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Turkmenistan

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Asian Countries;
Countries

   Türkmenistan Jumhuriyäti
   Republic of Turkmenistan

   Flag of Turkmenistan Coat of arms of Turkmenistan
   Flag                 Coat of arms
   Anthem: Independent, Neutral, Turkmenistan State Anthem
   Location of Turkmenistan
   Capital
   (and largest city) Aşgabat
   37°58′N 58°20′E
   Official languages Turkmen
   Government Totalitarian Dictatorship/ Single-party state
    - President and Chairman^1 Saparmurat Niyazov
   Independence from the Soviet Union
    - Declared October 27, 1991
    - Recognized December 8, 1991
   Area
    - Total 488,100 km² ( 52nd)
   188,456 sq mi
    - Water (%) 4.9
   Population
    - July 2005 estimate 4,833,000 ( 113th^2)
    - Density 9.9/km² ( 208th)
   25.6/sq mi
   GDP ( PPP) 2005 estimate
    - Total $40.685 billion ( 86th)
    - Per capita $8,098 ( 73rd)
   HDI  (2003) 0.738 (medium) ( 97th)
   Currency Turkmen Manat ( TMM)
   Time zone TMT ( UTC+5)
    - Summer ( DST) not observed ( UTC+5)
   Internet TLD .tm
   Calling code +993
   ^1 Mr. Niyazov serves as both President and Chairman of the Council of
   Ministers (his cabinet)
   ^2 Rank based on 2005 figures.

   Turkmenistan (also known as Turkmenia) is a country in Central Asia.
   The name Turkmenistan is derived from Persian, meaning "land of the
   Turkmen". Before 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet
   Union, called the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic. It is bordered by
   Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the southwest, Uzbekistan to the
   northeast, Kazakhstan to the northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the
   west. Although the country is wealthy in natural resources in certain
   areas, most of it is covered by the Karakum (Black Sands) Desert.
   Turkmenistan has a single-party system ruled by President for Life
   Saparmurat Niyazov.

History

   The territory of Turkmenistan has a long and checkered history, as
   armies from one empire to another decamped on their way to more
   prosperous territories.

   Alexander the Great conquered the territory in the 4^th century B.C. on
   his way to India. One hundred and fifty years later Persia's Parthian
   Kingdom established its capital in Nisa, an area now located in the
   suburbs of the modern-day capital of Ashgabat. In the 7^th century A.D.
   Arabs conquered this region, bringing with them Islam and incorporating
   the Turkmen into Middle Eastern culture. It was around this time that
   the famous Silk Road was established as a major trading route between
   Asia and Europe. The Turkmenistan region soon came to be known as the
   capital of Greater Khorasan when the caliph Al-Ma'mun moved his capital
   to Merv.
   Magtymguly Pyragy.
   Enlarge
   Magtymguly Pyragy.

   In the middle of the 11^th century, the Turks of the Seljuk Empire
   concentrated their strength in the territory of Turkmenistan in an
   attempt to expand into Afghanistan. The empire broke down in the second
   half of the 12^th century, and the Turkmen lost their independence when
   Genghis Khan took control of the eastern Caspian Sea region on his
   march west. For the next seven centuries, the Turkmen people lived
   under various empires and fought constant intertribal wars. Little is
   documented of Turkmen history prior to Russian engagement. However,
   from the 13^th to the 16^th centuries, Turkmen formed a distinct
   entholinguistic group. As the Turkmen migrated from the area around the
   Mangishlak peninsula in contemporary Kazakhstan toward the Iranian
   border region and Amu Darya river basin, tribal Turkmen society further
   developed cultural traditions that would become the foundation of
   Turkmen national consciousness.

