(Bloomberg Markets) -- The shipping container is one of the basic units of worldwide commerce, holding goods ferried by truck, rail and cargo ship to connect the workshops of Shenzhen and Milan to the shopping centers of Dallas and Singapore. According to the CTS Total Global Container Volume Index, some 15.7 million 20-foot equivalent container units moved in July.
But in Murghab, Tajikistan, on a plateau some 3,600 meters (11,811 feet) above sea level, the metal boxes stay put.
The village is a must-stop on the Pamir Highway, which runs through the mountains of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan—the next settlements are a long way off in both directions.
Its core is a bazaar built out of containers placed side by side. Used as shops, they sell spare car parts, electronics, clothes, food and other basics.
The shopkeepers say they earn from $10 to $20 per weekday.
Grosso is a photojournalist who documents life in the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central Asia. This story appears in Bloomberg Markets magazine ’s Economics Issue.
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