View source for Kulob

{{Short description|City in southwestern Tajikistan}}
{{about|the city in Tajikistan|other places|Kulab (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name            = Kulob
| native_name              = {{langx|tg|Кӯлоб}}
| image_skyline            = Kulob 2700 th Anniversary monument - panoramio.jpg
| imagesize                =
| image_caption            = The 2700th Anniversary monument, Kulob
| image_flag               =
| image_seal               =
| image_map                =
| map_caption              =
| pushpin_map              = Tajikistan#Bactria#West Asia
| pushpin_relief           = yes
| pushpin_label_position   = bottom
| pushpin_mapsize          =
| pushpin_map_caption      = Location in Tajikistan
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_type1        = [[Regions of Tajikistan|Region]]
| subdivision_name         = Tajikistan
| subdivision_name1        = [[Khatlon Region]]
| subdivision_type2        =
| subdivision_name2        =
| established_title        =
| established_date         =
| government_type          =
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| area_magnitude           =
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| area_urban_sq_mi         =
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| area_metro_km2           =
| area_metro_sq_mi         =
| population_as_of         = 2020
| population_footnotes     = <ref name=pop2020/>
| population_total         = 214700
| population_urban         = 106300
| population_metro         =
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| coordinates              = {{coord|37|54|33|N|69|46|55|E|region:TJ|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes      =
| elevation_m              = 580
| elevation_ft             =
| postal_code_type         =
| postal_code              = 735360
| area_code                =
| blank1_name_sec2         = {{nowrap|[[Official languages]]}}
| blank1_info_sec2         = {{plainlist|
*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                =
}}
'''Kulob'''{{efn|{{bulletedlist|{{IPAc-en|k|ʊ|ˈ|l|ɒ|b}} {{respell|kuu-LOB}}|{{langx|tg|Кӯлоб|Ko‘lob}}, {{IPA|tg|kʰɵˈlɔb|IPA}}|{{lang-rus|Куляб|r=Kuljab|p=kʊˈlʲæp}}}}}} or '''Khatlon'''{{efn|{{langx|tg|Хатлон|Xatlon}}, {{IPA|tg|χɐtˈlɔn|IPA}}}} is a city in [[Khatlon Region]] in southern Tajikistan. Located {{cvt|203|km}} southeast of the capital [[Dushanbe]] on the river Yakhsu (a right tributary of [[Panj (river)|Panj]]), it is one of the largest cities in the country.  Its population is estimated at 106,300 for the city proper and 214,700 for the city with the outlying communities (2020).<ref name=pop2020>{{cite web |url=http://stat.ww.tj/posts/July2020/macmua_20201.pdf |title=Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 1 January 2020 |publisher=Statistics office of Tajikistan |access-date=8 October 2020 |language=ru |archive-date=1 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601101228/http://stat.ww.tj/posts/July2020/macmua_20201.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The city is served by [[Kulab Airport|Kulob Airport]].
== History ==
===Greek inscription===
During the [[Hellenistic period]] following the [[Conquests of Alexander the Great|conquests]] of [[Alexander the Great]], the region of modern Kulob was part of the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]. A [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] inscription dating to the period 200{{ndash}}195{{nbsp}}BC<ref name="SW">Shane Wallace [https://www.academia.edu/25638818 Greek Culture in Afghanistan and India: Old Evidence and New Discoveries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112215954/https://www.academia.edu/25638818 |date=2020-01-12 }} p.206</ref> has been discovered in which a person named Heliodotos dedicates a [[fire worship|fire altar]] to [[Hestia]] for the sake of the king [[Euthydemus I]] and his son [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I]].<ref>[[Osmund Bopearachchi]], [https://www.academia.edu/22821570 Some Observations on the Chronology of the Early Kushans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308060357/https://www.academia.edu/22821570/Some_observations_on_the_chronology_of_the_early_Kushans |date=2021-03-08 }}, p.48</ref><ref name="SW"/>
