Tajiks - Settlements

Most of Tajikistan is rural; 85 percent of the population lives in valleys and mountain areas up to 1,600 meters in elevation. Most of these settlements are organized in the kolkhoz/sovkhoz pattern superimposed on former villages ( deh kishlaq, which are sometimes equivalent to loosely extended families practicing endogamy). There are pockets of industrialization in rural areas where non-Tajiks as well as Tajiks work. In the north and south population density runs from 50 to 150 per square kilometer, whereas in the mountains it is as low as 5 to 10. New urban settlements have expanded from former villages. Urban administrative centers, especially Dushanbe, have grown along Western patterns, with roads for motorized vehicles, apartment blocks, parks, and industries. Old villages retain extended family homes, often placed within orchards and vineyards. Walled compounds ensure household privacy.