Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistan; also known as Turkmenia) is a Turkic country in Central Asia. The name Turkmenistan is derived from Persian, meaning “land of the Turkmen”. The name of its capital, Ashgabat, derived from Persian as well, loosely translating as “the city of love”. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, 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.

Turkmenistan is made up mainly of desert and has the smallest population of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia. It possesses the world’s fifth largest reserves of natural gas, and has substantial deposits of oil.The major cities include Ashgabat, Türkmenbaşy (formerly Krasnovodsk) and Daşoguz.The majority of Turkmenistan’s citizens are ethnic Turkmens who predominately adhere to Islam with sizeable minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. Smaller minorities include Kazakhs, Azeris, Persians, Balochis, Armenians, Koreans, and Tatars.

Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan.

Capital: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)

Official language: Turkmen

Government type:  Republic

President: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

Head of Government: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

National Holiday: Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

Area

total: 488 100 km²
land: 488 100 km²

Climate: subtropical desert

Population: 5 097 028 (July 2007)

Currency: Turkmen Manat (TMM)

IntInternet domain: .tm

IntInternational dialing code: +993

Sources: www.wikipedia.org

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