ABSTRACT
On the basis of the level of support from Western donors per head of population, GBAO is today the most favoured oblast in Tajikistan.1 There are three historic reasons for this. First, of all the oblasts, GBAO suffered the most from the effects of the war of 1992/3, although there was no actual war damage. Second, with the exception of the city of Dushanbe, it was the administrative region in Tajikistan least capable of producing its own food. Third, GBAO was completely cut off from the rest of Tajikistan after the road to Gharm had been destroyed, and it would not have survived without outside aid.
