DUSHANBE, May 24, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Tajikistan’s population has reportedly grown 23 percent in last decade.

“Under the preliminary data of the 2010 population and housing census, as of September 21, 2010, the population of Tajikistan was estimated at 7.565 million,” Ms. Zebo Ismoilova, the chairperson of the population census department at the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to her, the population of Khatlon province was estimated at 2.676 million, Sughd province – 2.237 million, districts subordinate to the center – 1.722 million, Dushanbe – 562,000 and the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Regions (GBAO) – 206,000.

“Compared to the 2010 population census the country’s population has grown 23 percent, or 1.438 million people,” noted Ismoilova.  “The population of districts subordinate to the center has grown 29 percent (385,000), Dushanbe’s population has also grown 29 percent (162,000 people), Khatlon’s population has grown 24 percent (526,000 people), and Sughd’s population has grown 19 percent (365,000 people).  In the meantime, figures from the 2010 census indicate that Gorno Badakhshan’s population fell 0.07 percent from 2000.”

Compared to 2000, the urban population has grown 23.3 percent, or 379,000 people, and the rural population has grown 23.5 percent, or 1.059 million people.  As of September 21, 2010, the urban population constituted 23 percent of the country’s population and the rural population constituted 73 percent.

Tajikistan’s male population was estimated to be 3.813 million and the country’s female population was estimated to be 3.752 million, Ismoilova said, noting that the final findings of the 2010 population and housing census will be published in 2013.