[[File:Heliodotos inscription, Kuliab.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Kulob inscription, 200–195 BC: "Heliodotos dedicated this fragrant altar for [[Hestia]], venerable goddess, illustrious amongst all, in the grove of [[Zeus]], with beautiful trees; he made libations and sacrifices so that the greatest of all kings Euthydemos, as well as his son, the glorious, victorious and remarkable Demetrios, be preserved of all pains, with the help of [[Tyche]] with divine thoughts."<ref>Shane Wallace [https://www.academia.edu/25638818 Greek Culture in Afghanistan and India: Old Evidence and New Discoveries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112215954/https://www.academia.edu/25638818 |date=2020-01-12 }} p.211</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.attalus.org/docs/seg/s54_1569.html |title=Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum: 54.1569 |access-date=2019-11-15 |archive-date=2021-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207033247/http://www.attalus.org/docs/seg/s54_1569.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
===Later history===
[[File:Kulyab Museum, Kulyab, Tajikistan.JPG|thumb|Tomb of [[Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani]]]]
The historian [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari]] refers to Khatlon as early as AD 737, although its founding is said to have been much earlier.<ref name=io>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kulab|title=Kulab|last=Borjian|first=Habib|date=1 November 2013|website=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref> The Sufi mystic [[Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani]] died while travelling through Central Asia in 1384 and was buried in Khatlon in a tomb which still stands.<ref name=rafiabadi>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeK9w9P0sBQC&pg=PA101|title=World Religions and Islam: A Critical Study, Part 2|first=Hamid Naseem|last=Rafiabadi|publisher=Sarup & Sons|year=2003|isbn=9788176254144|pages=97–105}}</ref>
[[File:Kulob,ul-Somoni.jpg|thumb|Kulob Marketplace]]
The city was conquered by the [[Mongol Empire]] under [[Genghis Khan]] and subsequently formed part of the [[Timurid Empire]].<ref name=hd>{{citation |last=Abdullaev |first=Kamoludin |contribution=Kulob |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OsllDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA249 |page=249 |title=Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan |location=[[Lanham, Maryland|Lanham]] |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |date=2018 |isbn=9781538102527 }}.</ref> It was incorporated into the [[Khanate of Bukhara]] in 1559<ref name=hd/> and subsequently usually aligned with the [[Emirate of Bukhara]] against [[Khanate of Kokand|Kokand]] and [[Emirate of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] after the 18th century. Its name was changed to Kulob in 1750.<ref name=io/> The local lord Surrah Khan imprisoned the British and Kokand agent [[Abdul Mejid (explorer)|Abdul Mejid]] on behalf of Bukhara in 1861 before the disorder in the emirate prompted him to release the party.<ref>{{citation |last=James |first=Hugh Rees |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYgIAAAAQAAJ |title=Selections from the Records of the Government of India |volume=XXXIX |location=Calcutta |publisher=Foreign Department Press |date=1863 |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYgIAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PP3 |contribution=Report on a Journey to Kokan |page=14 }}, printing a letter dated 19 October 1861.</ref>
Following agreements between the [[British Empire|British]] and [[Russian Empire]]s over the disposition of Afghanistan, the city and its hinterland were incorporated into the [[Russian Empire]] as part of [[Russian conquest of Central Asia|its conquest]] of most of [[Central Asia]]. After the [[Russian Revolution]], Kulob was only incorporated into the [[Soviet Union]] in March 1921<ref name=hd/> and was organized as part of the [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic]] in 1929. Kulob was one of the largest cities in the republic.
During the [[Tajikistani Civil War]] in the early 1990s, the city served as the main base of the [[Popular Front of Tajikistan|Popular Front]] militias. [[Danghara]], a village in the Kulob area, is the birthplace of Tajikistan's president [[Emomali Rahmon]]. In September 2006, Kulob celebrated its 2700th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.tj/ru/newspaper/article/kulyabskii-yubilei-kuda-ushli-sotni-millionov-byudzhetnykh-deneg|title=ASIA-Plus|last=Shams|first=Biloli|date=18 July 2011|access-date=10 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605032058/http://news.tj/ru/newspaper/article/kulyabskii-yubilei-kuda-ushli-sotni-millionov-byudzhetnykh-deneg|archive-date=5 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