   Between the 17^th and 19^th centuries, control of Turkmenistan was
   fought over by Persian shahs, Khivan khans, the emirs of Bukhara and
   the rulers of Afghanistan. During this period, Turkmen spiritual
   leader, Magtymguly Pyragy reached prominence with his efforts to secure
   independence and autonomy for his people. Still, at this time, the vast
   territory of Central Asia, including the region of Turkmenistan was
   largely unmapped and virtually unknown to Europe and the Western world.
   Rivalry for control of the area between the British Empire and Tsarist
   Russia led to the establishment of The Great Game. Throughout their
   conquest of Central Asia, the Russians were met with the stiffest
   resistance by the Turkmen. By 1894, however, Russia had gained control
   of Turkmenistan and incorporated it into its empire. The rivalry
   officially concluded with the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Slowly,
   Russian and European cultures were introduced to the area. This was
   evident in the architecture of the newly-formed city of Aşgabat which
   was to be the country's capital. The October Revolution of 1917 in
   Russia and subsequent political unrest led to the declaration of the
   area as one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union in 1924. Thus, the
   modern borders of Turkmenistan were formed.

   The new Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic went through a process of
   further Europeanisation. The tribal Turkmen people were encouraged to
   become secular and adopt Western-style clothing. The Turkmen alphabet
   was changed from the traditional Arabic script to Latin and finally to
   Cyrillic. However, bringing the Turkmens to abandon their previous
   nomadic ways in favour of communism was not fully embraced until as
   late as 1948. Nationalist organizations in the region also existed
   during the 1920s and the 1930s.

   When the Soviet Union began to collapse, Turkmenistan and the rest of
   the Central Asian states heavily favored maintaining a reformed version
   of the state; mainly because they needed the economic power and common
   markets of the Soviet Union to prosper. However, in 1991 the Soviet
   Union split and Turkmenistan was one of the last countries to declare
   its independence.

   The former Soviet leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, remains in power to this
   day. His policies have changed greatly since Soviet times: He is
   friendly to foreign corporations; he has rather tense relations with
   Moscow; and he styles himself a promoter of traditional, Muslim,
   Turkmen culture. However, the extent of his power has been greatly
   enhanced since the early 1990s. An authoritarian dictator, he refers to
   himself as "Turkmenbashi" – a title which means "leader of all ethnic
   Turkmen", in a similar style to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He has become
   notorious in the Western world for his cult of personality and the
   disproportionate measures he takes to crush political dissent.
   Presently, 60% of the population is unemployed while 58% lives below
   the poverty line.

Politics

   Politics of Turkmenistan take place in the framework of a presidential
   republic, whereby the President of Turkmenistan is both head of state
   and head of government. Turkmenistan has a single-party system ruled by
   President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov.

Human rights

   Human rights issues in Turkmenistan, an authoritarian state, include
   freedom of religion issues. According to Forum 18, despite
   international pressure, the authorities keep a very close eye on all
   religious groups and the legal framework is so constrictive that many
   prefer to exist underground rather than have to pass through all the
   official processes, which act as barriers. Protestant Christian
   adherents are affected, in addition to groups such as Jehovah's
   Witnesses and Hare Krishna. The Hare Krishna are not allowed to seek
   donations at the country's main airport, the Ashgabat Airport.

   According to the 2005 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom
   Index, Turkmenistan had the 2nd worst press freedom conditions in the
   world behind North Korea, and as of a 2006 report, is listed as one of
   the 13 "Internet enemies", calling President Separmurad Nyazov a
   "central Asian Kim Jong-Il."

   In early 2005, the Turkmen President called for all hospitals outside
   the capital Ashgabat to be closed. Given the restrictions on movement
   inside the country and the country’s tightly controlled press, outside
   experts have had difficulty in determining the extent to which the
   hospital-closing plan has been carried out.

Administrative divisions

   Administrative divisions of Turkmenistan.
   Enlarge
   Administrative divisions of Turkmenistan.

