Encyclopedia
Turkmenistan is a country in
Central Asia. The name Turkmenistan is derived from
Persian, meaning "land of the Turkmen". Before 1991, it was a constituent republic of the
Soviet Union, called 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. Although the country is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of it is covered by the Karakum Desert. The Turkmen government comprises one of the last remaining dictatorships in the world.
History
The territory of Turkmenistan has a long and checkered history, as armies from one empire to another decamped on their way to more prosperous territories.
Alexander the Great conquered the territory in the 4
th century
B.C. on his way to
India. One hundred and fifty years later Persia's
Parthian Kingdom established its capital in Nisa, an area now located in the suburbs of the modern-day capital of
Ashgabat. In the 7
th century
A.D. Arabs conquered this region, bringing with them
Islam and incorporating the Turkmen into
Middle Eastern culture. It was around this time that the famous
Silk Road was established as a major trading route between
Asia and
Europe. The Turkmenistan region soon came to be known as the capital of
Greater Khorasan when the caliph Al-Ma'mun moved his capital to Merv.
In the middle of the 11
th century, the Turks of the
Seljuk Empire concentrated their strength in the territory of Turkmenistan in an attempt to expand into Afghanistan. The empire broke down in the second half of the 12
th century, and the Turkmen lost their independence when
Genghis Khan took control of the eastern Caspian Sea region on his march west. For the next seven centuries, the Turkmen people lived under various empires and fought constant intertribal wars. Little is documented of Turkmen history prior to Russian engagement. However, from the 13
th to the 16
th centuries, Turkmen formed a distinct entholinguistic group. As the Turkmen migrated from the area around the Mangishlak peninsula in contemporary Kazakhstan toward the Iranian border region and Amu Darya river basin, tribal Turkmen society further developed cultural traditions that would become the foundation of Turkmen national consciousness.
Between the 17
th and 19
th centuries, control of Turkmenistan was fought over by Persian shahs, Khivan khans, the emirs of
Bukhara and the rulers of Afghanistan. By this time, the region of Turkmenistan as well of the rest of the area in between the Persian-Afghan-Indian and Russian borders was unmapped and virtually unknown to
Europe and the
Western world. Rivalry for control of the area between the
British Empire and
Tsarist Russia led to the establishment of
The Great Game. Throughout their conquest of Central Asia, the Russians were met with the stiffest resistance by the Turkmen. By 1894, however, Russia had gained control of Turkmenistan and incorporated it into its empire. The rivalry offically concluded with the
Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Slowly, Russian and European cultures were introduced to the area. This was evident in the architecture of the newly-formed city of
Asgabat which was to be the country's capital. The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia and subsequent political unrest led to the declaration of the Turkmen Republic as one of
the 15 republics of the
Soviet Union in 1924. At this time the modern borders of Turkmenistan were formed.
As a Soviet republic, Turkmenistan went through a process of further Europeanisation. The tribal Turkmen people were encouraged to become secular and adopt Western-style clothing. The Turkmen alphabet was changed from the traditional
Arabic script to
Latin and finally to
Cyrillic. However, bringing the Turkmens to abandon their previous nomadic ways in favor of
communism was not fully embraced until as late as 1948. Nationalist organizations in the region also existed during the 1920s and the 1930s.
When the Soviet Union began to collapse, Turkmenistan and the rest of the Central Asian states heavily favored maintaining a reformed version of the state; mainly because they needed the economic power and common markets of the Soviet Union to prosper. However, in 1991 the Soviet Union split and Turkmenistan was one of the last countries to declare its independence. The former Soviet leader,
Saparmurat Niyazov, remains in power to this day. His policies have changed greatly since Soviet times: He is friendly to foreign
corporations; he has rather tense relations with
Moscow; and he styles himself a promoter of traditional,
Muslim, Turkmen culture. The extent of his power has been greatly enhanced since the early 1990s.
Today, Niyazov is an authoritarian dictator. He calls himself "Turkmenbashi" – a title which means "leader of all ethnic Turkmen", in a similar style to
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He has become notorious in the
Western world for his
cult of personality and the disproportionate measures he takes to crush political dissent. Presently, 60% of the population is self-employed while 58% lives below the poverty line.
Politics
Human rights
According to Forum 18, despite international pressure, the authorities keep a very close eye on all religious groups and the legal framework is so constrictive that many prefer to exist underground rather than have to pass through all the official processes, which act as barriers. Protestant Christian adherents are affected, in addition to groups such as
Jehovah's Witnesses and
Hare Krishna. The
Hare Krishna are not allowed to seek donations at the country's main airport, the Ashgabat Airport.
According to the 2005
Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, Turkmenistan had the 3rd worst
press freedom conditions in the world. No one is allowed to describe the President or his family negatively. Also, no reporters are permitted to mention that the President is a very short man , or that he wears a
toupee.
In early 2005, the Turkmen President called for all hospitals outside the capital Ashgabat to be closed. Given the restrictions on movement inside the country and the country’s tightly controlled press, outside experts have had difficulty in determining the extent to which the hospital-closing plan has been carried out.
