, Dushanbe's culture went in a more nationalist direction.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

File:Народная мелодия в исполнении Насибы Омонбоевой и Камолиддина Хамдамова.jpg

During the 19th century, shashmaqam was the most prevalent musical genre in Tajikistan. While Soviet authorities labeled it as "music composed for the Emir" and repressed it, in modern times it has gained greater popularity.

During the Soviet period, the Soviet Union encouraged the development of music in Dushanbe, a less culturally crowded place then typical Russian megacities. Revolutionary songs, like the Marseillaise, were promoted and translated into Tajik.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Cinema|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} The Tajik Philharmonic Society was founded in 1938; today, it is named after Akasharif Juraev.{{Cite web|title=Festive event dedicated to the Day of Tajik Militia (video)|url=https://mvd.tj/index.php/en/information/news-archive/26056-tantani-idona-bakhshida-ba-r-zi-militsiya-3|access-date=2020-08-16|website=mvd.tj|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408232300/https://mvd.tj/index.php/en/information/news-archive/26056-tantani-idona-bakhshida-ba-r-zi-militsiya-3|url-status=dead}}{{Cite book|last=Abazov, Rafis|title=Tajikistan|date=2006|publisher=Marshall Cavendish Benchmark|isbn=0-7614-2012-6|page=109|oclc=859079567}} Sergei Artemevich Balasanyan, an Armenian, was one composer who originally went to Dushanbe from 1936–1943 to prepare the SSR for an upcoming Tajik cultural festival to be held in Moscow. While we was there, he described himself as a "composer, social-musical worker, folklorist, and pedagogue." He also became the head of the Tajik Composer's Union and the artistic lead of the opera house.{{Cite web|title=Opera as the highest stage of Socialism {{!}} IIAS|url=https://www.iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/opera-highest-stage-socialism|access-date=2020-08-16|website=www.iias.asia}} Large numbers of Russian and Ukrainian symphonies moved to Dushanbe during World War 2.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Theater|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

The Tajik Opera and Ballet Theater, whose building was named after Sadriddin Ayni and was the first opera house in Dushanbe, was founded in 1936.{{Cite web|title=Таджикский Театр Оперы И Балета в музыкальной энциклопедии|url=http://www.music-dic.ru/html-music-enc/t/7385.html|access-date=2020-08-16|website=www.music-dic.ru|archive-date=2 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002040448/http://www.music-dic.ru/html-music-enc/t/7385.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=История театра|url=http://operabalet.tj/%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%8f-%d1%82%d0%b5%d0%b0%d1%82%d1%80%d0%b0/|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Театр Оперы И Балета|language=ru|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814010414/http://operabalet.tj/%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0/|url-status=dead}} The first opera performed, the first in history of Tajikistan, was The Vose Uprising and detailed a peasants' revolt in eastern Bukhara in the late 19th century.{{Cite web|date=2016-12-11|title=istoriya-teatra|url=http://operabalet.tj/istoriya-teatra.html|access-date=2020-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211031356/http://operabalet.tj/istoriya-teatra.html|archive-date=11 December 2016}} One notable singer of the opera was Hanifa Mavlianova.{{Cite web|title=Таджикский театр оперы и балета им. С.Айни|url=https://www.kino-teatr.ru/teatr/post/770/foto/|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Кино-Театр.РУ}}

Another musician to come to Dushanbe during the Soviet period was Aleksandr Lensky, a Moldovan who came to Tajikistan in 1937. He was the artistic director of the Lahuti Theatre, director of the Tajik Philharmonic, and first secretary of the Tajik Union of Composers. He also composed the first Tajik opera and many orchestral pieces. Another orchestra in Dushanbe is the Opera Orchestra.{{Cite web|date=2011-11-20|title=Tajikistan honors Iranian conductor Arash Amini|url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/394002/Tajikistan-honors-Iranian-conductor-Arash-Amini|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Tehran Times}} The State Symphony Orchestra of Tajikistan was founded in 2016, and its first concert took place on 9 September 2016.{{Cite web|title=State Symphony orchestra will be created in Tajikistan {{!}} Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus|url=https://www.asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/society/20160825/state-symphony-orchestra-will-be-created-tajikistan|access-date=2020-08-16|website=www.asiaplustj.info}}{{Cite web|title=The first performance of the State Symphony orchestra of Tajikistan will be held on the 9th of September {{!}} Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus|url=https://asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/society/20160901/230340|access-date=2020-08-16|website=asiaplustj.info}} The Tajik Opera and Ballet Theater continues operating to this day and has won the Order of Lenin. At various times the opera house performed operas on modern, historical, national, revolutionary, and heroic themes.