   Turkmenistan is divided into 5 provinces or welayatlar (singular -
   welayat) and one independent city:
   Division ISO 3166-2 Capital City Area (sq. km) Area ( sq. mi) Pop
   (1995) Key
   Ashgabat Ashgabat 604,000
   Ahal Province TM-A Ashgabat 95,000 36,680 722,800 1
   Balkan Province TM-B Balkanabat　 138,000 53,280 424,700 2
   Dashhowuz Province TM-D Daşoguz 74,000 28,570 1,059,800 3
   Lebap Province TM-L Turkmenabat 94,000　 36,290 1,034,700 4
   Mary Province TM-M Mary 87,000 33,590. 1,146,800 5

Geography

   Map of Turkmenistan
   Enlarge
   Map of Turkmenistan

   At 188,457 mi² (488,100 km²), Turkmenistan is the world's 52nd-largest
   country (after Spain). It is comparable in size to Cameroon, and
   somewhat larger than the US state of California.

   Some 90 percent of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert. The
   centre of the country is dominated by Turan Depression and the Karakum
   Desert which are mostly flatlands. The Kopet Dag Range, along the
   southwestern border, reaches 2,912 meters (9,553  ft). The Turkmen
   Balkan Mountains in the far west and the Kugitang Range in the far east
   are the only other appreciable elevations. Rivers include the Amu
   Darya, Murgap, and the Hari Rud.

   The climate is subtropical desert, with little rainfall. Winters are
   mild and dry, with most precipitation falling between January and May.
   Heaviest precipitation is in the Kopetdag Range.

   Other cities include: Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk) and Dashoguz.

Economy

   Turkmenbashi Palace in Aşgabat
   Enlarge
   Turkmenbashi Palace in Aşgabat

   One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it the
   world's 10th-largest producer; and it possesses the world's
   fourth-largest reserves of natural gas as well as substantial oil
   resources. ^In 1994, Russia's refusal to export Turkmen gas to hard
   currency markets and mounting debts of its major customers in the
   former Soviet Union for gas deliveries contributed to a sharp fall in
   industrial production and caused the budget to shift from a surplus to
   a slight deficit.

   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. Between 1998 and 2002, Turkmenistan
   has 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, the value of total exports has risen sharply
   because of higher international oil and gas prices. Economic prospects
   in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal
   poverty and the burden of foreign debt.

   President Niyazov has squandered much of his country's revenue on
   self-glorification, with cities, Ashgabat in particular, being given
   extensive renovations whilst the people living outside the capital
   struggle in conditions of poverty. Particular concern has been voiced
   by corruption watchdogs over the management of Turkmenistan's currency
   reserves, most of which seem to be held in off-budget funds such as the
   Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund in Deutsche Bank Frankfurt, according to
   a report released in April 2006 by London-based NGO Global Witness.
   President Niyazov has pledged free water, electricity and gas; however,
   shortages are frequent. On September 5, 2006, after Turkmenistan
   threatened to cut off supplies, Russia agreed to significantly raise
   the price it pays for Turkmen natural gas, from $65 to $100 per 1,000
   cubic meters. Two thirds of Turkmen gas goes through the Russian
   state-owned Gazprom. ^

Demographics

   A native Turkmen man in traditional dress with his dromedary camel
   circa 1915.
   Enlarge
   A native Turkmen man in traditional dress with his dromedary camel
   circa 1915.

   The majority of Turkmenistan's citizens are ethnic Turkmen with
   sizeable minorities of Russians and Uzbeks. Smaller minorities include
   Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Azeris, Armenians and Tatars. Turkmen is the
   official language of Turkmenistan, though Russian still is widely
   spoken as a "language of inter-ethnic communication" (per the 1992
   Constitution).

   The name Turkmen, both for the people and for the nation itself, is
   said to be self-referential from the period the Russians first
   encountered the people, parsing as Tūrk-men, or "I am Tūrk".

   Education is universal and mandatory through the secondary level, the
   total duration of which was recently reduced from 11 to 9 years.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan"
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