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TURKMENISTAN

@Turkmenistan:Geography

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

 Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian
 States
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TURKMENISTAN - MAJOR CITIES 
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                                        Latitude,      Internat'l     Time   
                        Population      Longitude      Phone Code     Zone   
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ASHKHABAD                  398,000    37.57N, 58.23E       7-        GMT+5   
Chardzhou                  161,000    39.06N, 63.34E       7-        GMT+5   
Tashauz                    112,000    41.50N, 59.58E       7-        GMT+5   
Krasnovodsk                 55,000    40.01N, 53.00E       7-        GMT+5   
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 Area:
 total area: 488,100 sq km
 land area: 488,100 sq km
 comparative area: slightly larger than California

 Land boundaries: total 3,736 km, Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km,
 Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km

 Coastline: 0 km
 note: Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)

 Maritime claims: none; landlocked

 International disputes: Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined

 Climate: subtropical desert

 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

 Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulphur, salt

 Land use:
 arable land: 2%
 permanent crops: 0%
 meadows and pastures: 69%
 forest and woodland: 0%
 other: 29%

 Irrigated land: 12,450 sq km (1990)

 Environment:
 current issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with
 agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salinization, 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
 natural hazards: NA
 international agreements: party to - Ozone Layer Protection

 Note: landlocked

@Turkmenistan:People

 Population: 4,075,316 (July 1995 est.)

 Age structure:
 0-14 years: 40% (female 798,620; male 821,550)
 15-64 years: 56% (female 1,155,392; male 1,128,844)
 65 years and over: 4% (female 105,424; male 65,486) (July 1995 est.)

 Population growth rate: 1.97% (1995 est.)

 Birth rate: 29.93 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Death rate: 7.34 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Net migration rate: -2.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Infant mortality rate: 68.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

 Life expectancy at birth:
 total population: 65.35 years
 male: 61.85 years
 female: 69.02 years (1995 est.)

 Total fertility rate: 3.72 children born/woman (1995 est.)

 Nationality:
 noun: Turkmen(s)
 adjective: Turkmen

 Ethnic divisions: Turkmen 73.3%, Russian 9.8%, Uzbek 9%, Kazakh 2%,
 other 5.9%

 Religions: Muslim 87%, Eastern Orthodox 11%, unknown 2%

 Languages: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

 Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
 total population: 98%
 male: 99%
 female: 97%

 Labor force: 1.642 million (January 1994)
 by occupation: agriculture and forestry 44%, industry and construction
 20%, other 36% (1992)

@Turkmenistan:Government

 Names:
 conventional long form: none
 conventional short form: Turkmenistan
 local long form: none
 local short form: Turkmenistan
 former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

 Digraph: TX

 Type: republic

 Capital: Ashgabat

 Administrative divisions: 5 welayatlar (singular - welayat): Ahal
 Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Nebitdag), Dashhowuz Welayaty
 (formerly Tashauz), Lebap Welayaty (Charjew), Mary Welayaty
 note: names in parentheses are administrative centers when name
 differs from welayat name

 Independence: 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

 National holiday: Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

 Constitution: adopted 18 May 1992

 Legal system: based on civil law system

 Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

 Executive branch:
 chief of state: President Saparmurad NIYAZOV (since NA October 1990);
 election last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held NA 2002); results -
 Saparmurad NIYAZOV 99.5% (ran unopposed); note - a 15 January 1994
 referendum extended NIYAZOV's term an additional five years until 2002
 (99.99% approval)
 head of government: Prime Minister (vacant); Deputy Prime Ministers
 Orazgeldi AYDOGDIYEV (since NA), Babamurad BAZAROV (since NA), Khekim
 ISHANOV (since NA), Valeriy OTCHERTSOV (since NA), Yagmur OVEZOV
 (since NA), Matkarim RAJAPOV (since NA), Abad RIZAYEVA (since NA),
 Rejep SAPAROV (since NA), Boris SHIKHMURADOV (since NA), Batyr
 SARJAYEV (since NA)
 cabinet: Council of Ministers

 Legislative branch: under 1992 constitution there are two
 parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council (Halk Maslahaty -
 having more than 100 members and meeting infrequently) and a 50-member
 unicameral Assembly (Majlis)
 Assembly (Majlis): elections last held 11 December 1994 (next to be
 held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (50 total)
 Democratic Party 45, other 5; note - all 50 preapproved by President
 NIYAZOV

 Judicial branch: Supreme Court

 Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Turkmenistan,
 Saparmurad NIYAZOV; Party for Democratic Development, Durdymurat
 HOJA-MUKHAMMED, chairman; Agzybirlik, Nurberdy NURMAMEDOV, cochairman,
 Hubayberdi HALLIYEV, cochairman
 note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small
 opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries

