Turkmenistan

• flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south;
• low mountains along border with Iran;
• borders Caspian Sea in west

total:

27.95 cu km/yr (3%/3%/94%)

per capita:

5,752 cu m/yr (2004)

• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• 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

noun:

Turkmen(s)

adjective:

Turkmen

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.77 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Turkmenistan

local long form:

none

local short form:

Turkmenistan

former:

Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

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

name:

Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)

geographic coordinates:

37 57 N, 58 23 E

time difference:

UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• adopted 18 May 1992;
• amended several times, last in 2008;
• note - sources disagree on whether the changes in 2008 are amendments or reflect a new constitution (2012)

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of Turkmenistan (consists of the court president and 21 associate judges)

judge selection and term of office:

judges appointed by the president; judge tenure NA

subordinate courts:

• provincial, district, and city courts;
• High Commercial Court;
• military courts

ADB, CIS (associate member, has not ratified the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in meetings and held the chairmanship of the CIS in 2012), 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 (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO

chief of mission:

Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOW (since 14 February 2001)

chancery:

2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 588-1500

FAX:

[1] (202) 280-1003

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robert E. PATTERSON (since 26 April 2011)

embassy:

No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000

mailing address:

7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070

telephone:

[993] (12) 94-00-45

FAX:

[993] (12) 94-26-14

• 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

agriculture:

48.2%

industry:

14%

services:

37.8% (2004 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.6%

highest 10%:

31.7% (1998)

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;
• combined fixed-line and mobile teledensity is about 80 per 100 persons;
• Russia's Mobile Telesystems, the only foreign mobile-cellular service provider in Turkmenistan, had its operating license suspended in December 2010 but was able to resume operations in September 2012;
• Turkmenistan's first telecommunication satellite is scheduled to be launched by the end of 2014;
• once in orbit, it is expected that the satellite will greatly improve connectivity in the country

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 (2012)

• broadcast media is government controlled and censored;
• 7 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 removing satellite dishes (2007)

total:

2,980 km

country comparison to the world: 57

broad gauge:

2,980 km 1.520-m gauge (2008)

total:

58,592 km

country comparison to the world: 72

paved:

47,577 km

unpaved:

11,015 km (2002)

• 18-27 years of age for compulsory male military service;
• 2-year conscript service obligation, or 1 year for university students;
• 20 years of age for voluntary service;
• males may enroll in military schools from age 15 (2013)

males age 16-49:

1,380,794

females age 16-49:

1,387,211 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,066,649

females age 16-49:

1,185,538 (2010 est.)

male:

53,829

female:

52,988 (2010 est.)

• 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

current situation:

• Turkmenistan is a source, and to a much lesser degree, destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• Turkmen in search of work in other countries are forced to work in textile sweatshops, construction, and domestic service;
• some Turkmen women and girls are sex trafficked abroad;
• Turkey is the primary trafficking destination, followed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and, to a lesser extent, the UK, Kazakhstan, and Cyprus;
• labor trafficking occurs within Turkmenistan, particularly in the construction industry, with victims identified from Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Turkmenistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• the government continues to convict trafficking offenders under its anti-trafficking statute;
• it employs no formal victim identification procedures and does not provide services or fund NGOs to provide services to victims;
• authorities punish some victims for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked;
• there continues to be no governmental coordinating body for anti-trafficking efforts or a national anti-trafficking action plan (2013)