View source for Bokhtar

{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Bokhtar
|native_name = {{langx|tg|Бохтар}}
|native_name_lang=tg
|image_skyline = Бохтар 2018.jpg
|imagesize = 300px
|image_caption = Bokhtar in 2018
|image_flag = 
|image_seal = 
|image_map = 
|map_caption = 
|pushpin_map            = Tajikistan
|pushpin_label_position =bottom
|pushpin_mapsize        = 300
|pushpin_map_caption    = Location in Tajikistan
|subdivision_type = [[Countries of the world|Country]]
|subdivision_type1 = [[Provinces of Tajikistan|Province]]
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Tajikistan}}
|subdivision_name1 = [[Khatlon Region|Khatlon]]
|subdivision_type2 = 
|subdivision_name2 = 
|established_title = 
|established_date =
|government_type = 
|leader_title = 
|leader_name = 
|area_magnitude = 
|area_total_sq_mi =
|area_total_km2 = 26 
|area_land_sq_mi =
|area_land_km2 = 
|area_urban_sq_mi = 
|area_urban_km2 = 
|area_metro_km2 = 
|area_metro_sq_mi = 
|population_as_of= 2019
|population_footnotes =
|population_total =  126 700<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stat.tj/storage//1.01.2022.pdf|title=ШУМОРАИ АҲОЛИИ ҶУМҲУРИИ ТОҶИКИСТОН ТО 1 ЯНВАРИ СОЛИ 2022|author=Агентии омори назди Президенти Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон}}</ref> 
|population_urban = 
|population_metro = 190 000
|population_density_sq_mi = 
|population_density_km2 = 4261
|timezone = 
|utc_offset = 
|timezone_DST =
|utc_offset_DST = 
|coordinates      = {{coord|37|50|11|N|68|46|49|E|region:TJ|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes=
|elevation_m = 430
|elevation_ft = 
|postal_code_type = 
|postal_code = 
|area_code = 992-3222
| blank1_name_sec2                = {{nowrap|[[Official languages]]}}
| blank1_info_sec2                = {{plainlist|
*[[Russian language|Russian]] (Interethnic)
*[[Tajik language|Tajik]] (State)<ref name="КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ТАДЖИКИСТАН">{{cite web |title=КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ТАДЖИКИСТАН |url=http://prokuratura.tj/ru/legislation/the-constitution-of-the-republic-of-tajikistan.html |website=prokuratura.tj |publisher=Parliament of Tajikistan |access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref>}}
|website = 
|footnotes =
}}

'''Bokhtar''' ({{langx|tg|Бохтар}}),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Переименование ряда городов, районов и селений Хатлонской области {{!}} Президенти Тоҷикистон - President of Tajikistan - Президент Таджикистана - رئيس جمهورية تاجيكستان |url=http://prezident.tj/ru/node/16943 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=prezident.tj}}</ref> previously known as '''Qurghonteppa''', '''Kurganteppa''' and '''Kurgan-Tyube''', is a city in southwestern [[Tajikistan]], which serves as the capital of the [[Khatlon]] region. Bokhtar is the largest city in southern Tajikistan, and is located {{convert|100|km}} south of [[Dushanbe]] and {{convert|150|km}} north of [[Kunduz]], [[Afghanistan]].

== Population ==
In 2019, the city's population was estimated at 110,800, making it the third-largest city in the country. The population fluctuates depending on the season, due to the many [[Tajik people|Tajik]] migrant workers in Russia.

Along with the capital [[Dushanbe]], Bokhtar is more demographically diverse than the other major Tajik cities such as [[Khujand]], [[Kulab, Tajikistan|Kulob]] or [[Istaravshan]].<ref>Borjian, Habib, “Kurgan Tepe”, Encyclopaedia Iranica. Online edition 2005. 
[https://www.academia.edu/8194468/Kurgan_Tepe]</ref> Major ethnicities include Tajiks, [[Uzbeks]], [[Russians]], [[Pashtuns]], [[Tatars]], [[Ukrainians]], [[Kazakhs]] and other [[Turkic peoples]].{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} The city had a large number of ethnic Russians who worked in the industrial and agricultural complexes in and around the city, during the existence of the [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic]].

