Geography: Location: Central Asia, bordering
the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Area:
total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km
water: 0 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)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Sarygamysh Koli -110 m
highest point: Ayrybaba 3,139 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulfur, salt
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 63%
forests and woodland: 8%
other: 26% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 13,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
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
People
Population: 4,297,629 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 39% (male 843,839; female 813,837)
15-64 years: 57% (male 1,211,477; female 1,249,085)
65 years and over: 4% (male 67,842; female 111,549) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.6% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 26.24 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 8.7 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 72.89 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 61.3 years
male: 57.68 years
female: 65.11 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.26 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen
Ethnic groups: Turkmen 77%, Uzbek 9.2%, Russian 6.7%, Kazakh 2%, other 5.1% (1995)
Religions: Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
Languages: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 97% (1989 est.)
Government
Country conventional name: Turkmenistan
Government type: republic
National capital: Ashgabat
Economy
Economy—overview: Turkmenistan is largely desert country with nomadic cattle raising,
intensive agriculture in irrigated oases, and huge gas and oil resources. One-half of its
irrigated land
is planted in cotton, making it the world's tenth largest producer. It also possesses the
world's fifth
largest reserves of natural gas and substantial 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. The economy
bottomed
out in 1996, but high inflation continued. 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. In
1996,
the government set in place a stabilization program aimed at a unified and market-based
exchange
rate, allocation of government credits by auction, and strict limits on budget deficits.
Privatization
goals remain limited. Turkmenistan is working hard to open new gas export channels through
Iran
and Turkey to Europe, but these will take many years to realize.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$12.5 billion (1996 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: -0.3% (1996)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$3,000 (1996 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 18%
industry: 50%
services: 32% (1996 est.)
Inflation rate—consumer price index: 992% (1996 est.)
Labor force:
total: 2.34 million (1996)
by occupation: agriculture and forestry 44%, industry and construction 19%, other 37%
(1996)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget:
revenues: $521 million
expenditures: $548 million, including capital expenditures of $83 million (1996 est.)
Industries: natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Agriculture—products: cotton, grain; livestock
Exports:
total value: $1.7 billion to states outside the FSU (1996)
commodities: natural gas, cotton, petroleum products, textiles, electricity, carpets
partners: FSU, Hong Kong, Switzerland, US, Germany, Turkey (1996)
Imports:
total value: $1.5 billion from states outside the FSU (1996)
commodities: machinery and parts, grain and food, plastics and rubber, consumer durables,
textiles
partners: FSU, US, Turkey, Germany, Cyprus (1996)
Debt—external: $400 million (of which $275 million to Russia) (1995 est.)
Currency: 1 Tukmen manat (TMM) = 100 tenesi; Turkmenistan introduced its national currency
on 1 November 1993
More
Information about Turkmenistan (The Central Intelligence
Agency)
More Information about Turkmenistan (Information Consultative Centre of Ashgabat)
TURKMENISTAN PEOPLE GROUPS
Western Baluch AD2000, Bethany
