Coor din ates: 4 0°N 6 0°E Turkmenistan T urkmenistan Turkmenistan (/tɜːrkˈmɛnɪstæn/ ( listen) or /tɜːrkmɛnɪ Türkmenistan (Turkmen) ˈstɑːn/ ( listen); Turkmen: Türkmenistan/Түркменистан, pronou nced [tyɾkmeniˈθtɑn]), (formerly known as T urkmenia)[8] is a sovereign state in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the Flag Emblem northwest, Uzbekistan to the north and east, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran Anthem: Garaşsyz Bitarap Türkmenistanyň Döwlet Gimni to the south and southwest, and the (English: "State Anthem of Independent, Neutral Turkmenistan") Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the 0:00 MENU capital and largest city. The population of the country is 5.6 million, the lowest of the Central Asian republics. Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. In medieval times, Merv was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road, a caravan route used for trade with China until the mid-15th century. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan later figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Location of Turkmenistan (red) Central Asia. In 1925, Turkmenistan Capital Ashgabat and largest city 37°58′N 58°20′E became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Official languages Turkmen[1] Republic (Turkmen SSR); it became Inter-ethnic Russian independent upon the dissolution of the languages [2] Soviet Union in 1991. Ethnic groups 85% Turkmen (2003) 5% Uzbek Turkmenistan possesses the world's 4% Russian sixth largest reserves of natural gas 6% others[2] resources.[9] Most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sand) Demonym Turkmen Desert. From 1993 to 2017 , citizens Government Unitary presidential republic (de jure) received government-provided under a one-party authoritarian [3] electricity, water and natural gas free of dictatorship (de facto) charge.[10] • President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow • Chairman of the Gülşat Mämmedowa Turkmenistan was ruled by President Mejlis for Life Saparmurat Niyazov (also Legislature Mejlis known as Turkmenbashi) until his death Formation in 2006. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow • Khanate of Khiva 1511 was elected president in 2007 . • Turkestan ASSR 30 April 1918 According to Human Rights Watch, • Turkmen SSR 13 May 1925 "Turkmenistan remains one of the • Declared state 22 August 1990 sovereignty world’s most repressive countries. The • Declared 27 October 1991 country is virtually closed to independence independent scrutiny, media and from the Soviet religious freedoms are subject to Union • Recognized 26 December 1991 draconian restrictions, and human • Current 18 May 1992 rights defenders and other activists face constitution the constant threat of government Area [11] reprisal." After suspending the death • Total 491,210 km2 (189,660 sq mi)[4] (52nd) penalty, the use of capital punishment • Water (%) 4.9 was formally abolished in the 2008 Population constitution.[12][1] • 2016 estimate 5,662,544[5] (117th) • Density 10.5/km2 (27.2/sq mi) (221st) GDP (PPP) 2017 estimate Contents • Total $103.987 billion[6] • Per capita $18,771[6] Etymology History GDP (nominal) 2017 estimate Politics • Total $42.355 billion[6] Foreign relations • Per capita $7,645[6] List of international organization memberships Gini (1998) 40.8 Human rights medium Restrictions on free and open [7] communication HDI (2014) 0.688 medium · 109th Administrative divisions Climate Currency Turkmen new manat (TMT) Geography Time zone TMT (UTC+5) Economy Drives on the right Natural gas and export routes Oil Calling code +993 Energy Agriculture ISO 3166 code TM Tourism Internet TLD .tm Demographics Largest cities Languages Religion Culture Heritage Mass media Education Architecture Transportation Automobile transport Air transport Maritime transport Railway transport See also References Further reading External links Etymology 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.[13] However, some scholars argue the suffix is an intensifier, changing the meaning of Türkmen to "pure Turks" or "the Turkish Turks."[14] Muslim chroniclers like Ibn Kathir suggested that the etymology of Turkmenistan came from the words faith, belief") in reference to a massive conversion to Islam of two hundred" , إﯾﻤﺎن :Türk and Iman (Arabic thousand households in the year 97 1.[15] History Historically inhabited by the Indo-Iranians, the written history of Turkmenistan begins with its annexation by the Achaemenid Empire of Ancient Iran. 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.[16] In the 10th century, the name "Turkmen" was first applied to Oghuz groups that accepted Islam and began to occupy present-day Turkmenistan.[16] There they were under the dominion of the Seljuk Empire, which was composed of Oghuz groups living in present-day Iran and Turkmenistan.[16] Turkmen soldiers 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.[16] In the 12th century, Turkmen and other tribes overthrew the Seljuk Empire.[16] 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.[16] 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.[16] By the 16th century, most of those tribes were under the nominal control of two sedentary Uzbek khanates, Khiva and Bukhoro.[16] Turkmen soldiers were an important element of the Uzbek militaries of this period.[16] In the 19th century, raids and rebellions by the Y omud Turkmen group resulted in that group's dispersal by the Uzbek rulers.[16] 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."[17][18] Russian forces began occupying Turkmen territory late in the 19th century.[16] From their Caspian Sea base at Krasnovodsk (now Turkmenbashi), the Russians eventually overcame the Uzbek khanates.[16] 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.[16] In 1916 the Russian Empire's participation in World War I resonated in Turkmenistan, as an anticonscription revolt swept most of Russian Central Asia.[16] Although the Russian City of Türkmenabat in Russian Revolution of 1917 had Turkestan, 1890 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.[16] In 1924 the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was Turkmen helmet (15th century) formed from the tsarist province of Transcaspia.[16] By the late 1930s, Soviet reorganization of agriculture had destroyed what remained of the nomadic lifestyle in Turkmenistan, and Moscow controlled political life.[16] The Ashgabat earthquake of 1948 killed over 110,000 people,[19] amounting to two-thirds of the city's population. During the next half-century, Turkmenistan played its designated economic role within the Soviet Union and remained outside the course of major world events.[16] Even the major liberalization movement that shook Russia in the late 1980s had little impact.[16] However, in 1990 the Supreme Soviet of Turkmenistan declared sovereignty as a nationalist response to perceived exploitation by Moscow.[16] Although Turkmenistan was ill-prepared for independence and then-communist leader Saparmurat Niyazov preferred to preserve the Soviet Union, in A Turkmen man of Central Asia in October 1991 the fragmentation of that entity forced him to call [16] traditional clothes. Photo by a national referendum that approved independence. On Prokudin-Gorsky between 1905 and December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Niyazov 1915. continued as Turkmenistan's chief of state, replacing communism with a unique brand of independent nationalism reinforced by a pervasive cult of personality.[16] A 1994 referendum and legislation in 1999 abolished further requirements for the president to stand for re- election (although in 1992 he completely dominated the only presidential election in which he ran, as he was the only candidate and no one else was allowed to run for the office), making him effectively president for life.[16] During his tenure, Niyazov conducted frequent purges of public officials and abolished organizations deemed threatening.[16] Throughout the post-Soviet era, Turkmenistan has taken a neutral position on almost all international issues.[16] Niyazov eschewed membership in regional organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and in the late 1990s he maintained relations with the Taliban and its chief opponent in Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance.[16] He offered limited support to the military campaign against the Taliban following the 11 September