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Communications

Airports [time series]

total: 7 useable: 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

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

23,000 km total; 18,300 km hard surfaced, 4,700 km earth (1990)

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil 250 km, natural gas 4,400 km

Ports [time series]

inland - Krasnovodsk (Caspian Sea)

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

poorly developed; only 65 telephones per 1000 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 direct telephone link from Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) to Iran has been established; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 INTELSAT for TV receive-only service; a newly installed satellite earth station provides TV receiver-only capability for Turkish broadcasts

Defense Forces

Affiliation [time series]

(dependent territory of the UK)

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

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

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability [time series]

males age 15-49 933,285; fit for military service 765,824; reach military age (18) annually 39,254 (1993 est.)

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

cotton, fruits, vegetables

Budget [time series]

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

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

retaining Russian ruble as currency; planning to establish own currency, the manat, but no date set (May 1993)

Economic aid [time series]

$280 million offical aid commitments by foreign donors (1992)

Electricity [time series]

2,920,000 kW capacity; 13,100 million kWh produced, 3,079 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates [time series]

rubles per US$1 - 415 (24 December 1992) but subject to wide fluctuations

Exports [time series]

$100 million to outside the successor states of the former USSR (1992) commodities: natural gas, oil, chemicals, cotton, textiles, carpets partners: Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$650 million (end 1991 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Illicit drugs [time series]

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 [time series]

$100 million from outside the successor states of the former USSR (1992) commodities: machinery and parts, plastics and rubber, consumer durables, textiles partners: mostly other than former Soviet Union

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate -17% (1992 est.)

Industries [time series]

oil and gas, petrochemicals, fertilizers, food processing, textiles

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

53% per month (first quarter 1993)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (National product) [time series]

GDP $NA

Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]

$NA

Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]

-10% (1992 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Like the other 15 former Soviet republics, Turkmenistan faces enormous problems of economic adjustment - to move away from Moscow-based central planning toward a system of decisionmaking by private entrepreneurs, local government authorities, and, hopefully, foreign investors. This process requires wholesale changes in supply sources, markets, property rights, and monetary arrangements. Industry - with 10% of the labor force - is heavily weighted toward the energy sector, which produced 11% of the ex-USSR's gas and 1% of its oil. Turkmenistan ranked second among the former Soviet republics in cotton production, mainly in the irrigated western region, where the huge Karakumskiy Canal taps the Amu Darya. The general decline in national product accelerated in 1992, principally because of inability to obtain spare parts and disputes with customers over the price of natural gas.

Unemployment rate [time series]

15%-20% (1992 est.)

Geography

Area [time series]

total area: 488,100 km2 land area: 488,100 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than California

Climate [time series]

subtropical desert

Coastline [time series]

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

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salinization, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods

Disputes - international (International disputes) [time series]

none

Irrigated land [time series]

12,450 km2 (1990)

Land boundaries [time series]

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

Land use [time series]

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

Location [time series]

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

Map references [time series]

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

Maritime claims [time series]

landlocked, but boundaries in the Caspian Sea with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Iran will have to be negotiated

Natural resources [time series]

petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulphur, salt

Note [time series]

landlocked

Terrain [time series]

flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; borders Caspian Sea in west

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

5 velayets: Balkan (Nebit Dag), Doshkhovuz (formerly Tashauz), Lebap (Charjev), Mary, Akhal (Ashgabat) note: all oblasts have the same name as their administrative center except Balkan Oblast, centered at Nebit-Dag

Capital [time series]

Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)

Constitution [time series]

adopted 18 May 1992

Digraph [time series]

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation in US) [time series]

chief of mission: NA chancery: NA telephone: NA

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

President: last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held NA June 1997); results - Saparmurad NIYAZOV 99.5% (ran unopposed) Majlis: last held 7 January 1990 (next to be held NA 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

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, nine deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers

Flag [time series]

green field, including a vertical stripe on the hoist side, with a claret veritcal 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 [time series]

27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State: President Saparmurad NIYAZOV (since NA October 1990) Head of Government: Prime Minister (vacant); Deputy Prime Ministers Valery G. OCHERTSOV, Orazgeldi AYDOGDYEV, Yagmur OVEZOV, Jourakuli BABAKULIYEV, Matkarim RAJAPOV, Rejep SAPAROV, Boris SHIKHMURADOV (since NA); Chairman of the People's Council Sakhat MURADOV (since NA)

Legal system [time series]

based on civil law system

Legislative branch [time series]

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)

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, IMF, NACC, UN, UNCTAD

Country name (Names) [time series]

conventional long form: Republic of Turkmenistan conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: Tiurkmenostan Respublikasy local short form: Turkmanistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

ruling party: Democratic Party (formerly Communist), chairman vacant opposition: Party for Democratic Development, Durdymurat HOJA-MUHAMMET, chairman ; Agzybirlik, Nurberdy NURMAMEDOV, cochairman, Hubayberdi HALLIYEV, cochairman

Suffrage [time series]

18 years of age; universal

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph S. HULINGS III embassy: Yubilenaya Hotel, Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) mailing address: APO AE 09862 telephone: [7] 36320 24-49-08

People

Birth rate [time series]

30.91 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate [time series]

7.6 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

71.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force [time series]

1.542 million by occupation: agriculture and forestry 42%, industry and construction 21%, other 37% (1990)

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 64.93 years male: 61.4 years female: 68.62 years (1993 est.)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

noun: Turkmen(s) adjective: Turkmen

Net migration rate [time series]

-2.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population [time series]

3,914,997 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

2.04% (1993 est.)

Religions [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

3.82 children born/woman (1993 est.)