Turkmenistan
Landlocked Central Asian nation with vast gas reserves and a repressive totalitarian regime.
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the north, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. It is one of six independent Turkic states. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. With over 7 million people, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations located on the Asian continent.
- Capital
- Ashgabat
- Region
- Central Asia
- Languages
- Russian, Turkmen
- Currency
- Turkmenistan manat
- Official Language
- Turkmen
- Geographic Region
- Central Asia
- Notable Feature
- Home to the Darvaza Gas Crater
- Political Status
- Permanent Neutral State
Lore & Background
Turkmenistan has long served as a thoroughfare for several empires and cultures. Merv is one of the oldest oasis-cities in Central Asia, and was once among the biggest cities in the world. It was also one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. In 1925, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR); it became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In Their Own Story
The wind hisses across the endless dunes of the Karakum, carrying the scent of dry sagebrush and a rain that rarely arrives. A local herder pauses his camel's weary trek, watching the flames devour the twilight sky—a silent, eternal guardian standing between the ghosts of the ancient Silk Road and a nation locked in quiet, self-imposed isolation.
Reader's Guide
Turkmenistan is widely criticized for its poor human rights record, including for its treatment of minorities, and its lack of press and religious freedoms. Since the independence declared from the Soviet Union in 1991, Turkmenistan has been ruled by repressive totalitarian regimes: that of President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov (also known as Türkmenbaşy or 'Head of the Turkmens') until his death in 2006; Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who became president in 2007 after winning a non-democratic election (who had been the minister of health, vice-president, and then acting president previously); and his son Serdar, who won a subsequent 2022 presidential election described by international observers as neither free nor fair, and now shares power with his father.
Did You Know?
- Turkmenistan possesses the world's fifth-largest reserves of natural gas, and many leaks.
- Most of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert.
- Turkmenistan is an observer state in the Organisation of Turkic States, a founding member of TÜRKSOY, and a member of the United Nations.
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