Bokhtar is a stronghold of [[Emomali Rahmon|Emomali Rahmon's]] political opponents.<ref name=OVERVIEW>[http://ismaili.net/mirrors/112_tajik/tajkethn.html Ethnic groups at risk: The status of Tajiks] Heritage Society</ref>

== Overview ==
During the [[civil war in Tajikistan]], Bokhtar (then Qurghonteppa) became the epicenter of conflict by the summer of 1992, and was seriously damaged.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cesmi.info/wp/?p=435|title=Memories of the Tajik Civil War|date=November 22, 2012|website=CESMI|access-date=January 4, 2019|archive-date=April 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412235820/http://cesmi.info/wp/?p=435|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Many of the local [[Kulobi people|Kulobi]] and Uzbeks were forced to flee in 1992, following attacks by the pro-opposition [[Gharmi people|Gharmi]] forces.

The city was officially renamed from Qurghonteppa to Bokhtar on 22 January 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://prezident.tj/en/node/16945|title=Renaming of a number of cities, districts and settlements of Khatlon Province &#124; Президенти Тоҷикистон - President of Tajikistan - Президент Таджикистана - رئيس جمهورية تاجيكستان|website=prezident.tj}}</ref> The name change was one of many in Tajikistan targeting places whose names derive from the Uzbek and Kyrgyz languages.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tajik authorities continue renaming cities and districts |url=https://asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/power/20180123/tajik-authorities-continue-renaming-cities-and-districts |access-date=23 January 2018 |work=Asia-Plus |date=1 July 2023}}</ref>

Near Bokhtar are the ruins of a Buddhist monastery complex called [[Ajina Tepe]], believed to be built in the 7th or 8th centuries CE. It features a 12-meter-long image of [[Buddha in Nirvana]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kurgan Tube|url=https://samarkandtours.com/tajikistan/kurgan-tube/|url-status=live|access-date=March 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815144939/https://samarkandtours.com/tajikistan/kurgan-tube/ |archive-date=2021-08-15 }}</ref>

[[Bokhtar International Airport]] provides flights to a handful of cities in Tajikistan, [[Russia]] and [[Kazakhstan]].

<gallery>
File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the President of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali Rahmon in a group photo with the personnel of the India-Tajik Friendship Hospital, in Quarghan Teppa, Dushanbe, Tajikistan on July 13, 2015.jpg|[[Indian Prime Minister]] [[Narendra Modi]] and [[President of Tajikistan]] [[Emomali Rahmon]] with personnel of the India-Tajik Friendship Hospital in Bokhtar, 13 July 2015.
File:Qurghonteppa,bazar1.jpg|Bokhtar Bazaar
File:Qurghonteppa 2010 01.jpg|Taxi station in Bokhtar
File:Манзараи шаҳри Бохтар.jpg|Bokhtar library 
</gallery>

== Climate ==
Bokhtar has a [[semi-arid climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''BSk''), with cool winters and very hot summers. Precipitation is quite low. It is highest in the spring, while summers are very dry.