The Tajik Opera and Ballet Theater also had the first ballet performed in Dushanbe in 1941, entitled Two Roses, and the ballet troupe gradually grew over time.{{Cite web|title=Ayni Academic Opera and Ballet Theater|url=http://www.dushanbehotels.ru/eng/dushanbe/ayni-opera-ballet-theatre.htm|access-date=2020-08-16|website=www.dushanbehotels.ru|archive-date=21 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621130611/http://www.dushanbehotels.ru/eng/dushanbe/ayni-opera-ballet-theatre.htm|url-status=dead}} The troupe was improved with graduates from the Leningrad Choreographic School with ballet dancers such as Malika Sabirova. The theater was refitted in 2009 and continues operating to this day.{{Cite web|title=Ayni Opera & Ballet Theatre {{!}} Dushanbe, Tajikistan Entertainment|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/tajikistan/dushanbe/entertainment/ayni-opera-ballet-theatre/a/poi-ent/443290/357580|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Lonely Planet}}File:Ayni Opera Theatre, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.jpg

The 1920s saw the birth of drama in the city. The first, Lahouti theater, was built in 1929. In the 1930s, Soviet themes like class struggle, fighting against the past, and gender equality were prominent in plays. In 1935, the Tajik Musical Theater, now the Ayni theater, was built. A comedy troupe was created in 1944 and after the war young artists influenced plays in Dushanbe, influencing the creation of the Tajik State Youth Theater.

Continuing with a nationalist tradition, Tajik classics were made into plays. During World War 2, plays were focused on the war and historical themes from the 1950s onward. In the 70s and 80s foreign plays, like Oedipus Rex, were introduced to Dushanbe. After independence, plays focused primarily on the devastating civil war. Today, some theaters are the Tajik Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, the State Russian Drama Theater, the youth theater, the State Experimental Theater, and the republican puppet theater.

The Mayakovsky Theatre was Tajikistan's oldest theatre and last surviving Russian-language theatre company; it was demolished in 2016 as part of the government's wholesale destruction of numerous 20th-century buildings of historical and architectural interest.{{Cite web|title=Actors Mourn as Tajikistan's Oldest Theater Is Torn Down {{!}} Eurasianet|url=https://eurasianet.org/actors-mourn-tajikistans-oldest-theater-torn-down|access-date=2021-02-26|website=eurasianet.org}}

File:Mirsaid-mirshakar.jpg

The first printing press in Tajikistan was created in August 1924, the Tajik State Publishing House, the Donish Publishing House was founded in 1944. In 1925 4 books were printed, which grew to 13 in 1926. In 1930, Sadriddin Ayni wrote the first Tajik novel, Dokhunda.{{Cite journal|last=Seay|first=Nicholas|date=2020-12-15|title=Soviet-Tajik Writing Intelligentsia in the Late 1930s|journal=RUDN Journal of Russian History|volume=19|issue=1|pages=119–135|doi=10.22363/2312-8674-2020-19-1-119-135|issn=2312-8690|doi-access=free}} Publishing houses established in 1934 and the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan publishing house dramatically increased book production in the city.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Print, Radio, and Television|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} The Maorif Publishing House was created in 1975. In 2004, there were 30 publishing companies in the city.

