Map of Turkmenistan | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background:


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Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan

Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 60 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 488,100 km²
Land: 469,930 km²
Water: 18,170 km²
Comparative: slightly more than three times the size of Georgia; slightly larger than California

Land boundaries
Total: 4,158 km
Border countries: (4) Afghanistan 804 km; Iran 1,148 km; Kazakhstan 413 km; Uzbekistan 1,793 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked); note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: subtropical desert

Terrain: flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west

Elevation
Highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m
Lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya (Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya, the lake has dropped as low as -110 m) -81 m
Mean elevation: 230 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt

Land use
Agricultural land: 72% (2018 est.)
Forest: 8.8% (2018 est.)
Other: 19.2% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 19,950 km² (2012)

Major rivers
By length in km: Amu Darya (shared with Tajikistan [s], Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan [m]) - 2,620 km


Major watersheds area km²: Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: (Aral Sea basin) Amu Darya (534,739 km²)

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 755 million cubic meters (2017 est.)
Industrial: 839 million cubic meters (2017 est.)
Agricultural: 26.36 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 24.765 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Natural hazards: earthquakes; mudslides; droughts; dust storms; floods

Geography
Note: landlocked; the western and central low-lying desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau


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Population
Distribution: the most densely populated areas are the southern, eastern, and northeastern oases; approximately 50% of the population lives in and around the capital of Ashgabat: 5,636,011 (2022 est.)
Note: some sources suggest Turkmenistan's population could be as much as 1 to 2 million people lower than available estimates because of large-scale emigration during the last 10 years
Growth rate: 0.99% (2022 est.)
Below poverty line: 0.2% (2012 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Turkmenistani(s)
Adjective: Turkmenistani

Ethnic groups: Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003 est.)

Languages: Turkmen (official) 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Major language samples:

Religions: Muslim 93%, Christian 6.4%, Buddhist <1%, folk religion <1%, Jewish <1%, other <1%, unspecified <1% (2020 est.)

Demographic profile: While Turkmenistan reputedly has a population of more than 5.6 million, the figure is most likely considerably less. Getting an accurate population estimate for the country is impossible because then President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW withheld the results of the last two censuses. The 2012 census results reportedly show that nearly 2 million citizens have emigrated in the last decade, which prompted BERDIMUHAMEDOW to order another census. Results of this census, covering 2008-2018, also were not released to the public but purportedly are similar. Another census supposedly will be held in 2022.

Age structure
0-14 years: 25.44% (male 713,441/female 693,042)
15-24 years: 16.48% (male 458,566/female 452,469)
25-54 years: 44.14% (male 1,214,581/female 1,226,027)
55-64 years: 8.56% (male 221,935/female 251,238)
65 years and over: 5.38% (male 129,332/female 167,996) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 56.6
Youth dependency ratio: 48.9
Elderly dependency ratio: 7.7
Potential support ratio: 13 (2021 est.)

Median age
Total: 29.2 years
Male: 28.7 years
Female: 29.7 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.99% (2022 est.)

Birth rate: 17.51 births/1000 population (2022 est.)

Death rate: 5.95 deaths/1000 population (2022 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.71 migrant(s)/1000 population (2022 est.)

Population distribution: the most densely populated areas are the southern, eastern, and northeastern oases; approximately 50% of the population lives in and around the capital of Ashgabat

Urbanization
Urban population: 54% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 2.23% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 902,000 ASHGABAT (capital) (2023)

Environment
Current issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; soil erosion; desertification
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 19.02 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 70.63 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 52.09 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2022 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 24.2 years (2019)

Maternal mortality ratio: 7 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 37.62 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 45.76 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 29.07 deaths/1000 live births (2022 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.83 years
Male: 68.8 years
Female: 75 years (2022 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.03 children born/woman (2022 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 49.7% (2019)

Drinking water source
Improved:
Unimproved:

Current health expenditure: 6.6% of GDP (2019)

Physicians density: 2.23 physicians/1000 population (2014)

