DUSHANBE, July 25, Asia-Plus — Population growth (the rate of natural increase in population) for January-June 2007 has amounted to 47,980 peoples (65,353 people have been born and 17,373 have died), Justice Minister Bakhtiyor Khudoyorov remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe on July 24.  

According to him, 64,865 people were born and 15,621 people died in the same period of 2006.  “Thus compared to January-June 2006, the rate of natural increase in the population in Tajikistan decreased by 1,264 people -- the number of born people increased only by 488 while the number of those died increased 1,752,” the minister said.   

Khudoyorov noted that 30,852 marriages and 2,131 divorces have been registered in the country over the report period, while in the same period of 2006, 24,498 marriages and 1,536 divorces were registered in Tajikistan.  

In the past six months, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has received 14,257 applications for establishing paternity and 269 applications for adoption of children.   

Establishing paternity is the legal process of determining the biological father of a child. When parents are married, in most cases, paternity is established without legal action. If parents are unmarried, paternity establishment requires a court order.