Dushanbe became the center of Tajik literature in the 1920s with figures such as Sadriddin Ayni, Abolqasem Lahouti, and Payrav Sulaymoni along with new Soviet literature calling for revolution and social equality and Tajik nationalist literature. Children's books and translated works also had their beginnings in this period. In the 1930s, young Russian writers influenced the literature of the city, part of the "Komsomol generation." The themes often touched on the rapid development of Dushanbe during the 30s.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Literary Life|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

During World War 2, literature shifted towards patriotic and militaristic themes of protecting the motherland in shorter formats than novels. Messages from the frontlines and satires became popular. Russian literature also became known, partially due to the movement of factories and people from the frontlines of the war to the east. After the war, prose works and poetry, with poets like Mirzo Tursunzoda, became more popular along with the continuation of genres from previous decades. Literary criticism developed along with analysis of individual writers.

From the 1950s, the historical revolutionary genre developed, prompting authors to use history for inspiration. In the 60s the new genre of science fiction began in the city with writers like Mirsaid Mirshakar. In the 70s and 80s the themes of disorder gained more prominence, not coincidentally soon before the Soviet Union's collapse. In poetry, civic and philosophical lyrical themes were most popular. After independence, previously forbidden subjects like religion started to appear in literature, along with reflections on the civil war and a more international scene has developed in the city.

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Sculpture was first introduced to Dushanbe in the 1920s and throughout the Soviet period was focused on combining modern culture and a classical heritage. Modern sculpture mainly has historical subjects like Firdavsi, Shah Anushirvan, or Ismail Samani, often to commemorate Tajik nationhood and ethnicity by looking to past Achaemenid and Samanid figures.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Fine and Decorative Applied Arts|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}

File:Монументальный ансамбль.JPG|Statue of Rudaki

File:Умари Хайём (4).jpg|Statue of Omar Khayyam

File:Dushanbe Lenin.jpg|Statue of Lenin

File:Монумент Авицене.JPG|Statue of Avicenna

Painting in Dushanbe took off when Russian painters moved to this city in the 20s and 30s. By the 50s, Tajik artists started to paint. In the 1960s, the severe style [ru] grew and in the 70s and 80s a focus on Tajik heritage and nationalism was predominant. In the late 80s, however, painting shifted from a focus on historical figures to emotional depth and personality. During the civil war, a theme of conflict in painting developed. Sabzali Sharipov's black and white series, for example, was devoted to the civil war.{{Cite web|last=Ulugova|first=Lola|date=January 2020|title=Tajik Artists Lead Social Change: The Role of Art in Questioning Tajik Traditional Values|url=https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CAP-Paper-227-Lola-Ulugova.pdf}}

{{See also|Cinema of Tajikistan}}

File:Кинотеатри Ватан.jpg

Cinema in Dushanbe started in the 1930s with the creation of film studios and cinemas by the Soviet government, although the first cinema was created in 1927 where residents watched Nibelung by Frits Lang. Komil Yarmatov was the first prominent Tajik film director. Documentaries were also popular in this period, and the first feature film appeared in 1938. In World War 2, feature film production in Dushanbe was suspended due to lack of supplies. After the war, more feature films were developed, with many movies attempting to create a portrait of the city. In the 1980s a new generation of filmmakers brought new values such a pluralism into the theater, which led to some films focusing on the truth of Soviet history. During the civil war, the landscape changed dramatically. Tajikfilm, which formerly had a monopoly on filmmaking, had to shut down, while independent filmmakers chronicled the horrors of the civil war.{{Cite book|last=M.|first=Davidzon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11399951|title=Dushanbe, a guide|date=1983|publisher=Raduga|page=30|oclc=11399951}}

Gymnastics, equestrian sports and athletics were practiced in 1923 at the Dushanbe sports club and in 1929 tennis was introduced. The All-Tajik Spartakiad was first held in 1934, and in 1939 Dynamo Dushanbe won the quarterfinals of the Cup of the USSR. In 1950 the country's soccer team took first place in the Central Asian Games.

