Introduction |
Turkmenistan
|
Background: |
Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan
became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved its independence upon the
dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control
over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural
gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction
and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government
is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes
in order to break Russia's pipeline monopoly.
|
Geography |
Turkmenistan
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Location: |
Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran
and Kazakhstan
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Geographic coordinates: |
40 00 N, 60 00 E
|
Map references: |
Asia
|
Area: |
total: 488,100 sq km
water: negl.
land: 488,100 sq km
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly larger than California
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 3,736 km
border countries: 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)
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Climate: |
subtropical desert
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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
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Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh
Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates
above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped
as low as -110 m)
highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m
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Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
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Land use: |
arable land: 4.51%
permanent crops: 0.14%
other: 95.35% (2005)
|
Irrigated land: |
18,000 sq km (2003)
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Natural hazards: |
NA
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Environment - current issues: |
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
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed,
but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
|
Geography - note: |
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
|
People |
Turkmenistan
|
Population: |
5,042,920 (July 2006 est.)
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Age structure: |
0-14 years: 36.2% (male 904,627; female 857,601)
15-64 years: 59.7% (male 1,423,836; female 1,477,224)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 76,670; female 123,211) (2004 est.)
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Median age: |
0-14 years: 35.2% (male 913,988/female 863,503)
15-64 years: 60.7% (male 1,501,486/female 1,557,155)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 79,227/female 127,561) (2006 est.)
|
Population growth rate: |
1.83% (2006 est.)
|
Birth rate: |
27.61 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
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Death rate: |
8.6 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
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Net migration rate: |
-0.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
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Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 72.56 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 68 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 61.83 years
male: 58.43 years
female: 65.41 years (2006 est.)
|
Total fertility rate: |
3.37 children born/woman (2006 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
less than 0.1% (2004 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
less than 200 (2003 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
less than 100 (2004 est.)
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Nationality: |
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen
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Ethnic groups: |
Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)
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Religions: |
Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
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Languages: |
Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
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Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 97% (1989 est.)
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Government |
Turkmenistan
|
Country name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan
local long form: none
former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
local short form: Turkmenistan
|
Government type: |
republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little
power outside the executive branch
|
Capital: |
name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E
time difference: GMT+5
|
Administrative divisions: |
5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty
(Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty
(Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative
centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
|
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 (Acting) and Chairman of
the Cabinet of Ministers Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMMEDOV; note - President
Saparmurat NIYAZOV died in office 21 December 2006 and Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMMEDOV
was named his temporary replacement; the president is both the chief of
state and head of government
head of government: President (Acting) and Chairman of the Cabinet of
Ministers Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMMEDOV
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election
last held 21 June 1992; note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved
as president for life by the People's Council on 28 December 1999; deputy
chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers are appointed by the president
election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition;
percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%
|
Legislative branch: |
under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary
bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative
body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of whom are elected by popular vote
and some of whom are appointed; meets at least yearly) and a unicameral
Parliament or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to
serve five-year terms); membership is scheduled to be increased to 65
seats
elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003 (next to be held
December 2008); Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held December
2008)
election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all
50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan
and are preapproved by President NIYAZOV
note: in late 2003, a new law was adopted, reducing the powers of the
Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the
Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president
is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis
can no longer adopt or amend the constitution, or announce referendums
or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life"
of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law
has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive
and legislative branches of government
|
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat
NIYAZOV]
note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition
movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent
opposition groups-in-exile have been National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan
(NDMT) and the United Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (UDPT); NDMT was
led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and
imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt
on President NIYAZOV; UDPT is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV
and is based out of Moscow
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
NA
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International organization participation: |
AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO,
ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO
(correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
|
Flag description: |
green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist
side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked
above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the
UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper
corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe
|
Economy |
Turkmenistan
|
Economy - overview: |
Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with intensive
agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half
of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; formerly it was the world's
tenth-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to an almost
50% decline in cotton exports. 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. Privatization goals remain limited.
In 1998-2005, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate
export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term
external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by an average
of 15% per year in 2003-06, largely because of higher international oil
and gas prices. In 2006, Ashgabat raised its natural gas export prices
to its main customer, Russia, from $66 per thousand cubic meters (tcm)
to $100 per tcm. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging
because of widespread internal poverty, a poor educational system, government
misuse of oil and gas revenues, and Ashgabat's unwillingness to adopt
market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state
secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error.
In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain.
|
GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $45.11 billion (2006 est.)
