Background: Eastern Turkmenistan for centuries formed part of the Persian province of Khurasan; in medieval times Merv (today known as Mary) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885 Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country once extraction and delivery projects are expanded. The Turkmen Government is actively working to diversify its gas export routes beyond the still dominant Russian pipeline network. In 2010 new gas export pipelines that carry Turkmen gas to China and to northern Iran began operating effectively ending the Russian monopoly on Turkmen gas exports. President for Life Saparmurat NYYAZOW died in December 2006 and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential election in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW a deputy cabinet chairman under NYYAZOW emerged as the country's new president.

Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N 60 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 488,100 km²
Rank: 53
Land: 469,930 km²
Water: 18,170 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 1621 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
Extremes 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 sulfur salt

Land use
Arable land: 4.51%
Permanent crops: 0.14%
Other: 95.35% (2005)

Irrigated land: 18,000 km² (2008)

Total renewable water resources: 60.9 km³ (1997)

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: 4,997,503 (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 116
Growth rate: 1.138% (2011 est.)
Growth rate rank: 103
Below poverty line: 30% (2004 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Turkmen
Adjective: Turkmen

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

Languages: Turkmen (official) 72% Russian 12% Uzbek 9% other 7%

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 27.5%
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 1,692,885/female 1,724,019)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 88,590/female 115,324) (2011 est.)

Median age
Total: 25.3 years
Male: 24.9 years
Female: 25.8 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.138% (2011 est.)
Rank: 103

Birth rate: 19.54 births/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 91

Death rate: 6.24 deaths/1000 population (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 157

Net migration rate: -1.92 migrant(s)/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 163

Urbanization
Urban population: 50% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 2.2% annual rate of change (2010-15 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: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 42.34 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 59
Male: 50.42 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 33.85 deaths/1000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 68.52 years
Rank: 151
Male: 65.57 years
Female: 71.63 years (2011 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.16 children born/woman (2011 est.)
Rank: 110

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 2.438 physicians/1000 population (2007)
Rank: 56

Hospital bed density: 4.06 beds/1000 population (2007)
Rank: 49

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2007 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 163
People living with hivaids: fewer than 200 (2007 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 156
Deaths: fewer than 100 (2004 est.)
Deaths rank: 150

Education expenditures: NA

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98.8%
Male: 99.3%
Female: 98.3% (1999 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education: NA

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

Government type: defines itself as a secular democracy and a presidential republic; in actuality displays authoritarian presidential rule with power concentrated within the presidential administration

Capital
Name: Ashgabat
Geographic coordinates: 37 57 N 58 23 E
Time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 5 provinces (welayatlar singular - welayat) and 1 independent city*: Ahal Welayaty (Anew) Ashgabat* Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat) Dashoguz 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)

Independence: 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day 27 October (1991)

Constitution: adopted 26 September 2008

Legal system: civil law system with Islamic law influences

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW ; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007)
Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 11 February 2007 (next to be held in February 2012)
Election results: Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW elected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 89.2% Amanyaz ATAJYKOW 3.2% other candidates 7.6%

Legislative branch: unicameral parliament known as the National Assembly (Mejlis) (125 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held on 14 December 2008 (next to be held in December 2013)
Election results: 100% of elected officials are members of either the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or its pseudo-civil society parent organization the Revival Movement and are preapproved by the president
Note: in 26 September 2008 a new constitution of Turkmenistan abolished a second 2,507-member legislative body known as the People's Council and expanded the number of deputies in the National Assembly from 65 to 125; the powers formerly held by the People's Council were divided up between the president and the National Assembly

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

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW is chairman; Kasymguly BABAYEW is DPT Political Council First Secretary]
Note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial small opposition movements exist abroad; the three most prominent opposition groups-in-exile are the National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT) the Republican Party of Turkmenistan and the Watan (Fatherland) Party; the NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 attack on President NYYAZOW's motorcade

International organization participation: ADB CIS (associate member has not ratified the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in meetings) 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 WHO WIPO WMO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Meret Bairamovich ORAZOW
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) 588-0697
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Eileen A. MALLOY
From the us embassy: No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street) Ashgabat Turkmenistan 744,000
From the us mailing address: 7,070 Ashgabat Place Washington DC 20,521-7,070
From the us telephone: [993] (12) 35-00-45
From the us fax: [993] (12) 39-26-14

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 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 anthem
Name: 'Garassyz Bitarap Turkmenistanyn'
Lyricsmusic: collective/Veli MUKHATOV
Note: adopted 1997 lyrics revised 2008; following the death of the President Saparmurat NYYAZOW the lyrics were altered to eliminate references to the former president

