There is a small community of Armenians in Tajikistan. The 1989 census found 5,630 Armenians in Tajikistan; however, many left the country in the years following due to hardships caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the following civil war in Tajikistan. Another driver for emigration was the fear of anti-Armenian prejudice, as seen in the 1990 Dushanbe riots

Dushanbe riots

The Dushanbe riots were an instance of anti-Armenian and anti-government unrest in Dushanbe, the capital of the Tajik SSR, from February 12–14, 1990....

 which were sparked by an unfounded rumour that large numbers of Armenian refugees would be resettled there and receive preferential housing allocations. By the time of the 2000 census, only 995 people identifying themselves as Armenian remained, primarily in Dushanbe

Dushanbe

-Economy:Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the cities of Nurek and Kulob allowing for the industrialization of Dushanbe. The Nurek Dam, the world's highest as of 2008, generates 95% of Tajikistan's electricity, and another dam, the Roghun Dam, is planned on the Vakhsh River...

, Khujand

Khujand

Khujand , also transliterated as Khudzhand, , formerly Khodjend or Khodzhent until 1936 and Leninabad until 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Syr Darya River at the mouth of the Fergana Valley...

, Chkalovsk

Chkalovsk, Tajikistan

Chkalovsk is a town in northern Tajikistan. It is located in Ghafurov district of Sughd Province, between the cities of Khujand and Ghafurov...

, and Qurghonteppa

Qurghonteppa

Qurghonteppa or Kurganteppa is a city in southwestern Tajikistan. It is the capital of the Khatlon region and it is located 100 km from Dushanbe. It is estimated that the population of the city is close to 85,000 people, making it the third-largest city in the country. The population...

. 57.6% could speak Armenian

Armenian language

The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

, 100% could speak Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

, and 14.8% could speak Tajik. According to interviews with community members, the first Armenians are believed to have arrived in Tajikistan in the 1930s. A number later rose to prominent positions in society, such as the former head of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan Dr. Arutyunov.