After Tajikistan's independence in 1991, Kulob was one of the three cities{{mdash}}alongside [[Dushanbe]] and [[Qurghonteppa]]{{mdash}}where the Russian [[201st Motor Rifle Division]] was deployed. Following a number of scandals with local residents, Russia unexpectedly pulled its troops from Kulob in November 2015, effectively abandoning the base there.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tajikistan: Russian Troops Pull Out of Southern City|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/76156|access-date=10 May 2016|agency=Eurasianet.org|date=18 November 2015}}</ref>
==Geography==
===Climate===
Kulob has a [[hot-summer Mediterranean climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]]: ''Csa''). The average annual temperature is {{cvt|15.8|°C}}. The warmest month is July with an average temperature of {{cvt|28.3|°C}} and the coolest month is January with an average temperature of {{cvt|2.2|°C}}. The average annual precipitation is {{cvt|468.4|mm}} and has an average of 72.8 days with precipitation. The wettest month is March with an average of {{cvt|94.2|mm}} of precipitation and the driest month is August with an average of 0&nbsp;mm of precipitation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate of Kulob|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=605178&cityname=Kulob%2C+Khatlon%2C+Tajikistan&units=metric|website=Weatherbase.com|publisher=Weatherbase|access-date=2 August 2014}}</ref>
{{Weather box|location = Kulob
|metric first = y
|single line = y
|Jan mean C = 2.2
|Feb mean C = 4.8
|Mar mean C = 10.4
|Apr mean C = 16.9
|May mean C = 21.2
|Jun mean C = 26.0
|Jul mean C = 28.3
|Aug mean C = 26.6
|Sep mean C = 21.8
|Oct mean C = 16.2
|Nov mean C = 10.0
|Dec mean C = 5.0
|year mean C = 15.8
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 53.8
|Feb precipitation mm = 64.6
|Mar precipitation mm = 94.2
|Apr precipitation mm = 82.5
|May precipitation mm = 59.0
|Jun precipitation mm = 6.1
|Jul precipitation mm = 3.7
|Aug precipitation mm = 0.5
|Sep precipitation mm = 1.3
|Oct precipitation mm = 24.0
|Nov precipitation mm = 33.9
|Dec precipitation mm = 44.8
|year precipitation mm = 468.4
|Jan humidity = 75.5
|Feb humidity = 72.2
|Mar humidity = 68.0
|Apr humidity = 63.6
|May humidity = 55.0
|Jun humidity = 39.1
|Jul humidity = 34.0
|Aug humidity = 35.1
|Sep humidity = 38.4
|Oct humidity = 49.4
|Nov humidity = 62.4
|Dec humidity = 71.8
|year humidity = 55.4
|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 7.7
|Feb precipitation days = 9.2
|Mar precipitation days = 12.3
|Apr precipitation days = 11.8
|May precipitation days = 9.6
|Jun precipitation days = 2.6
|Jul precipitation days = 1.1
|Aug precipitation days = 0.0
|Sep precipitation days = 0.7
|Oct precipitation days = 4.2
|Nov precipitation days = 5.7
|Dec precipitation days = 7.9
|source 1 =
{{cite web
| url = http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=605178&cityname=Kulob-Tajikistan
| title = The Climate of Kulob
| publisher = Weatherbase
| access-date =2 August 2014}}
}}
==Subdivisions==
Before ca. 2018, Kulob was the seat of [[Kulob District]], which covered Kulob's outlying rural areas.<ref name=pop2015>{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.tj/ru/img/65a709121baf8a64bf15d33f398aafde_1435736807.pdf |title=Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 1 January 2015 |publisher=Statistics office of Tajikistan |access-date=3 October 2020 |language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702021130/http://www.stat.tj/ru/img/65a709121baf8a64bf15d33f398aafde_1435736807.pdf|archive-date=2 July 2015}}</ref> The city of Kulob covers Kulob proper and four ''[[Jamoats of Tajikistan|jamoats]]''. These are as follows:<ref name=jambi>[http://untj.org/jambi-project/index.php/maps-statistics/demography Jamoat-level basic indicators] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104171112/http://untj.org/jambi-project/index.php/maps-statistics/demography |date=2022-01-04 }}, United Nations Development Programme in Tajikistan, accessed 8 October 2020</ref>
{| class="wikitable" sortable"
|-
! Jamoat
! Population (Jan. 2015)<ref name=jambi/>
|-
| [[Dahana, Khatlon|Dahana]] || 29,776
|-
| [[Kulob (jamoat)|Kulab]] || 19,840
|-
| [[Zarbdor]] || 23,839
|-
| [[Ziraki, Tajikistan|Ziraki]] || 28,747
|}
==Notable people==
*[[Orzu Iso]] (born 1976), presenter, TV and radio journalist, songwriter and blogger
*[[Mavzuna Chorieva]] (born 1992), boxer
*[[Moses Znaimer]] (born 1942), co-founder of [[City (TV network)|Citytv]]
*[[Shabnam Surayyo]] (born 1981), singer
*[[Manija Dawlat]] (born 1982), singer
*[[Gulchehra Sodiq]] (born 1952), singer
*[[Davlatmand Khol]] (born 1953), singer
*[[Odina Hoshim]] (born 1926), singer
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Largest cities of Tajikistan}}
{{Khatlon}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Populated places in Khatlon Region]]