 Member of: CCC, CIS, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, IDB, ILO, IMF,
 IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU,
 NACC, OIC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

 Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission: Ambassador Khalil UGUR
 chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 412, Washington, DC 20005
 telephone: [1] (202) 737-4800
 FAX: [1] (202) 737-1152

 US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph S. HULINGS III
 embassy: 6 Teheran Street, Yubilenaya Hotel, Ashgabat
 mailing address: use embassy street address
 telephone: [7] (3632) 24-49-25, 24-49-22
 FAX: [7] (3632) 25-53-79

 Flag: green field, including a vertical stripe on the hoist side, with
 a claret vertical stripe in between containing five white, black, and
 orange carpet guls (an assymetrical design used in producing rugs)
 associated with five different tribes; a white crescent and five white
 stars in the upper left corner to the right of the carpet guls

Economy

 Overview: Turkmenistan is largely desert country with nomadic cattle
 raising, intensive agriculture in irrigated oases, and huge gas and
 oil resources. Half its irrigated land is planted in cotton making it
 the world's tenth largest producer. It also has the world's fifth
 largest reserves of natural gas and significant oil resources. Until
 the end of 1993, Turkmenistan had experienced less economic disruption
 than other former Soviet states because its economy received a boost
 from higher prices for oil and gas and a sharp increase in hard
 currency earnings. In 1994, Russia's refusal to export Turkmen gas to
 hard currency markets and mounting debts of its major customers in the
 former USSR for gas deliveries contributed to a sharp fall in
 industrial production and caused the budget to shift from a surplus to
 a slight deficit. Furthermore, 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. With the onset of
 economic hard times, even cautious moves toward economic restructuring
 and privatization have slowed down. For 1995, Turkmenistan will face
 continuing constraints on its earnings because of its customers'
 inability to pay for their gas and a low average cotton crop in 1994.
 Turkmenistan is working hard to open new gas export channels through
 Iran and Turkey, but these may take many years to realize.

 National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $13.1 billion (1994
 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1992)

 National product real growth rate: -24% (1994 est.)

 National product per capita: $3,280 (1994 est.)

 Inflation rate (consumer prices): 25% per month (1994)

 Unemployment rate: NA

 Budget:
 revenues: $NA
 expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

 Exports: $382 million to states outside the FSU (1994)
 commodities: natural gas, cotton, petroleum products, electricity,
 textiles, carpets
 partners: Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia,
 Azerbaijan, Armenia, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Argentina

 Imports: $304 million from states outside the FSU (1994)
 commodities: machinery and parts, grain and food, plastics and rubber,
 consumer durables, textiles
 partners: Russia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey

 External debt: NEGL

 Industrial production: growth rate -25% (1994)

 Electricity:
 capacity: 2,480,000 kW
 production: 10.5 billion kWh
 consumption per capita: 2,600 kWh (1994)

 Industries: natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food
 processing

 Agriculture: cotton, grain, animal husbandry

 Illicit drugs: illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly
 for CIS consumption; limited government eradication program; used as
 transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia to Western
 Europe

 Economic aid:
 recipient: Turkmenistan has received about $200 million in bilateral
 aid credits

 Currency: Turkmenistan introduced its national currency, the manat, on
 1 November 1993

 Exchange rates: manats per US$1 - multiple rate system: 10 (official)
 and 230 (permitted in transactions between the government and
 individuals)

 Fiscal year: calendar year

@Turkmenistan:Transportation

 Railroads:
 total: 2,120 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial
 lines
 broad gauge: 2,120 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)

 Highways:
 total: 23,000 km
 paved and graveled: 18,300 km
 unpaved: earth 4,700 km (1990)

 Pipelines: crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km

 Ports: Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnowodsk)

 Airports:
 total: 64
 with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8
 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1
 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 7
 with unpaved runways under 914 m: 35

@Turkmenistan:Communications

 Telephone system: NA telephones; only 7.5 telephones/100 persons
 (1991); poorly developed
 local: NA
 intercity: NA
 international: linked by cable and microwave 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; 1 Orbita and 1
 INTELSAT earth station

 Radio:
 broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
 radios: NA

 Television:
 broadcast stations: NA
 televisions: NA

@Turkmenistan:Defense Forces

 Branches: National Guard, Republic Security Forces (internal and
 border troops), Joint Command Turkmenistan/Russia (Ground, Air, and
 Air Defense)

 Manpower availability: males age 15-49 993,321; males fit for military
 service 810,392; males reach military age (18) annually 40,430 (1995
 est.)

 Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP


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