Tajikistan is a small, mountainous country in Central Asia. The Tajik people are closely related to Iranians, and the Tajik language is so similar to Persian that it could be considered a dialect. The country has a long and storied history as part of the Silk Road and Persian Empire, and has numerous ancient mosques adorning its valleys. After declaring its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Tajikistan has faced a civil war, famine, an earthquake, the narcotic drug trade, and crushing economic strife.

Image courtesy of the CIA World Factbook.