Turkmenistan

Airports

total: 7 usable: 7 with permanent-surface runways: 4 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 0 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 4

Highways

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

Pipelines

crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km

Ports

inland - Krasnowodsk (Caspian Sea)

Railroads

2,120 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

poorly developed; only 7.5 telephone circuits per 100 persons (1991); 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; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 INTELSAT

Affiliation

(dependent territory of the UK)

Branches

National Guard, Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), Joint Command Turkmenistan/Russia (Ground, Navy or Caspian Sea Flotilla, Air, and Air Defense)

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 962,987; fit for military service 787,991; reach military age (18) annually 40,079 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

cotton, grain, animal husbandry

Budget

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

Currency

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

Economic aid

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

Electricity

capacity: 2,920,000 kW production: 13.1 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,079 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$1.2 billion to states outside the FSU (1993) commodities: natural gas, cotton, petroleum products, textiles, carpets partners: Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Argentina

External debt

NEGL

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis and opium; mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment points for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia to Western Europe

Imports

$490 million from states outside the FSU (1993) commodities: machinery and parts, grain and food, plastics and rubber, consumer durables, textiles partners: Russia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey

Industrial production

growth rate 5.3% (1993)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

45% per month (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $13 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Turkmen statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)

National product per capita

$3,330 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

7.8% (1993 est.)

Overview

Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with nomadic cattle raising, intensive agriculture in irrigated oases, and huge gas and oil resources. Half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; it is the world's tenth largest producer. It also is the world's fourth largest producer of natural gas and has the fifth largest reserves. Furthermore, Turkmenistan has substantial oil resources; its two oil refineries make it an exporter of refined products. Profiting from the move toward market prices for its oil and gas resources, Turkmenistan has suffered the least economic decline of the 15 states of the former USSR. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to questions of economic reform, using the profits from its gas and cotton exports to sustain a generally inefficient economy. Economic restructuring and privatization have just begun, and price liberalization and price increases have been accompanied by generous wage hikes and subsidies. At the same time, Turkmenistan faces serious constraints on its gas and oil earnings because of the inability of its traditional regional customers to pay for the current level of purchases and the lack of pipeline access to hard currency markets. Faced with financial shortfalls, rampant inflation, and the desire to ensure a stable currency, the regime has become more receptive to market reforms yet still seeks to offer widespread social benefits to its population and to retain state domination over the economy.

Unemployment rate

2.9% (1992 est.); includes only officially registered unemployed; also large number of underemployed

Area

total area: 488,100 sq km land area: 488,100 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than California

Climate

subtropical desert

Coastline

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

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 river into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Ozone Layer Protection

International disputes

Russia may dispute current de facto maritime border to midpoint of Caspian Sea from shore

Irrigated land

12,450 sq km (1990)

Land boundaries

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

Land use

arable land: 3% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 69% forest and woodland: 0% other: 28%

Location

Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Uzbekistan

Map references

Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

landlocked, but boundaries in the Caspian Sea with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Iran are under negotiations

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulphur, salt

Note

landlocked

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

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

Assembly (Majlis)

elections last held 7 January 1990 (next to be held late 1994 or early 1995); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (175 total) elections not officially by party, but Communist Party members won nearly 90% of seats; note - seats to be reduced to 50 at next election

Capital

Ashgabat

Constitution

adopted 18 May 1992

Digraph

TX

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Khalil UGUR chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 412, Washington, DC, 20005 telephone: NA

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 Batyr SARDJAEV, Valery G. OCHERTSOV, Orazgeldi AIDOGDIEV, Djourakuli BABAKULIYEV, Rejep SAPAROV, Boris SHIKHMURADOV, Abad RIZAEVA, Yagmur OVEZOV (since NA) cabinet: Council of Ministers

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

Independence

27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on civil law system

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)

Member of

CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, IDB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, NACC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

Names

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

Political parties and leaders

ruling party: Democratic Party (formerly Communist), chairman vacant opposition: 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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph S. HULINGS III embassy: Yubilenaya Hotel, Ashgabat mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [7] 36320 24-49-25 or 24-49-26

Birth rate

30.42 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

7.44 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

69.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

1.573 million by occupation: agriculture and forestry 44%, industry and construction 20%, other 36% (1992)

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 65.14 years male: 61.63 years female: 68.82 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality

noun: Turkmen(s) adjective: Turkmen

Net migration rate

-2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

3,995,122 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

2.01% (1994 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

3.77 children born/woman (1994 est.)