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Dushanbe[dOOshan´bu, –shAn´–] Pronunciation Key, city (1991 pop. 582,400), capital of Tajikistan, W Tajikistan. It is a major industrial and cultural center in a rich agricultural area. Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby. A leading cotton textile center, Dushanbe also produces silk, textile machinery, electrical appliances, clothing, leather goods, tractor parts, and foodstuffs. There is a rail line to Termez, and air links with Moscow and the capitals of the Central Asian Republics. The city served as the headquarters for Ibrahim Bek, a Tajik leader who fought the Bolsheviks. From 1929, when the city became the capital of the Tadzhik SSR, to 1961, it was known as Stalinabad. Dushanbe became the capital of independent Tajikistan in 1991. A university and the Tajik Academy of Sciences are in the city.
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