Hospital bed density: 4 beds/1000 population (2014)

Sanitation facility access
Improved:
Unimproved:

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 18.6% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 2.88 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 0.65 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 1.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 0.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 5.5% (2020 est.)
Male: 10.6% (2020 est.)
Female: 0.4% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 3.1% (2019)

Education expenditures: 3.1% of GDP (2019 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.7%
Male: 99.8%
Female: 99.6% (2015)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 13 years
Male: 13 years
Female: 13 years (2020)

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Turkmenistan
Local long form: none
Local short form: Turkmenistan
Former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Etymology: the suffix "-stan" means "place of" or "country," so Turkmenistan literally means the "Land of the Turkmen [people]"

Government type: presidential republic; authoritarian

Capital
Name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
Geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E
Time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: derived from the Persian words eshq meaning "love" and abad meaning "inhabited place" or "city," and so loosely translates as "the city of love"

Administrative divisions: 5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat) and 1 independent city*: Ahal Welayaty (Anew), Ashgabat*, Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dasoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty
Note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Dependent areas

Independence: 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

Constitution
History: several previous; latest adopted 14 September 2016
Amendments: proposed by the Mejlisi; passage requires two-thirds majority vote or absolute majority approval in a referendum; amended several times, last in 2020 (changed legislature to bicameral)

Legal system: civil law system with Islamic (sharia) law influences

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descentonly: at least one parent must be a citizen of Turkmenistan
Dual citizenship recognized: yes
Residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 19 March 2022); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 19 March 2022)
Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections and appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 12 March 2022 (next to be held in 2,029); note - on 11 February 2022, President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW announced his intent to retire setting up the early presidential election
Election results:

Legislative branch
Description:
Elections: People's Council - first held on 28 March 2021 for 48 indirectly elected members (next to be held in 2026); first held on 14 April 2021 for 8 presidentially appointed members (next to be held NA)
Assembly - last held on 25 March 2018 (next to be held NA)
Election results: People's Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - DPT 3, independent 45; composition as of mid-2022 (55 members) - men 41, women 14, percent of women 25.5%
Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - DPT 55, APT 11, PIE 11, independent 48 (individuals nominated by citizen groups); composition as of mid-2022 (116 members) - men 86, women 30, percent of women 25.9%; note - total percent of National Council percent of women 25.7%

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court of Turkmenistan (consists of the court president and 21 associate judges and organized into civil, criminal, and military chambers)
Judge selection and term of office: judges appointed by the president for 5-year terms
Subordinate courts: High Commercial Court; appellate courts; provincial, district, and city courts; military courts

Political parties and leaders: Agrarian Party of Turkmenistan or APT [Basim ANNAGURBANOW]
Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Ata SERDAROW]
Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs or PIE [Saparmyrat OWGANOW]
Note: all of these parties support President BERDIMUHAMEDOW; a law authorizing the registration of political parties went into effect in January 2012; unofficial, small opposition movements exist abroad

International organization participation: ADB, CIS (associate member, has not ratified the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in meetings and held the chairmanship of the CIS in 2012), EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Meret ORAZOV (since 14 February 2001)
In the us chancery: 2,207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 588-1500
In the us email address and website:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Matthew S. KLIMOW (since 26 June 2019)
From the us embassy: 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat 744,000
From the us mailing address: 7,070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20,521-7,070
From the us telephone: [993] (12) 94-00-45
From the us FAX: [993] (12) 94-26-14
From the us email address and website:

Flag description: green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five tribal guls (designs used in producing carpets) stacked above two crossed olive branches; five white, five-pointed stars and a white crescent moon appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe; the green color and crescent moon represent Islam; the five stars symbolize the regions or welayats of Turkmenistan; the guls reflect the national identity of Turkmenistan where carpet-making has long been a part of traditional nomadic life
Note: the flag of Turkmenistan is the most intricate of all national flags

