Tajik Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

Tajikistan is a mountainous country in Central Asia, where the Pamir range is known as the Roof of the World. Its language, Tajik, is closely related to Persian, and its culture shares much with Iran and Afghanistan. Tajiks in Birmingham include students, professionals and families.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 65 Birmingham residents described their ethnic group as Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen or Uzbek. The census counts the five Central Asian nationalities together, and Tajik residents are a small share of that figure.

Working for Birmingham

Tajik residents study and work in fields such as medicine, engineering, business and international development. Many speak Tajik, Russian and English, and some also speak Persian, skills that are useful in Birmingham's diverse workplaces, hospitals and public services.

Birmingham is one of the youngest and most diverse cities in Europe, and its progress has always depended on people who chose to make it home. Its hospitals, schools and universities, its building sites, workshops, warehouses and kitchens all rely on skills brought from around the world. The Tajik community adds its own share to that effort, and takes pride in giving back to the city that welcomed it.

Culture and community life

Navruz, the spring new year, is the most important celebration, marked with family meals and music. Tajik poetry, including the works of classical Persian poets such as Rudaki, is deeply loved, and dishes such as qurutob, bread soaked in yoghurt sauce, are national favourites.

Like so many of the communities that make up modern Birmingham, the Tajik community shows how a city can be home to many cultures at once. Its members are proud of where they come from, and just as proud to be Brummies.