Turkmenistan
republicIndependence 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Turkmenistan as the 2007 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 129 fields, one of 34 editions from 1992 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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 if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes to break Russia's pipeline monopoly.
President for Life Saparmurat NIYAZOV died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a former NIYAZOV aide, emerged as the country's new president.
Geography
Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
18 fieldsLand useshare of 488,100 sq km
More
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
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
Environment - international agreements
- party to:
- Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
- signed, but not ratified:
- none of the selected agreements
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
People
19 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2007 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2007 est.)
Male · female
Ethnic groups(2003)
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- under 15 years:
- 1.039 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years:
- 0.981 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.766 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 0.99 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Government
Republic; President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007); President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007)
18 fieldsLegislature, 50 seatsone dot, one seat
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
republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
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)
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)
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007); 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 2012)
- election results:
- Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW elected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 89.2%
Legislative branch
two parliamentary bodies, a People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some elected by popular vote and some appointed; meets at least yearly) and a National Assembly or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
- elections:
- People's Council - last held in April 2003 (next to be held in December 2008); Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2008)
- election results:
- Mejlis - DPT 100%;
- seats by party - DPT 50;
- note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by the president
note: in late 2003, a law was adopted reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader;
the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government
Political parties and leaders
Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT
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 National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT) and the United Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (UDPT);
NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; UDPT is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based in Moscow
International organization participation
AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Meret Bairamovich ORAZOW
- chancery:
- 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 588-1500
- FAX:
- [1] (202) 588-0697
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Richard E. HOAGLAND
- embassy:
- No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000
- mailing address:
- 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070
- telephone:
- [993] (12) 35-00-45
- 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 similar to the olive branches on the UN flag;
- a white crescent moon representing Islam with five white stars representing the regions or velayats of Turkmenistan appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe
Economy
Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources.
46 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2006 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
Economy - overview
Turkmenistan is a 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; formerly it was the world's 10th-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to an almost 50% decline in cotton exports.
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. 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 15% per year from 2003-06, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. In 2006, Ashgabat raised its natural gas export prices to its main customer, Russia, from $66 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $100 per tcm.
Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, a poor educational system, government misuse of oil and gas revenues, and Ashgabat's unwillingness to adopt market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error.
In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain. President BERDIMUHAMEDOW's election platform included plans to build a gas line to China, to complete the AmuDarya railroad bridge in Lebap province, and to create special border trade zones in southern Balkan province - a hint that the new post-NIYAZOV government will work to create a friendlier foreign investment environment.
GDP - real growth rate
IMF estimate: 6% note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are widely regarded as unreliable (2006 est.)
Exchange rates
Turkmen manat per US$ - 11,100 (2006) official rate note: in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 24,000 to 25,000 Turkmen manats to the dollar
Communications
8 fieldsTelephone system
- general assessment:
- poorly developed
- domestic:
- Turkmenistan's telecommunications network remains woefully underdeveloped;
- Turkmentelekom, in cooperation with foreign investors, is planning to upgrade the country's telephone exchanges and install a new digital switching system
- international:
- country code - 993;
- 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 (2006)
Transportation
10 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved left, unpaved right
Networkskm
Merchant marine
- total:
- 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,870 GRT/25,801 DWT
- by type:
- cargo 4, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2007)
Military
Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007)
6 fieldsMilitary service age and obligation
18-30 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year conscript service obligation (2006)
Manpower available for military service
- males age 18-49:
- 1,132,833
- females age 18-49:
- 1,162,569 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually
- males age 18-49:
- 56,532
- females age 18-49:
- 55,413 (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
3 fieldsDisputes - 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
Illicit drugs
transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Turkmenistan.” The World Factbook 2007. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/turkmenistan/2007.