Background: Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885 Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1925. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects can be worked out.

Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N 60 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 488,100 km²
Water: 0 km²
Land: 488,100 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries
Total: 3,736 km
Border countries: (4) Afghanistan 744 km; , Iran 992 km; , Kazakhstan 379 km; , Uzbekistan 1,621 km

Coastline: 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1768 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
Extremes lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - 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)
Extremes highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m

Natural resources: petroleum natural gas coal sulfur salt

Land use
Arable land: 3.47%
Permanent crops: 0.14%
Other: 96.39% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 17,500 km² (2003 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

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

Population: 4,775,544 (July 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 1.82% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: 34.4% (2001 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Turkmen
Adjective: Turkmen

Ethnic groups: Turkmen 77% Uzbek 9.2% Russian 6.7% Kazakh 2% other 5.1% (1995)

Languages: Turkmen 72% Russian 12% Uzbek 9% other 7%

Religions: Muslim 89% Eastern Orthodox 9% unknown 2%

Age structure
0-14 years: 36.8% (male 899,954; female 855,293)
15-64 years: 59.2% (male 1,386,606; female 1,438,333)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 74,958; female 120,400) (2003 est.)

Median age
Total: 21.1 years
Male: 20.2 years
Female: 22 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 1.82% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 28.02 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 8.87 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.92 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 est.)

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; desertification
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male/female
Total population: 0.98 male/female (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 73.17 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 69.25 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 76.9 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 61.19 years
Male: 57.72 years
Female: 64.84 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.5 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: less than 100 (1999 est.)
Deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98%
Male: 99%
Female: 97% (1989 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Turkmenistan
Local long form: none
Former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Local short form: Turkmenistan

Government type: republic

Capital: Ashgabat

Administrative divisions
Note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence: 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day 27 October (1991)

Constitution: adopted 18 May 1992

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held NA); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the Assembly on 28 December 1999); deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president
Election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%
Note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 by the Assembly (Majlis) during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty)

Legislative branch
Election results: Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - all 50 elected officials preapproved by President NIYAZOV; most are from the DPT
Elections: People's Council - NA; Assembly - last held 12 December 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders
Note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been Gundogar and Erkin; Gundogar was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHUMRADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; Erkin is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based out of Moscow

International organization participation: AsDB CIS EAPC EBRD ECE ECO ESCAP FAO G-77 IBRD ICAO ICRM IDB IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO IOC IOM (observer) ISO (correspondent) ITU NAM OIC OPCW OSCE PFP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOV
In the us fax: [1] (202) 588-0697
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500
In the us chancery: 2,207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey A. JACOBSON
From the us embassy: 9 Pushkin Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774,000
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [9] (9,312) 35-00-45
From the us fax: [9] (9,312) 39-26-14

Flag description: green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe

Economy overview: Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton making it the world's tenth-largest producer. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2003 Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time however total exports rose by 38% in 2003 largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty the burden of foreign debt and the unwillingness of the government to adopt market-oriented reforms. However Turkmenistan's cooperation with the international community in transporting humanitarian aid to Afghanistan may foreshadow a change in the atmosphere for foreign investment aid and technological support. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In any event GDP increased substantially in 2003 because of a strong recovery in agriculture and rapid industrial growth.

Real gdp growth rate: 21.1% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 27%
Industry: 50%
Services: 23% (2001 est.)

Agriculture products: cotton grain; livestock

Industries: natural gas oil petroleum products textiles food processing

Industrial production growth rate: 1% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 2.34 million (1996)
By occupation agriculture: 48%
By occupation industry: 15%
By occupation services: 37% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Population below poverty line: 34.4% (2001 est.)

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

Distribution of family income gini index: 40.8 (1998)

Budget
Revenues: $588.6 million
Expenditures: $658.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5% (2002 est.)

Exports: $2.97 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: gas 57% oil 26% cotton fiber 3% textiles 2% (2001)
Partners: Ukraine 49.7% Italy 18% Iran 13.1% Turkey 6.2% (2002)

Imports: $2.25 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment 60% foodstuffs 15% (1999)
Partners: Russia 19.8% Turkey 12.8% Ukraine 11.7% UAE 10% US 7.5% China 6% Germany 5.7% Iran 4.4% (2002)

Debt external: $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)

Exchange rates: Turkmen manats per US dollar - 5,200 (2002) 5,200 (2001) 5,200 (2000) 5,200 (1999) 4,890 (1998); note - the official exchange rate has not varied for the last four years; the unofficial rate has fluctuated slightly hovering around 21,000 manats to the dollar

Electricity
Production: 10.18 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 99.9%
Production by source hydro: 0.1%
Production by source other: 0% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 8.509 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 980 million kWh (2001)
Imports: 20 million kWh (2001)

Natural gas
Production: 48.2 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 9.6 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 38.6 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Proven reserves: 1.43 trillion m³ (37,257)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 363,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 4,300 (1998)

Telephone system
General assessment: poorly developed
Domestic: NA
International: linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat

Internet
Country code: .tm
Service providers isps: 1
Users: 2000 (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $90 million (FY99)
Percent of gdp: 3.4% (FY99)

Airports: 76 (2002)
With paved runways total: 13
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 9
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 63
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 7
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 10
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 41 (2002)

Pipelines: gas 6,634 km; oil 853 km (2003)

Railways
Total: 2,440 km
Broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2002)

Waterways: the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway for Turkmenistan as is the man-made Kara Kum canal

Merchant marine
Total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,873 GRT/8,345 DWT
Ships by type: combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 1 (2002 est.)

Disputes international: prolonged regional drought creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; Turkmenistan has not committed to follow either Iran or the other littoral states in the division of the Caspian Sea seabed and water column; ICJ decision expected to resolve dispute with Azerbaijan over sovereignty over Caspian oilfields; demarcation of land boundary with Kazakhstan is underway - maritime boundary not resolved

Illicit drugs: transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and to a lesser extent Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of opium poppy for domestic consumption; small-scale government-run eradication of illicit crops; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan