Abstract

This paper examines the Third Pole from its margins by focussing on the case of Tajikistan. It argues that the framing of the Pamir Mountains and the related Amu Darya watershed as marginal is not primarily defined by orographic and hydrographic features, but rather results from past and present linguistic, geopolitical and ideological configurations. As a post-Soviet state, Tajikistan has a long imperial history of marginality on the mountainous fringes of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The extensive ice coverage of the Pamir Mountains, with the Fedchenko Glacier being one of the longest glaciers outside the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions, is often located far away from human settlements and difficult to access, thereby reinforcing ideas of marginality. Yet this perceived marginality of the Pamir’s cryosphere has long been coveted by Imperial Russian and Soviet scientists who produced some of the longest glaciological measurement series across the entire Third Pole region. At this point, the government of Tajikistan seems determined to move from the margins to centre stage by leveraging its cryosphere: it successfully lobbied within UN bodies to declare 2025 the International Year of Glacier Preservation and to hold the related UN Conference in its capital Dushanbe. Moreover, it achieved to proclaim March 21st as the new World Day of Glaciers, a highly symbolic date that marks Navruz – New Year’s Day in Central Asian cultural tradition. By tracing the geopolitics of cryosphere in Tajikistan from the 19th century to the present, this paper gives insight into the past and ongoing reframing of marginality in view of contemporary climate politics and the Third Pole.