Turkmenistan

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For the medieval confederation of Oghuz Turkic tribes in Western Asia, see Turkomania
(disambiguation). For the TV channel, see Turkmenistan (TV channel).
Not to be confused with Turkestan, Turkey, or Turkmeneli.

Turkmenistan
Türkmenistan  (Turkmen)

Flag

Emblem

Motto: Türkmenistan Bitaraplygyň watanydyr

"Turkmenistan is the motherland of Neutrality"[1][2]

Anthem: Garaşsyz Bitarap Türkmenistanyň Döwlet Gimni

"National Anthem of Independent Neutral Turkmenistan"

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 Location of Turkmenistan (red)

Capital Ashgabat
and largest city 37°58′N 58°20′E

Official languages Turkmen[3]

Language of inter- Russian

ethnic
communication

Spoken languages Turkmen

Uzbek
Russian
Kazakh
Eastern Armenian
Tatar
Azerbaijani
Balochi
Kurmanji
Ukrainian
others

Ethnic groups  81.8% Turkmens
(2020) 9.4% Uzbeks
2.2% Russians
1.6% Kazakhs
1.1% Armenians
0.9% Tatars
0.7% Azerbaijanis
0.5% Balochs
0.4% Kurds
 0.2% Ukrainians
1.2% Others

Religion 96.1% Islam
3.6% Christianity
0.3% Others

Demonym(s) Turkmenistani[4]
Turkmen[5]
Turkmenian

Government Unitary presidential republic under
a totalitarian dictatorship

• President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

• Vice President Raşit Meredow

Legislature National Council[6]

• Upper house People's Council

• Lower house Assembly

Independence from Russia and Soviet Union
• Conquest 1879
• Soviet rule 13 May 1925
• Declared state 22 August 1990
sovereignty
• From the Soviet Union 27 October 1991
• Recognized 26 December 1991
• Current constitution 18 May 1992

Area
• Total 491,210 km2 (189,660 sq mi)[7] (52nd)
• Water (%) 4.9

Population
• 2020 estimate 6,031,187[8] (113th)
• Density 10.5/km2 (27.2/sq mi) (221st)

GDP (PPP) 2018 estimate
• Total $112.659 billion[9]
• Per capita $19,526[9]

GDP (nominal) 2018 estimate
• Total $42.764 billion[9]
 • Per capita $7,411[9]

Gini (1998) 40.8
medium

HDI (2019)  0.715[10]
high · 111th

Currency Turkmenistan manat (TMT)

Time zone UTC+05 (TMT)

Driving side right

Calling code +993

ISO 3166 code TM

Internet TLD .tm

Turkmenistan (/tɜːrkˈmɛnɪstæn/ ( listen) or /ˌtɜːrkmɛnɪˈstɑːn/ (
listen); Turkmen: Türkmenistan, pronounced [tʏɾkmønʏˈθːɑːn][11]), also known as Turkmenia,
is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to
the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to
the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the
west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city of the country. The population of the
country is about 6 million, the lowest of the Central Asian republics. Turkmenistan is one
of the most sparsely populated nations in Asia. Citizens of Turkmenistan are known as
Turkmenistanis (where citizenship and not ethnicity is emphasized), [4] Turkmenians[12] or
Turkmens.[5]
The area currently known as Turkmenistan has long served as a thoroughfare for many
other nations and cultures.[13] Merv is one of the oldest oasis-cities in Central Asia [14] and
was once the biggest city in the world. [15] In medieval times, Merv was also one of the
great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by
the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan later figured prominently in the anti-
Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. In 1925, Turkmenistan became a constituent
republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR); it
became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[4]
Turkmenistan possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas.[16] Most of the
country is covered by the Karakum or Black Sand Desert. From 1993 to 2017, citizens
received government-provided electricity, water and natural gas free of charge. [17]
The country is widely criticized for its poor human rights.[18][19] Notable issues were its
treatment of minorities, press freedoms, and religious freedoms. After its independence
from the Soviet Union in 1991, the sovereign state of Turkmenistan has been ruled by
two repressive totalitarian regimes. It was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat
Niyazov (also known as Türkmenbaşy or "Head of the Turkmens") until his death in
2006. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow became president in 2007 after winning a non-
 democratic election (he had been vice-president and then acting president previously).
The use of the death penalty was formally abolished in the 2008 constitution.[20][21]

Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
 3Politics
o 3.1Legislature
o 3.2Corruption
o 3.3Judiciary
o 3.4Foreign relations
o 3.5Human rights
o 3.6Restrictions on free and open communication
 4Geography
o 4.1Climate, biodiversity and environment
o 4.2Administrative divisions
 5Economy
o 5.1Natural gas and export routes
o 5.2Oil
o 5.3Energy
o 5.4Agriculture
o 5.5Tourism
 6Transportation
o 6.1Automobile transport
o 6.2Air transport
o 6.3Maritime transport
o 6.4Railway transport
 7Demographics
o 7.1Migration
o 7.2Turkmen tribes
o 7.3Languages
o 7.4Religion
 8Culture
o 8.1Mass media
o 8.2Holidays
o 8.3Education
o 8.4Architecture
o 8.5Sports
 9See also
 10References
 11Further reading
 12External links