In 2003, Dushanbe hosted the Central Asian Games. The most popular sports in Dushanbe are sambo, wrestling, judo, karate, taekwondo, artistic gymnastics, weightlifting, archery, shooting, boxing, football, basketball, diving, tennis, chess, Buzkashi, and checkers.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Physical Culture and Sports|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}} Four soccer teams of the Tajikistan Higher League play in Dushanbe: CSKA Pamir,{{Cite web|title=ЦСКА "Памир" расстался с главным тренером Рахматулло Фузайловым – Федерация Футбола Таджикистана|url=http://fft.tj/tsska-pamir-rasstalsya-s-glavnym-trenerom-rahmatullo-fuzajlovym/|access-date=2020-09-27|language=ru}} Dushanbe-83,{{Cite web|date=2020-04-26|title=Matchday ends, Tajikistan league shuts down|url=https://www.besoccer.com/new/matchday-ends-tajikistan-league-shuts-down-826996|access-date=2021-03-05|website=BeSoccer}} Istiklol,{{Cite web|date=2011-02-17|title=О нас|url=http://www.fc-istiklol.tj/2010-11-22-09-33-52.html|access-date=2020-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217150827/http://www.fc-istiklol.tj/2010-11-22-09-33-52.html|archive-date=17 February 2011}} and Lokomotiv-Pamir.{{Cite web|title=Заявка ЦСКА (Душанбе) для участия в сезоне-2.. {{!}} Федерация футбола Таджикистана {{!}} VK|url=https://m.vk.com/wall-125505143_20571|access-date=2020-09-27|website=m.vk.com}} The Pamir Stadium in Dushanbe was constructed in 1939 where CSKA Pamir Dushanbe played.{{Cite web|date=2018-04-25|title=Официальный сайт ФК Истиклол|url=http://fc-istiklol.tj/index.php?view=2&inner=3|access-date=2020-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425120154/http://fc-istiklol.tj/index.php?view=2&inner=3|archive-date=25 April 2018}} Dushanbe Stadium is currently being constructed and will seat 30,000 when completed.{{Cite web|last=turkmenportal|title=В Душанбе возводят современный 30-тысячный стадион {{!}} Спорт|url=https://turkmenportal.com/blog/24771/v-dushanbe-vozvodyat-sovremennyi-30tysyachnyi-stadion|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Туркменистан, интернет портал о культурной, деловой и развлекательной жизни в Туркменистане|language=ru}}

File:شماره یکم بخارای شریف.jpg

The first newspaper published in Tajik was Bukhara Sharif in Kagan on 11 March 1912 and published by leaders of the Jadid movement like Mirzo Jalol Yusufzoda. The purpose of the newspaper was to "be a scientific, literary, directional, subject, and economic publication that will strive for the spread of civilization and the idea." Soon after, however, Ivan Petrov requested that the Emir of Bukhara close the paper, which he did on 2 January 1913.{{Cite book|last=Mulloev|first=Sharif|url=https://mulloevsharif.wordpress.com/%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9-%D0%B6%D1%83%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8/|title=История таджикской журналистики: учебно-методическое пособие для студентов отделения журналистики.|publisher=Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University - Department of History and Theory of Journalism and Electronic Media|year=2009|editor-last=Usmonov|location=Dushanbe|trans-title=History of Tajik journalism: a textbook for students of journalism.|editor-last2=Chigrin}}

Oina and Mullo Nasreddin were two of the earliest Tajik language magazines. The Zvezda Vostok magazine was published in Tajik in the early 1920s in support of the October Revolution. The first Soviet newspaper distributed in Tajikistan was Shulai Inkilob (Flame of the Revolution) as propaganda for the Soviet government in 1919. It was distributed throughout Tajikistan and was the main Tajik language newspaper that opposed the previous Emirate and was clearly in support of communism, the October Revolution, and the Bukharan Communist Party.