{{Weather box
|location=Bokhtar (1991-2020, extremes 1929-present)
|metric first=yes
|single line=yes
|Jan record high C = 24.0
|Feb record high C = 28.8
|Mar record high C = 35.3
|Apr record high C = 37.0
|May record high C = 41.3
|Jun record high C = 43.6
|Jul record high C = 46.0
|Aug record high C = 42.8
|Sep record high C = 40.2
|Oct record high C = 38.1
|Nov record high C = 31.3
|Dec record high C = 24.3
|Jan high C = 9.7
|Feb high C = 12.2
|Mar high C = 18.7
|Apr high C = 25.0
|May high C = 30.7
|Jun high C = 36.1
|Jul high C = 37.7
|Aug high C = 36.0
|Sep high C = 32.1
|Oct high C = 25.6
|Nov high C = 17.5
|Dec high C = 11.0
|Jan mean C = 4.4
|Feb mean C = 6.5
|Mar mean C = 12.3
|Apr mean C = 18.2
|May mean C = 23.4
|Jun mean C = 28.1
|Jul mean C = 29.4
|Aug mean C = 27.5
|Sep mean C = 23.0
|Oct mean C = 16.8
|Nov mean C = 10.5
|Dec mean C = 5.6
|Jan low C = 0.6
|Feb low C = 2.2
|Mar low C = 7.4
|Apr low C = 12.5
|May low C = 16.7
|Jun low C = 20.2
|Jul low C = 21.5
|Aug low C = 19.5
|Sep low C = 15.0
|Oct low C = 10.1
|Nov low C = 5.5
|Dec low C = 1.7
|Jan record low C = -24.1
|Feb record low C = -22.6
|Mar record low C = -12.7
|Apr record low C = -5.6
|May record low C = 4.0
|Jun record low C = 9.1
|Jul record low C = 11.0
|Aug record low C = 9.4
|Sep record low C = 3.5
|Oct record low C = -4.2
|Nov record low C = -10.9
|Dec record low C = -20.0
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 34
|Feb precipitation mm = 47
|Mar precipitation mm = 48
|Apr precipitation mm = 48
|May precipitation mm = 32
|Jun precipitation mm = 10
|Jul precipitation mm = 1
|Aug precipitation mm = 0.9
|Sep precipitation mm = 2
|Oct precipitation mm = 8
|Nov precipitation mm = 29
|Dec precipitation mm = 33
|year precipitation mm = 293
|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 8.2
|Feb precipitation days = 11.2
|Mar precipitation days = 7.0
|Apr precipitation days = 5.9
|May precipitation days = 2.7
|Jun precipitation days = 0.2
|Jul precipitation days = 1.0
|Aug precipitation days = 0.8
|Sep precipitation days = 1.3
|Oct precipitation days = 3.7
|Nov precipitation days = 6.4
|Dec precipitation days = 7.3
|Jan humidity = 73.2
|Feb humidity = 70.1
|Mar humidity = 62.3
|Apr humidity = 57.6
|May humidity = 50.2
|Jun humidity = 45.5
|Jul humidity = 45.6
|Aug humidity = 48.3
|Sep humidity = 51.0
|Oct humidity = 57.1
|Nov humidity = 66.6
|Dec humidity = 73.0
|Jan sun = 112
|Feb sun = 125
|Mar sun = 164
|Apr sun = 213
|May sun = 291
|Jun sun = 339
|Jul sun = 351
|Aug sun = 334
|Sep sun = 294
|Oct sun = 235
|Nov sun = 174
|Dec sun = 115
|source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net,<ref name=pogoda>
{{cite web|url=http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate.php?id=38933|script-title=ru:КЛИМАТ УЛАН-БАТОРА|publisher=Pogoda.ru.net|language=ru|access-date=4 January 2015}}</ref> climatebase.ru (precipitation days, humidity)<ref name="climatebase">{{cite web|title=Kurgan-Tyube,Tajikistan|url=http://climatebase.ru/station/38933/?lang=en|publisher=Climatebase.ru|access-date=31 January 2013}}</ref>
|source 2 = NOAA (sun only, 1961-1990)<ref name="NOAA">{{cite web|title=Climate Normals for Kurgan-Tjube|url=ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-II/RA/38933.TXT|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018001302/ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-II/RA/38933.TXT|archive-date=2020-10-18|url-status=dead|access-date=31 January 2013}}</ref> 
|date = January 2013
}}

== Notable people ==
*[[Sergei Mandreko]] (1971-2022) - football coach
*[[Nurudin N. Mukhitdinov]] (1959-) - politician

== Trivia ==
Finnish electronic duo [[Pan Sonic]] have a track entitled "Radio Qurghonteppa" on their 2010 farewell album Gravitoni.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Pan-Sonic-Gravitoni/release/2301162|title=Pan Sonic - Gravitoni|website=Discogs}}</ref>

[[File:TV Khatlon Tajikistan.jpg|thumb|300px|TV Khatlon]]

== See also ==
* [[List of cities in Tajikistan]]
* [[FC Khatlon]] football club
* [[Buddhistic cloister of Ajina-Tepa]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurgan-tepe Kurgan Tepe] in ''Encyclopaedia Iranica Online''

{{Largest cities of Tajikistan}}
{{Khatlon}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in Khatlon Region]]