Gissar Range in the context of "Iron Gate (Central Asia)"

Dushanbe is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. As of February 2023, Dushanbe had a population of 1,228,400, with this population being largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as Stalinabad, after Joseph Stalin. Dushanbe is located in the Gissar Valley, bounded by the Gissar Range in the north and east and the Babatag, Aktau, Rangontau and Karatau mountains in the south, and has an elevation of 750–930 m. The city is divided into four districts: Ismail Samani, Avicenna, Ferdowsi, and Shah Mansur.

In ancient times, what is now or is close to modern Dushanbe was settled by various empires and peoples, including Mousterian tool-users, various neolithic cultures, the Achaemenid Empire, Greco-Bactria, the Kushan Empire, and Hephthalites. In the Middle Ages, more settlements began near modern-day Dushanbe such as Hulbuk and its famous palace. From the 17th to early 20th century, Dushanbe grew into a market village controlled at times by the Beg of Hisor, Balkh, and finally Bukhara, before being conquered by the Russian Empire. Dushanbe was captured by the Bolsheviks in 1922, and the town was made the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924, which commenced Dushanbe's development and rapid population growth that continued until the Tajik Civil War. After the war, the city became capital of an independent Tajikistan and continued its growth and development into a modern city, today home to many international conferences.

Hisor (Tajik: Ҳисор) or Hisar (Russian: Гиссар, Gissar) is a city in western Tajikistan, about 15 km west of Dushanbe. The city was the seat of the former Hisar District, and is part of the Districts of Republican Subordination. It lies at an altitude of 799–824 m, surrounded by high mountains (Gissar Range to the north, Babatag and Aktau ranges to the south). The river Khanaka, a tributary to the Kofarnihon, flows through the town. Its population is estimated at 29,100 for the city proper and 308,100 for the city with the outlying communities (2020). As of 2002, its population was composed 81.6% of Tajiks, 12.3% Uzbeks, 3.6% Russians, and 2.5% others.

Sughd Province, also referred to as the Sogdia Region, and Leninabad before 2001, is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in historical Sogdiana, it is located in the northwest of the country, with an area of some 25,400 square kilometers and a population of 2,707,300 (2020 estimate), up from 2,233,550 according to the 2010 census and 1,871,979 in 2000. The capital is Khujand. The Province's ethnic composition in 2010 was 84% Tajik, 14.8% Uzbek, 0.6% Kyrgyz, 0.4% Russian and 0.1% Tatar.

The province shares a border with Uzbekistan (Surxondaryo, Qashqadaryo, Jizzakh, Sirdaryo, Namangan, Samarkand, Tashkent and Fergana regions), Kyrgyzstan (Osh and Batken regions) and Districts of Republican Subordination. The Syr Darya river flows through it. It contains the Akash Massif and Mogoltau Massif Important Bird Areas. Sughd is separated from the rest of Tajikistan by the Gissar Range (passes may be closed in winter). The southern part of the region is the east-west valley of the upper Zarafshan River. North, over the Turkestan Range, is the Ferghana Valley. The region has 29% of Tajikistan's population and one-third of its arable land. It produces two-thirds of the country's GDP.

The Yaghnob Valley is a valley in north-west Tajikistan, between the southern slope of the Zarafshan Range and the northern slope of the Gissar Range.

The valley is formed by the Yaghnob River and belongs to the Zarafshan basin. It lies between 2,500 and 3,000 metres above sea level and is virtually inaccessible for six months of the year.

The Yaghnob (Tajik: Яғноб) is a river in Ayni District of Sughd Region, Tajikistan. Together with the Iskander Darya, it forms the Fan Darya, a major left tributary of the Zeravshan.

The source of the Yaghnob is in the Matcha Mountains, where the Zarafshan and the Gissar Ranges merge. The Yaghnob is mainly fed by glaciers and snow fields. The river flows from the east to the west, south of and parallel to the upper Zeravshan River, through the Yaghnob Valley, a remote location populated by the Yaghnobi people speaking the eponymous Yaghnobi language. The main village in the valley is Anzob. It joins the east-flowing Iskander Darya to form the Fan Darya which flows north to join the Zeravshan at Ayni. The main road north from Dushanbe follows the lower Yaghnob and the Fan Darya. Before the Soviets blasted a road through, the upper valley was geographically isolated due to the presence of a deep gorge, contributing to the limited interaction with outside populations.

Zarafshan (Russian: Зеравшан; Tajik: Зарафшон) is a town in north-west Tajikistan. It is situated on the northern slope of the Gissar Range. It is located in Ayni District in Sughd Region. The town has a total population of 2,400 (Jan. 2020).