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

agricultural land:

72%;

• arable land 4.1%;
• permanent crops 0.1%;
• permanent pasture 67.8%

forest:

8.8%

other:

19.2% (2011 est.)

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:

0.89 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.77 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2015 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)

chief of state:

President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007); note - the president is both 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/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 12 February 2012 (next to be held in February 2017)

election results:

Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW reelected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 97.1%, Annageldi YAZMYRADOW 1.1%, other candidates 1.8%

description:

• unicameral National Assembly or Mejlis (125 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 5-year terms);
• note - in September 2008, a constitutional change abolished a second, 2,507-member People's Council and expanded the membership in the National Assembly to 125 from 65 ;
• the powers formerly held by the People's Council were divided between the president and the National Assembly

elections:

last held on 15 December 2013 (next to be held in December 2018)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - Democratic Party 47, Organization of Trade and Unions of Turkmenistan 33, Women's Union of Turkmenistan 16, Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 14, Magtymguly Youth Organization 8, independents 7;
• note - all of these parties support President BERDIMUHAMIDOW

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) 588-0697

chief of mission:

Ambassador Allan MUSTARD (since 20 January 2015)

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

name:

"Garassyz, Bitarap Turkmenistanyn" (Independent, Neutral, Turkmenistan State Anthem)

lyrics/music:

collective/Veli MUKHATOV

note: adopted 1997, lyrics revised 2008; following the death of President Saparmurat NYYAZOW, the lyrics were altered to eliminate references to him

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 was launched in 2015;
• it is expected to 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

broad gauge:

2,980 km 1.520-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 57

total:

58,592 km

paved:

47,577 km

unpaved:

11,015 km (2002)

country comparison to the world: 71

• 18-27 years of age for compulsory male military service;
• 2-year conscript service obligation;
• 20 years of age for voluntary service;
• males may enroll in military schools from age 15 (2015)

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 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, with women and rural inhabitants being the most vulnerable;
• 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, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Cyprus, the UK, Sweden, and the US;
• Turkmen also experience forced labor domestically in the informal construction industry;
• participation in the cotton harvest is still mandatory for some public sector employees

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 has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
• the denial of an internal trafficking problem by some government officials, corruption, and a lack of institutional capacity continued to impede the government’s response to trafficking in 2013;
• the government reported detailed anti-trafficking law enforcement data for the first time and is making an effort to support anti-trafficking training;
• the government did not offer services to trafficking victims in 2013 and did not fund NGOs providing care;
• authorities punished some victims for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked (2014)