The first Soviet newspaper published in Tajikistan was {{Transliteration|ru|Po basmachi}} which detailed the conditions of the Red Army in Tajikistan in 1923 during the Basmachi movement. In 1924, the newspaper Voice of the East ({{langx|ru|Овози шарк}} or {{lang|ru|Голос Востока}}), the first Soviet government newspaper was published in Dushanbe and was a forum for much of the poetry and literature of the young republic. In 1925, the official newspaper of Soviet Tajikistan was "{{Transliteration|tg|Bedorii tochik}}" (Awakening of the Tajiks). An Uzbek-language paper, Red Tajikistan, was published in Tajikistan as well. Sadriddin Ayni also published many newspapers such as Bukhara News, Horpustak, and Flame of the Revolution.

In 1929, the newspaper Red Tajikistan came into print with a large daily circulation of 5000. In the 1930s Komsomolets Tadzhikistana was published as a communist paper intended for the youth of Tajikistan. Many other newspapers were published during this time as well. The press often emphasized the collective farming system and the newspaper Dehkoni Kambagal was popular among farmers.

During World War 2 newspaper production was strained as raw materials became increasingly scarce and their numbers were reduced. After the war, the many newspapers from the 30s began to be produced once again. In the 60s and 70s the newspaper Communist of Tajikistan gained prominence, winning the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. International cooperation was to be emphasized during the time period.

During perestroika, newspapers embraced more liberal and democratic ideas. One of the first to do this was the Komsomol of Tajikistan. Farkhang, a new literary magazine, published national Tajik and Islamic literature banned before such as the Masnavi. The Sukhan newspaper, published by the Union of Journalists of Tajikistan, was a leading voice for liberalism and perestroika in the republic, writing about topics such as freedom of speech, democratization, and the opposition. The first publication not released by the state was from Rastokhez, printed in Lithuania and delivered to Dushanbe. The Democratic Party of Tajikistan published a paper, Justice, in Dushanbe as well which had a circulation of 25000. Charogi Ruz, or Light of Day, was the first private publication in Dushanbe, and advertised itself as the free tribune for youth. Free publications such as Oinai zindagi (by trade unions), Somon, Haftgandzh, and others formed. Today, Charogi Ruz is known for its criticism of the ruling government.{{Cite web|date=2012-01-13|title=In Russia, unknown attacker stabs exiled Tajik journalist|url=https://cpj.org/2012/01/in-russia-unknown-attacker-stabs-exiled-tajik-jour/|access-date=2020-08-17|website=Committee to Protect Journalists}}

In August 1999 there were officially 199 newspapers, although only 17 of those appeared regularly. Some of the most widely circulated national government publications are Dzhumhuriet and Narodna Gazeta. In addition to the state news agency Khovar (News), there are several private newspapers, including Asia-Plus, which regularly publishes in Russian and English and reports on political, social and economic issues, Jumhuriyat, and Khalk ovozi.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gP_-8rXzQs8C&pg=PA4091|title=The Europa World Year: Kazakhstan - Zimbabwe|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group|year=2004|isbn=978-1-85743-255-8|page=4091|access-date=10 May 2016}}{{Cite journal|title=An Overview of the Media in Tajikistan|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/tajikistan/Tajik99n-04.htm|journal=Human Rights Watch|volume=11|issue=November 1999}} In 2019 there were 37 regular newspapers and 37 magazines published in the city.

In 1924 a radio station was built in Dushanbe for military communication. On 10 April 1930 the first radio broadcast was heard by civilians in Tajikistan, from Moscow. It functioned as a news source and a source of Soviet propaganda. The first station, in Dushanbe, mainly focused on retransmitted broadcasts from Moscow and radios gradually became more prevalent in the country. While development slowed during World War 2, afterwards Tajikistan received higher broadband and quality radio stations and broadcasts.

In 1977, locally created radio broadcasts were able to be transmitted from Dushanbe thanks to the construction of the Radio House in the city. In 2000, the Sadoi Dushanbe Radio was created, and today that is one of the four programs broadcast in Dushanbe.

As of August 1999 government radio is broadcast throughout the nation along with independent outlets such as Asia Plus radio. Radio Liberty, the BBC, and Sadoi Khuroson are also broadcast in Tajik, although no independent radio stations were in operation.

