According to the geographical location, climate and relief features, according to the combination of altitudinal zones, the territory of Tajikistan can be divided into the following natural areas.
Southwestern Tien Shan. It includes the mountains of Karamazor and the Kuraminsky Range. By the nature of the relief and climate, the region is very different from the rest of the foothill part of Ferghana Tajikistan. It is dominated by mid-mountain and high-mountain strongly dissected relief with weak traces of ancient glaciation.
Approximately up to a height of 3000 m, the slopes of the Kuraminsky Range are covered with forest-steppe vegetation. Its north-east within the republic gradually acquires the features of highlands, that is, it has a subalpine character, where the peaks of mountain peaks alternate with white spots of snowfields.
West of the Fergana depression. It occupies a narrowed section of the Ferghana depression, adjacent foothill plains, as well as adyrs of the Kuraminsky and Turkestan ranges. Multi-tiered foothill plains here alternate with hilly (adyr) foothills and partially low mountains. To some extent, the difficult access of wet and cold winds predetermined the general dryness of the air, but a milder winter compared to the desert plains lying to the west. The amount of precipitation is negligible. On the plain, the terrain is desert or semi-desert. Steppe landscapes are developed in the foothills.
Center of Gissar-Alay. This region lies in the center of the republic, between the Ferghana depression and the South Tajik depression. The relief of the region is an alternation of high ridges and deep narrow intermountain valleys. In elongated valleys, such as the Zeravshan valley, precipitation decreases from west to east. In summer, the valleys are hot and dry, while the ridges are cool. In winter, the temperature contrast is less significant.
Vegetation depends to a large extent on the distribution of rainfall and slope exposure. In the middle tiers of the mountains, rare juniper forests predominate, and in the lower tiers - broad-leaved forests, in which maple and walnut grow.
Southwest of the South Tajik Depression. It covers the territory south of the central part of Gissar-Alay and west of the Pamirs. Low ridges and ridges alternate here with intermountain and foothill depressions. The nature of the region has much in common with the nature of the Fergana depression. But there are also differences. Here summers are longer and winters are warmer, and the landscape is dominated by clayey semi-deserts and mountain steppes.
Northeast of the South Tajik Depression. It includes a strip lying along the valley of the upper Vakhsh, Surkhob, Kyzylsu, and the region of the Khazratishoh ridge. In contrast to southwestern Tajikistan, the mountains here come close to the valleys, and the plains are found as exceptions. Most of the territory is low and middle mountains. The climate has its own characteristics: summer and winter temperatures here are 5-10 degrees. lower than in the southwest of the republics. Due to the high elevation of the territory (the lowest point in the Vakhsh valley lies at an altitude of more than 1000 m), not semi-desert, but steppe landscapes are developed at the foot of the mountains, on the slopes - forest-steppe, rare juniper forests, steppes and subalpine meadows.
Pamir. This vast area lies in the southeast of Tajikistan. The mountains here stretch in several narrow arcs, mainly in the latitudinal direction. The distribution of moisture predetermines the character of landscapes.
The dryness of the climate, characteristic of most of the region, is especially typical of the Eastern Pamirs.
In terms of relief, the Western Pamirs are sharply different from the Eastern Pamirs and resemble Gissar-Alai. The eastern part of the region is characterized by alpine desert plains. In the low-mountain valleys lying in the west of the Pamirs, broad-leaved forests and gardens are found. The mid-mountain tier is the kingdom of deserts and steppes, and woody vegetation (willow, poplar, aspen, less often birch) is developed in it only along river valleys. The mountain steppe is replaced by high mountain deserts due to low temperatures.