Etymology[edit]
The name of Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistan) can be divided into two
components: the ethnonym Türkmen and the Persian suffix -stan meaning "place of" or
"country". The name "Turkmen" comes from Turk, plus the Sogdian suffix -men,
meaning "almost Turk", in reference to their status outside the Turkic dynastic
mythological system.[22] However, some scholars argue the suffix is an intensifier,
changing the meaning of Türkmen to "pure Turks" or "the Turkish Turks." [23]
Muslim chroniclers like Ibn Kathir suggested that the etymology of Turkmenistan came
from the words Türk and Iman (Arabic: ‫إيمان‬, "faith, belief") in reference to a massive
conversion to Islam of two hundred thousand households in the year 971. [24]
Turkmenistan declared its independence from the Soviet Union after the independence
referendum in 1991. As a result, the constitutional law was adopted on 27 October of
that year and Article 1 established the new name of the state: Turkmenistan
(Türkmenistan / Түркменистан).[25]
A common name for the Turkmen SSR was Turkmenia (Russian: Туркмения), used in
some reports of the country's independence.[26]

History[edit]
Main article: History of Turkmenistan
Historically inhabited by the Indo-Iranians, the written history of Turkmenistan begins
with its annexation by the Achaemenid Empire of Ancient Iran. Later, in the 8th century
AD, Turkic-speaking Oghuz tribes moved from Mongolia into present-day Central Asia.
Part of a powerful confederation of tribes, these Oghuz formed the ethnic basis of the
modern Turkmen population.[27] In the 10th century, the name "Turkmen" was first
applied to Oghuz groups that accepted Islam and began to occupy present-day
Turkmenistan.[27] There they were under the dominion of the Seljuk Empire, which was
composed of Oghuz groups living in present-day Iran and Turkmenistan.[27] Oghuz
groups in the service of the empire played an important role in the spreading of Turkic
culture when they migrated westward into present-day Azerbaijan and eastern Turkey.[27]
Turkmen helmet (15th century)

In the 12th century, Turkmen and other tribes overthrew the Seljuk Empire. [27] In the next
century, the Mongols took over the more northern lands where the Turkmens had
settled, scattering the Turkmens southward and contributing to the formation of new
tribal groups.[27] The sixteenth and eighteenth centuries saw a series of splits and
confederations among the nomadic Turkmen tribes, who remained staunchly
independent and inspired fear in their neighbors. [27] By the 16th century, most of those
tribes were under the nominal control of two
sedentary Uzbek khanates, Khiva and Bukhoro.[27] Turkmen soldiers were an important
element of the Uzbek militaries of this period. [27] In the 19th century, raids and rebellions
by the Yomud Turkmen group resulted in that group's dispersal by the Uzbek rulers. [27] In
1855 the Turkmen tribe of Teke led by Gowshut-Khan defeated the invading army of
the Khan of Khiva Muhammad Amin Khan[28] and in 1861 the invading Persian army
of Nasreddin-Shah.[29]
In the second half of the 19th century, northern Turkmens were the main military and
political power in the Khanate of Khiva.[30][31] According to Paul R. Spickard, "Prior to the
Russian conquest, the Turkmen were known and feared for their involvement in the
Central Asian slave trade."[32][33]
City of Çärjew in Russian Turkestan, 1890

Russian forces began occupying Turkmen territory late in the 19th century. [27] From
their Caspian Sea base at Krasnovodsk (now Turkmenbashy), the Russians eventually
overcame the Uzbek khanates.[27] In 1879, the Russian forces were defeated by
the Teke Turkmens during the first attempt to conquer the Ahal area of Turkmenistan.
[34]
 However, in 1881, the last significant resistance in Turkmen territory was crushed at
the Battle of Geok Tepe, and shortly thereafter Turkmenistan was annexed, together
with adjoining Uzbek territory, into the Russian Empire.[27] In 1916, the Russian Empire's
participation in World War I resonated in Turkmenistan, as an anticonscription revolt
swept most of Russian Central Asia.[27] Although the Russian Revolution of 1917 had
little direct impact, in the 1920s Turkmen forces joined Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Uzbeks in
the so-called Basmachi Rebellion against the rule of the newly formed Soviet Union.[27] In
1921 the tsarist province of Transcaspia (Russian: Закаспийская область) was
renamed Turkmen oblast (Russian: Туркменская область), and in 1924, the Turkmen
Soviet Socialist Republic was formed from it.[27][35] By the late 1930s, Soviet
reorganization of agriculture had destroyed what remained of the nomadic lifestyle in
Turkmenistan, and Moscow controlled political life. [27] The Ashgabat earthquake of 1948
killed over 110,000 people,[36] amounting to two-thirds of the city's population.