National symbols: Akhal-Teke horse; national colors: green, white

National anthem
Name: "Garassyz, Bitarap Turkmenistanyn" (Independent, Neutral, Turkmenistan State Anthem)
Lyrics and music: collective/Veli MUKHATOV
Note: adopted 1997, lyrics revised in 2008, to eliminate references to deceased President Saparmurat NYYAZOW

National heritage
Total world heritage sites: 3 (all cultural)
Selected world heritage site locales:


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Economy overview

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 50% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 10% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 28.2% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 0% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 26.2% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -14.3% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 7.5% (2017 est.)
Industry: 44.9% (2017 est.)
Services: 47.7% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: milk, wheat, cotton, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelons, grapes, sugar beet, beef, rice

Industries: natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing

Industrial production growth rate: 1% (2017 est.)

Labor force: 2.305 million (2013 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 48.2%
By occupation industry: 14%
By occupation services: 37.8% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 0.2% (2012 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 40.8 (1998)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.6%
Highest 10: 31.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $5.657 billion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: $6.714 billion (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit: $-2.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 14.9% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt:

Revenue
From forest resources forest revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance:

Exports:
Partners: China 82% (2019)
Commodities: natural gas, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, cotton fibers, fertilizers (2019)

Imports:
Partners: Turkey 25%, Russia 18%, China 14%, Germany 6% (2019)
Commodities: iron products, harvesting machinery, packaged medicines, broadcasting equipment, tractors (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access electrification total population: 100% (2020)
Installed generating capacity: 5.205 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 15,090,300,000 kWh (2019 est.)
Exports: $3.2 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Imports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
Transmission distribution losses: 2.892 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Coal
Production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 235,300 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 153,400 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 59,900 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 600 million barrels (2021 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 191,100 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports: 53,780 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 83,622,908,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
Consumption: 45,398,541,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
Exports: 38,224,367,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
Imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Proven reserves: 11,326,720,000,000 cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 109.037 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 19.977 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 89.06 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 330.507 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 717,000 (2020 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 12 (2020 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 9.377 million (2018)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 162.86 (2019)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: broadcast media is government controlled and censored; 7 state-owned TV and 4 state-owned radio networks; satellite dishes and programming provide an alternative to the state-run media; officials sometimes limit access to satellite TV by removing satellite dishes

Internet
Country code: .tm
Users total: 1,247,940 (July 2022 est.)
Users percent of population: 25.3% (July 2022 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 10,000 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 0.2 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures:

Military and security forces: Armed Forces of Turkmenistan: Land Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces; Federal Border Guard Service; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops, national police (2022)

Military service age and obligation: 18-30 years of age for compulsory male military service; 24-month conscript service obligation (30 months for the Navy); 20 years of age for voluntary service (including females); males may enroll in military schools from age 15 (2022)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 1 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 27
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 2,457,474 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 16.92 million (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: EZ

Airports
Total: 26 (2021)
With paved runways total: 21
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 9
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 9
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2021)
With unpaved runways total: 5
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 4 (2021)

Heliports: 1 (2021)

Pipelines: 7,500 km gas, 1501 km oil (2013)

Railways
Total: 5,113 km (2017)
Broadgauge: 5,113 km (2017) 1.520-m gauge

Roadways
Total: 58,592 km (2002)
Paved: 47,577 km (2002)
Unpaved: 11,015 km (2002)

Waterways: 1,300 km (2011) (Amu Darya River and Kara Kum Canal are important inland waterways)

Merchant marine
Total: 73
By type: general cargo 6, oil tanker 8, other 59 (2021)

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Caspian Sea - Turkmenbasy


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Disputes international: Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan: in January 2021, the two countries reached a preliminary agreement on the joint exploration of an undersea hydrocarbon field containing oil and natural gas in the Caspian Sea

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Stateless persons: 4,107 (mid-year 2021)

Illicit drugs: transit country for Afghan opiates to Turkish, Russian, and European markets, either directly from Afghanistan or through Iran; not a major producer or source country for illegal drugs or precursor chemicals