Khorugh

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The town of Khorog (Tajik Хорӯғ, also transliterated as Khoroq, Khorogh, Khorugh, or Xoroq) is the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region in Tajikistan. It has a population of 28,000 (2000 census). Khorog is situated 2,200 m above sea level at the confluence of the Gunt with the Panj River (also being known as Amu Darya, or in antiquity the Oxus) near the border with Afghanistan.

[[Image:A Bird's Eye View of Khorog]]

1 History
2 Facilities
- 2.1 Transportation
3 References

[edit] History

Until the late 19th century, Khorog was in an area disputed between the Emir of Bukhara, Shah of Afghanistan, Russia and Britain. The Russians emerged the winners of the region after The Great Game, which fixed the current northern border of Afghanistan on the Panj River and established the territory of Russian Pamir around Khorog. Following the fall of czarist Russia and the rise of the Soviet Union, Khorog became the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan in 1925. Soviet leaders encouraged the migration of settlers to the area with promises of pay, medals and automobiles, but with no industry and little arable land, the effort was not successful.

[edit] Facilities

Modern Khorog is one of the poorest areas of Tajikistan, with the charitable organization Aga Khan Foundation providing almost the only source of cash income. However, the city does have its own university (founded in 1992), twelve schools, and several hospitals.

Khorog is also host to one of three campuses of the University of Central Asia (UCA). The University was founded in 2000 by the governments of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, and His Highness the Aga Khan. It is the world’s first internationally chartered institution of higher education. The UCA currently operates a School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE), with a School of Undergraduate Studies and a Graduate School of Development in the process of being established.

[edit] Transportation

Khorog is situated along the Pamir Highway, which connects it to the capital city of Dushanbe toward the west, and to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the east and north. The highway is very difficult to pass in both directions, especially during winter and spring. Khorog also has a small airport, which can only accommodate very small capacity airplanes and helicopters.