DUSHANBE, September 15, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan received over $40.5 million in humanitarian aid from 36 countries in the first eight months of 2007, the republic''s statistics committee said Friday.

The humanitarian aid for disaster-hit districts and impoverished Tajik nationals amounted to 14,500 metric tons, including 5,425 tons of flour, 3,085 tons of seed oil, as well as medicines worth $22.8 million, footwear, clothes, vehicles, fuel and lubricants, computers and components.

Among the major donor countries were the United States (73.3%), Russia (6.6%) and Kazakhstan (4.9%).

Foreign aid has been assisting the country''s economy since 1997, when a devastating five-year civil war ended.

Although the ex-Soviet republic boasts a strategic location, it has few natural resources besides hydroelectric power, cotton and aluminum.