Administrative divisions
Turkmenistan is divided into 5 provinces or
welayatlar and one independent city:
| Division | ISO 3166-2 | Capital City | Area | Area | Pop | Key |
|---|
| Ashgabat | | Ashgabat | | | 604,000 | |
|---|
| Ahal Province | TM-A | Ashgabat | 95,000 | 36,680 | 722,800 | 1 |
|---|
| Balkan Province | TM-B | Balkanabat | 138,000 | 53,280 | 424,700 | 2 |
|---|
| Dashhowuz Province | TM-D | Dasoguz | 74,000 | 28,570 | 1,059,800 | 3 |
|---|
| Lebap Province | TM-L | Turkmenabat | 94,000 | 36,290 | 1,034,700 | 4 |
|---|
| Mary Province | TM-M | Mary | 87,000 | 33,590. | 1,146,800 | 5 |
|---|
Geography
At 188,457 mi² , Turkmenistan is the world's 52nd-largest country . It is comparable in size to
Cameroon, and somewhat larger than the US state of
California.
Some 90% of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert. The center of country is dominated by Turan Depression and the Karakum Desert which are mostly flatlands. The Kopet Dag
Range, along the southwestern border, reaches 2,912 meters . The Turkmen Balkan Mountains in the far west and the Kugitang Range in the far east are the only other appreciable elevations. Rivers include the
Amu Darya, Murgap, and the Hari Rud.
The climate is subtropical desert, with little rainfall. Winters are mild and dry, with most precipitation falling between January and May. Heaviest precipitation is in the Kopetdag Range.
Other cities include: Turkmenbashi and Dashoguz.
Economy
One-half of its irrigated land is planted in
cotton, making it the world's 10th-largest producer; and it possesses the world's fourth-largest reserves of
natural gas as well as substantial oil resources.
In 1994,
Russia's refusal to export Turkmen gas to hard currency markets and mounting debts of its major customers in the former
Soviet Union for gas deliveries contributed to a sharp fall in industrial production and caused the budget to shift from a surplus to a slight deficit.
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. Between 1998 and 2002, Turkmenistan has 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, the value of total exports has risen sharply because of higher international oil and gas prices. Economic prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal
poverty and the burden of foreign debt.
President Niyazov has squandered much of his country's revenue on self-glorification, with cities,
Ashgabat in particular, being given extensive renovations whilst the people living outside the capital struggle in conditions of poverty. Particular concern has been voiced by corruption watchdogs over the management of Turkmenistan's currency reserves, most of which seem to be held in off-budget funds such as the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund in Deutsche Bank Frankfurt, according to a report released in April 2006 by London-based NGO Global Witness. President Niyazov has pledged free water, electricity and gas; however, shortages are frequent. On September 5, 2006, after Turkmenistan threatened to cut off supplies, Russia agreed to significantly raise the price it pays for Turkmen natural gas, from $65 to $100 per 1,000 cubic meters. Two thirds of Turkmen gas goes through the Russian state-owned
Gazprom.
Demographics
The majority of Turkmenistan's citizens are
ethnic Turkmen with sizeable minorities of
Russians and
Uzbeks. Smaller minorities include
Ukrainians,
Kazakhs,
Azeris,
Armenians and
Tatars.
Turkmen is the official language of Turkmenistan, though
Russian still is widely spoken as a "language of inter-ethnic communication" .
The name Turkmen, both for the people and for the nation itself, is said to be self-referential from the period the Russians first encountered the people, parsing as Turk-men, or "I am Turk".
Education is universal and mandatory through the secondary level, the total duration of which was recently reduced from 11 to 9 years.
Culture
- Akhal-Teke horse breed
- Carpets
- Geok-Tepe
- Islam in Turkmenistan
- Merv
- Music of Turkmenistan
Miscellaneous topics
- Education in Turkmenistan
- Communications in Turkmenistan
- Foreign relations of Turkmenistan
- Human rights in Turkmenistan
- Military of Turkmenistan
- Scouting in Turkmenistan
- Transport in Turkmenistan
Further reading
- Bradt Travel Guide: Turkmenistan by Paul Brummell
- Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan by Rafis Abazov
- Lonely Planet Guide: Central Asia by Paul Clammer, Michael Kohn and Bradley Mayhew
- The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk
- Tradition and Society in Turkmenistan: Gender, Oral Culture and Song by Carole Blackwell
- Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan by Adrienne Lynn Edgar
- Unknown Sands: Journeys Around the World's Most Isolated Country by John W. Kropf
- Rall, Ted. "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?" New York: NBM Publishing, 2006.
External links
- - weekly news and analysis in English and Russian
- - Freedom House report on Turkmenistan from 2004
- - Amnesty International report on Turkmenistan from 2004
- - free registration required for access to whole report
- Global Witness report April 2006 detaling Turkmenistan's management of its natural resource revenues held in Deutsche Bank Frankfurt
- - Defining regime in Turkmenistan as sultanistic regime, pdf file
- [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tx.html CIA Factbook]
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