On 7 November 1959 the first television center was created in the republic, the Tajik Television Studio. In 1967 programs from Moscow and Tashkent were broadcast in the country and on 15 November 1975 color television was introduced. As of August 1999 12 to 15 stations broadcast consistently. Many Russian language channels like ORT, RTR, and TV-6 broadcast as well. Today, a greater number of private television stations operate in the city, with 15 in the whole country, although there are still 7 state owned channels.{{Cite web|date=2019|title=Media Sustainability Index: Tajikistan|url=https://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/pdf/media-sustainability-index-europe-eurasia-2019-tajikistan.pdf|publisher=International Research & Exchanges Board}}

• Zebo Aminzoda (born 1948), Tajikistani ballet dancer and choreographer
• Viktor Bout (born 1967), Russian convicted arms dealer
• Farruh Negmat-Zadeh (born 1959), Tajikistani artist
• Zoya Tajikova (born 1935), Tajik musicologist
• Vazgen Manasyan (1958–2024), Tajikistani professional football coach and player of Armenian descent

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Asia#Tajikistan|l1=List of twin towns and sister cities in Tajikistan}}

File:Boulder Dushanbe table.JPG]]

Dushanbe is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Бародаршаҳрҳо|url=https://dushanbe.tj/goroda-pobratimy|website=dushanbe.tj|publisher=Dushanbe|language=tg|access-date=2021-01-19}}

{{div col|colwidth=16em}}

• {{flagicon|TUR}} Ankara, Turkey
• {{flagicon|TKM}} Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
• {{flagicon|KAZ}} Astana, Kazakhstan
• {{flagicon|AZE}} Baku, Azerbaijan
• {{flagicon|USA}} Boulder, United States
• {{flagicon|QAT}} Doha, Qatar
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Hainan, China
• {{flagicon|PAK}} Islamabad, Pakistan
• {{flagicon|AUT}} Klagenfurt, Austria
• {{flagicon|PAK}} Lahore, Pakistan
• {{flagicon|ZMB}} Lusaka, Zambia
• {{flagicon|AFG}} Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
• {{flagicon|BLR}} Minsk, Belarus
• {{flagicon|TUN}} Monastir, Tunisia
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Qingdao, China
• {{flagicon|GER}} Reutlingen, Germany
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Saint Petersburg, Russia
• {{flagicon|YEM}} Sanaa, Yemen
• {{flagicon|IRN}} Shiraz, Iran
• {{flagicon|IRN}} Tehran, Iran
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Ürümqi, China
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Xiamen, China

{{div col end}}In 1982, Mary Hey and Sophia Stoller started an initiative to make Dushanbe a sister city of Boulder even though during that time they were on opposite sides of the Cold War. In 1987, the mayor of Dushanbe, Maksud Ikramov, officially made Boulder a sister city of Dushanbe. Exchange students, tourism, and art exchanges began between the two cities. The Tajik Teahouse was sent from Dushanbe to Boulder in 1990. During the civil war, Boulder sent humanitarian aid to Dushanbe.{{Cite web|title=Boulder Dushanbe Sister Cities|url=https://www.boulder-dushanbe.org/history|access-date=2020-08-05|website=Boulder-Dushanbe Sis|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408232259/https://www.boulder-dushanbe.org/history|url-status=dead}}

File:Dmitry Medvedev 28 August 2008-5.jpg

Many international conferences have been held in Dushanbe, such as the International Conference on Integrated TB Control in Central Asia{{Cite web|date=2018-09-13|title=USAID and Ministry of Health Hold Third International Conference on Integrated TB Control in Central Asia|url=https://tj.usembassy.gov/usaid-and-ministry-of-health-hold-third-international-conference-on-integrated-tb-control-in-central-asia/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan}} and the hosting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference in 2000, 2008, and 2014.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|chapter=Social and Political Life|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}{{Cite web|title=Joint Statement of the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of The Shanghai Cooperation Organization|url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjdt_665385/2649_665393/t513028.shtml|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.fmprc.gov.cn}}{{Cite web|date=2014-09-10|title=13th annual summit of SCO starts today in Dushanbe|url=https://dnd.com.pk/13th-annual-summit-sco-starts-today-dushanbe/77837|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Dispatch News Desk}}