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
IMF estimate: 13%
note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates
are widely regarded as unreliable (2006 est.)
|
GDP - per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $8,900 (2006 est.)
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 24.4%
industry: 33.9%
services: 41.7% (2006 est.)
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
28.8% of GDP (2006 est.)
|
Population below poverty line: |
58% (2003 est.)
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998)
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
40.8 (1998)
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
11% (2006 est.)
|
Labor force: |
2.32 million (2003 est.)
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 48.2%
industry: 13.8%
services: 37% (2003 est.)
|
Unemployment rate: |
60% (2004 est.)
|
Budget: |
revenues: $1.803 billion
expenditures: $2.063 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006
est.)
|
Agriculture - products: |
cotton, grain; livestock
|
Industries: |
natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
22% (2003 est.)
|
Electricity - production: |
10.79 billion kWh (2004 est.)
|
Electricity - consumption: |
9.03 billion kWh (2004)
|
Electricity - exports: |
1 billion kWh (2004)
|
Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2004)
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Oil - production: |
213,700 bbl/day (2004 est.)
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Oil - consumption: |
95,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
|
Oil - exports: |
NA (2001)
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Oil - imports: |
NA (2001)
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Oil - proved reserves: |
273 million bbl (1 January 2002)
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Natural gas - production: |
58.57 billion cu m (2004 est.)
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
16.57 billion cu m (2004 est.)
|
Natural gas - exports: |
42 billion cu m (2004 est.)
|
Natural gas - imports: |
0 cu m (2001 est.)
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
2.01 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
|
Current account balance: |
$321.2 million (2006 est.)
|
Exports: |
$5.421 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
|
Exports - commodities: |
gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles
|
Exports - partners: |
Ukraine 42.8%, Iran 14.8%, Hungary 5.3% (2005)
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Imports: |
$3.936 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
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Imports - partners: |
UAE 12.7%, Azerbaijan 11.1%, US 9.6%, Russia 9.1%,
Ukraine 7.6%, Turkey 7.3%, Iran 6.2%, Germany 5.4% (2005)
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Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: |
$3.518 billion (2006 est.)
|
Debt - external: |
$2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)
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Economic aid - recipient: |
$16 million from the US (2001)
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Currency: |
Turkmen manat (TMM)
|
Currency code: |
TMM
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Exchange rates: |
11,100 (2006), in recent years the unofficial rate
has hovered around 24,000 to 25,000 Turkmen manats to the dollar; the
official rate has consistently been 5,200 manat to the dollar
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year
|
Communications |
Turkmenistan
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
495,000 (2006)
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Telephones - mobile cellular: |
52,000 (2004)
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment: poorly developed
domestic: Turkmenistan's telecommunications network remains woefully underdeveloped;
Turkmentelekom, in cooperation with foreign investors, is planning to
upgrade the country's telephone exchanges and install a new digital switching
system
international: country code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio
relay 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
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Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)
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Radios: |
1.225 million (1997)
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Television broadcast stations: |
4 (government owned and programmed) (2004)
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Televisions: |
820,000 (1997)
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Internet country code: |
.tm
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Internet hosts: |
585 (2006)
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Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
1
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Internet users: |
36,000 (2005)
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Transportation |
Turkmenistan
|
Railways: |
total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2005)
|
Roadways: |
total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km
unpaved: 4,512 km (1999 est.)
|
Waterways: |
1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland
waterways) (2006)
|
Pipelines: |
gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2006)
|
Ports and harbors: |
Turkmenbasy
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,870 GRT/25,801
DWT
by type: cargo 4, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated
cargo 1 (2006)
|
Airports: |
29 (2006)
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 22
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2006)
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 4 (2006)
|
Heliports: |
1 (2006 est.)
|
Military |
Turkmenistan
|
Military branches: |
Ground Forces, Artillery and Rocket Forces, Navy, Air
and Air Defense Forces (2006)
|
Military manpower - military age and obligation: |
18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript
service obligation - 2 years (2004)
|
Military manpower - availability: |
males age 18-49: 1,132,833
females age 18-49: 1,162,569 (2005 est.)
|
Military manpower - fit for military service: |
males age 18-49: 759,978
females age 18-49: 940,179 (2005 est.)
|
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males age 18-49: 56,532
females age 18-49: 55,413 (2005 est.)
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure: |
$90 million (FY99)
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
3.4% (FY99)
|
Transnational Issues |
Turkmenistan
|
Disputes - international: |
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
|
Illicit drugs: |
transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian
and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals
bound for Afghanistan
|