Tajik National Park

It was established in 1992 and expanded in 2001 to include parts of the Pamir Mountains. The park covers 26,116.74 square kilometres (10,083.73 sq mi) or a little over 18 percent of Tajikistan's total area.

Tajik National Park
(Mountains of the Pamirs)

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location	Tajikistan
Criteria	Natural:
Reference	1252rev
Inscription	2013 (37th Session)
Area	26,116.74 km2 (10,083.73 sq mi)
Coordinates	38°45′54″N 72°18′19″E / 38.76500°N 72.30528°E / 38.76500; 72.30528
Location of Tajik National Park in Tajikistan Show map of Tajikistan Tajik National Park (West and Central Asia) Show map of West and Central Asia

From 1989 to 1992, Anvar J. Buzurukov (as the head of the Protected Areas Department of the Ministry of the Environment) initiated, planned and led (under the international scientific camp "Pamir-90") scientific feasibility studies towards establishing the first national and natural parks in the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic. An area of 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi) was designated Tajik National Park by Decision No. 267 of the Tajikistan government on 20 July 1992. A year later the same team established the first nature reserve in Tajikistan, Shirkent Nature Park.

In 2001 the area of Tajik National Park was increased to 26,116.74 square kilometres (10,083.73 sq mi) by the Order of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan No. 253.

The national park features a mix of steppe, desert, grassland and alpine regions. It has long cold winters and cool summers, with an average annual rainfall of 12.7 cm.

Species known to live in the national park include the brown bear, snow leopard, wolves, markhor, Marco Polo sheep, brown-headed gulls and bar-headed geese.

In 2008, the national park was submitted to UNESCO with a view to becoming a World Heritage Site. In 2013, the park was accepted as World Heritage.

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  The Pamir Mountains
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  Map of eastern Tajikistan and the Pamir Ranges, showing Tajik National Park outlined in green