In 2003, Dushanbe hosted the International Forum on Fresh Water which was attended by 50 states and organizations.{{Cite web|date=2010-11-21|title=Столица > Душанбе - столица > Официальный сайт Исполнительного органа местной государственной власти в городе Душанбе|url=http://dushanbe.tj/ru/capital/capital/|access-date=2020-09-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121225901/http://dushanbe.tj/ru/capital/capital/|archive-date=21 November 2010}}{{Cite web|title=MOFA: Statement by Mr. Keizo Takemi Representative of the Japanese Delegation at the Dushanbe International Fresh Water Forum|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/environment/fwf/state0308.html|access-date=2020-09-16|website=www.mofa.go.jp}}

From 20 to 23 June 2018 the High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action 'Water for Sustainable Development' was held in Dushanbe, which discussed the upcoming decade for action with regards to water.{{Cite web|date=2018-06-23|title="Water for Sustainable Development" Conference in Dushanbe|url=https://unrcca.unmissions.org/%E2%80%9Cwater-sustainable-development%E2%80%9D-conference-dushanbe|access-date=2020-08-10|website=UNRCCA}} A second conference on the same subject was planned to be held in June 2020.{{Cite web|title="Dushanbe water process ". Second High-Level Conference on the International Decade for action "Water for Sustainable Development", 2018-2028|url=https://mfa.tj/en/berlin/view/5742/dushanbe-process-on-water-issues-2nd-high-level-conference-on-the-international-decade-for-action-water-for-sustainable-development-2018-2028-june-18-20-2020-in-dushanbe|website=Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in Germany}}

On 16–17 May 2019 a high-level conference entitled "Countering Terrorism and its Financing Through Illicit Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime" was held in Dushanbe and attended by more than 50 countries. It passed the Dushanbe declaration, which put the primary responsibility for fighting terrorism onto national governments. Other topics, such as drug smuggling, were also discussed.{{Cite web|date=2019-05-20|title=UNRCCA and UNOCT Participated in the High-Level Conference "Countering Terrorism and Its Financing Through Illicit Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime" in Dushanbe, 16-17 May 2019|url=https://unrcca.unmissions.org/unrcca-and-unoct-participated-high-level-conference-%E2%80%9Ccountering-terrorism-and-its-financing-through|access-date=2020-08-10|website=UNRCCA}}

On 15 June 2019 the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia was held in Dushanbe. The Asian members of the organization discussed common interests on topics such as peace and security, terrorism, arms control, the Iran nuclear deal, poverty, economic development, and globalization.{{Cite news|agency=PTI|date=2019-06-15|title=Terrorism 'gravest threat' people face in Asia: Jaishankar at CICA Summit|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/terrorism-gravest-threat-people-face-in-asia-jaishankar-at-cica-summit/article27950107.ece|access-date=2021-03-05|issn=0971-751X}}

{{Clear}}

{{Portal|Tajikistan}}

• List of cities in Tajikistan
• List of squares in Dushanbe

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Dushanbe}}

• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110904120912/http://www.ashkdahlen.com/index.php?id=166 Pictures of Dushanbe]}}
• [http://www.dushanbepics.blogspot.com Dushanbe pictures through eyes of westerner]
• [http://www.tajik-gateway.org/index.phtml?lang=en&id=893 Tajik Web Gateway]
• [http://www.boulder-dushanbe.org/ Boulder-Dushanbe Sister Cities]
• [http://player.vimeo.com/video/51372590 Dushanbe – TimeLapse]
• {{wikivoyage inline}}

{{Largest cities of Tajikistan}}

{{Districts of Republican Subordination|state=collapsed}}{{List of Asian capitals by region}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Tajikistan

Category:Capitals in Asia

Category:Cities in Central Asia

Category:De-Stalinization