Capital: Ashgabat
Currency: Turkmen Manat (TMM)
Borders: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km,
Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Turkmenistan is the second largest of the former Soviet Union
Central Asian republics. Turkmenistan is a land-locked country and
is bordered in the west by the Caspian Sea, to the north by
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in the east by Afghanistan and to the
south by Iran. The landmass of Turkmenistan is 488,100 sq km and is
comprised (80%) of the mighty low-lying Garagum sandy desert, with
sand dunes rising into mountains in the south. The border with Iran
is made up of a low mountain ridge. Turkmenistan has made
considerable efforts to preserve the national flora and fauna and
has now established a series of nature reserves including Repetek
and Amu Darya. The fauna of Turkmenistan includes Gazelles, leopards
and dangerous reptiles like the feared king cobra. Turkmenistan
possesses the valuable natural resources of petroleum, natural gas,
coal and sulphur. If managed correctly in the future, these
commodities will benefit the economy a great deal.
In 1925, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic. Along
with the break-up of the former Soviet Union, Turkmenistan declared
independence in 1991. The capital of Turkmenistan is Ashghabat.
Other important cities include Turkmenbashi, Merv and Gaurdak. The
languages of Turkmenistan include Turkmen, Russian and Uzbek. The
dominant religion is Islam. Turkmenistan's national unit of currency
is the Turkmen Manat.
Turkmenistan has a large agriculture-based economy and 48% of the
national workforce is employed within this sector. Industry and
services account for 73% of the GDP. Turkmenistan actually possesses
the fifth largest oil reserve in the world. One half of
Turkmenistan's irrigated land is planted with cotton and
Turkmenistan is the 10th largest of the world's chief cotton
producers. Turkmenistan's largest export partner is the Ukraine. The
transport network of Turkmenistan consists of 2440 km of railways
and 22,000 km of highways.
The climate is best described as subtropical desert, with very low
annual rainfall and lots of sunshine. Temperatures often reach 50c
during summer although the average is 36°C. Parts of Turkmenistan
drop below -33°C during winter. The coldest recorded temperature in
Ashghabat was -23°C. |
