DUSHANBE, March 14, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The Capital City Day is marked in Tajikistan on the third Saturday of April and this year, Dushanbe marks the Capital City Day on April 16.

An international race dedicated to this event will take place in Dushanbe and representatives of all regions of the country will participate in the race.  Representatives of cities across the world which are Dushanbe’s sister cities and capital cities of the CIS member nations are also expected to take part in this event.

Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, says 178,400 somoni (equivalent to some 40,000 U.S. dollars) will be allocated from the mayor’s reserve fund for holding this sports event at the proper level and winners will receive US$3,500 each.

We will recall that last year, the international race dedicated to the Tajik Capital Day took place on April 17 and representatives of 8 Dushanbe’s sister cities, as well as 50 Tajik athletes and representatives from diplomatic missions and international organizations active in Tajikistan participated in the race.

The Dushanbe’s sister cities are Lusaka, Zambia (1966);  Sana''a, Yemen (June 25, 1967); Monastir, Tunisia (November 24, 1967); Klagenfurt,  Austria (1972); Lahore, Pakistan (September 15, 1976);  Boulder, USA (May 8, 1987); Mazar-i Sahrif, Afghanistan (July 13, 1991); Reutlingen, Germany (October 5, 1991); St. Petersburg, Russia (October 6, 1991); Shiraz, Iran (February 16, 1992); Minsk, Belarus (July 21, 1998); Urumqi, China (September 10, 1999); Tehran, Iran (March 12, 2001); and Ankara, Turkey (December 11, 2003).