Economy overview: Turkmenistan is largely a desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and sizeable gas and oil resources. The two largest crops are cotton most of which is produced for export and wheat which is domestically consumed. Although agriculture accounts for roughly 10% of GDP it continues to employ nearly half of the country's workforce. 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 export revenues to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. From 1998-2005 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 an average of roughly 15% per year from 2003-08 largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. New pipelines to China and Iran that began operation in early 2010 have given Turkmenistan additional export routes for its gas although these new routes have not offset the sharp drop in export revenue since early 2009 from decreased gas exports to Russia. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty endemic corruption a poor educational system government misuse of oil and gas revenues and Ashgabat's reluctance to adopt market-oriented reforms. In the past Turkmenistan's economic statistics were state secrets. The new government has established a State Agency for Statistics but GDP numbers and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular the rate of GDP growth is uncertain. Since his election President BERDIMUHAMEDOW unified the country's dual currency exchange rate ordered the redenomination of the manat reduced state subsidies for gasoline and initiated development of a special tourism zone on the Caspian Sea. Although foreign investment is encouraged numerous bureaucratic obstacles impede international business activity.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 101
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 7

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 126
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 8.3%
Industry: 21.8%
Services: 69.9% (2010 est.)

Agriculture products: cotton grain; livestock

Industries: natural gas oil petroleum products textiles food processing

Industrial production growth rate: 7.3% (2010 est.)
Rank: 53

Labor force: 2.3 million (2008 est.)
Rank: 114
By occupation agriculture: 48.2%
By occupation industry: 14%
By occupation services: 37.8% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate: 60% (2004 est.)
Rank: 195

Population below poverty line: 30% (2004 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)
Rank: 60

Budget
Revenues: $3.018 billion
Expenditures: $3.263 billion (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -0.9% of GDP (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 57

Taxes and other revenues: 10.8% of GDP (2010 est.)
Rank: 204

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4% (2009 est.)
Rank: 200

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 15% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 57

Stock of narrow money: $402.8 million (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 161

Stock of broad money: $912.3 million (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 167

Stock of domestic credit: $1.263 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 150

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA

Current account balance: -$2.808 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 139

Exports: $8.946 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 85
Commodities: gas crude oil petrochemicals textiles cotton fiber
Partners: China 28.6% Turkey 10.6% UAE 7.2% Afghanistan 6.5% Iran 6% Italy 5.4% Kazakhstan 4.5% (2010)

Imports: $8.071 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 98
Commodities: machinery and equipment chemicals foodstuffs
Partners: Russia 21.6% Turkey 20% China 9.2% UAE 7.7% Germany 5.7% Malaysia 4.6% Ukraine 4.5% (2010)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $17.06 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 60

Debt external: $575.7 million (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 162

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 15.5 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Production rank: 78
Consumption: 13 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 80
Exports: 2.5 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Imports: 1.476 billion kWh (2008 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 38.1 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Production rank: 24
Consumption: 20.1 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 35
Exports: 18 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Exports rank: 13
Imports: 0 m³ (2009 est.)
Imports rank: 193
Proven reserves: 7.504 trillion m³ (1 January 2011 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 6

Telephones
Main lines in use: 520,000 (2010)
Main lines in use rank: 96
Mobile cellular: 3.198 million (2010)
Mobile cellular rank: 117

Telephone system
General assessment: telecommunications network remains underdeveloped and progress toward improvement is slow; strict government control and censorship inhibits liberalization and modernization
Domestic: Turkmentelekom in cooperation with foreign partners has installed high speed fiber-optic lines and has upgraded most of the country's telephone exchanges and switching centers with new digital technology; mobile telephone usage is expanding with Russia's Mobile Telesystems (MTS) the primary service provider; combined fixed-line and mobile teledensity is about 40 per 100 persons
International: country code - 993; linked by fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; an exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat (2008)

Broadcast media: broadcast media is government controlled and censored; 4 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 seizing satellite dishes (2007)

Internet
Country code: .tm
Hosts: 794 (2010)
Hosts rank: 172
Users: 80,400 (2009)
Users rank: 165

Military expenditures: 3.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
Rank: 35

Military service age and obligation: 18-30 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year conscript service obligation (2009)

Airports: 27 (2010)
Rank: 123
With paved runways total: 22
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 10
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 9
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2010)
With unpaved runways total: 5
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 4 (2010)

Heliports: 1 (2010)

Pipelines: gas 7,352 km; oil 1457 km (2010)

Railways
Total: 2,980 km
Rank: 56
Broad gauge: 2,980 km 1.520-m gauge (2010)

Roadways
Total: 58,592 km
Rank: 75
Paved: 47,577 km
Unpaved: 11,015 km (2002)

Waterways: 1300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal are important inland waterways) (2008)
Rank: 55

Merchant marine
Total: 9
Rank: 118
By type: cargo 4 petroleum tanker 4 refrigerated cargo 1
Foreign owned: 1 (Turkey 1) (2010)

Ports and terminals: Turkmenbasy

Disputes international: cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2005 but Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled with Azerbaijan Iran and Kazakhstan due to Turkmenistan's indecision over how to allocate the sea's waters and seabed; bilateral talks continue with Azerbaijan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees: 11,173 (Tajikistan); less than 1000 (Afghanistan) (2007)

Illicit drugs: transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan