Turkmenistan is a country in west-central Asia. It is in a broad, dry lowland extending east from the Caspian Sea. Most of the country is desert. The capital and largest city of Turkmenistan is Ashgabat. The country’s official language is Turkmen, which is a Turkic language.
Turkmenistan became independent in 1991. From 1924 to 1991, it had been one of the republics of the Soviet Union. It was called the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, or Turkmenia.
Government.
Turkmenistan is a republic. It has a president as head of state and head of government. According to the Constitution, voters elect the president to a seven-year term. The president appoints a Cabinet of Ministers to help carry out government operations. A 125-member Parliament makes the country’s laws.
Turkmenistan is divided into five regions for the purpose of local government. The country’s highest court is the Supreme Court. There are also regional courts and local courts.
People.
About 85 percent of Turkmenistan’s people are ethnic Turkmen. Other ethnic groups include Armenians, Kazakhs, Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, and Uzbeks. Most people live along rivers or in oases.
The Turkmen are Sunni Muslims. Most of the rest of the population are Russian Orthodox Christians. Although most Muslims worship in mosques, Turkmen follow a special Muslim practice of worshiping primarily at tombs of holy men.
Most city dwellers live in red brick or limestone apartment buildings. Most rural dwellers live in brick houses. Small numbers of rural people still live in tentlike yurts, constructed of a wooden frame covered with felt.
Tribal organizations play an important role in Turkmen social customs. Turkmen social life is centered around the family. In the countryside, many members of an extended family live together in one household. Such a household might include parents, married children and their offspring, and other relatives.
People in Turkmenistan wear both Western-style and traditional clothing. Traditional dress for men includes a white shirt, dark trousers, and a red robe. Some men also wear a shaggy sheepskin hat. Women typically wear a long, loose dress trimmed with embroidery.
Turkmen dishes include chorba (a peppery meat soup), unash (noodles and peas in broth), and pilaf, a rice dish. Milk products form an important part of the Turkmen diet. Turkmen drink green tea after meals.
Turkmen are known for weaving beautiful woolen carpets displaying geometric patterns in reds, yellows, and blues. Other crafts include embroidery, handmade fabrics, leathercraft, and jewelry.
Nearly all adults can read and write. The government requires children to attend school from the ages of 6 to 17. The country has a number of institutions of higher education.
Land and climate.
The Karakum desert covers about three-fourths of Turkmenistan. This vast desert is largely uninhabited. The Kopet-Dag mountains stretch along the south and southwest of the country. The Amu Darya river flows into Turkmenistan from mountains southeast of the country. It flows through eastern Turkmenistan into Uzbekistan, where it drains into the Aral Sea. Turkmenistan’s other rivers include the Murgab and the Tedzhen. The most heavily settled regions of the country are the valleys of the Amu Darya, Murgab, and Tedzhen rivers, and the foothills of the Kopet-Dag mountains.
Summers in Turkmenistan are long, hot, and dry. Winters are cold. Desert temperatures can rise above 122 °F (50 °C) in summer. Winter temperatures in the desert can drop below 32 °F (0 °C). Turkmenistan receives about 3 to 12 inches (8 to 30 centimeters) of rainfall annually.
Economy.
The government largely controls Turkmenistan’s economy. It owns many of the country’s businesses and factories and much of its farmland.
Agriculture is important to Turkmenistan’s economy and employs many of the country’s workers. Cotton, grapes, tomatoes, and wheat are among the chief crops. Farmers raise cattle for meat and milk and sheep for meat and wool. Some Turkmen raise camels, Karakul sheep, and a special breed of Turkoman horses. Pelts from the Karakul sheep are highly prized for fur coats. Some farmers also raise silkworms.
Crops in Turkmenistan can only be grown by irrigation. An extensive system of canals moves water from the major rivers of the region to dry areas. The 850-mile (1,350-kilometer) Karakum Canal transports water across the desert from the Amu Darya, past Ashgabat, to Gyzylarbat. Most of the farming regions in Turkmenistan lie along the Amu Darya and the Karakum Canal.
Manufacturing is also important to Turkmenistan’s economy. Much of the country’s manufacturing income comes from the processing of cotton and petroleum. Other industries produce cement, chemicals, and food products. Ashgabat is the main industrial center.
Turkmenistan’s chief natural resources are natural gas and petroleum. Other resources include ammonia, bentonite, bromine, gypsum, iodine, salt, sodium sulfate, and sulfur.
Turkmenistan imports iron and steel, machinery, and transportation equipment. It exports cotton, natural gas, and oil and oil products. China, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine are among the country’s major trading partners.
Turkmenistan has a limited highway and railroad system. The country’s main international airport is at Ashgabat. Türkmenbaşy has Turkmenistan’s main port. The government dominates newspaper publication and radio and television broadcasting.
History.
People have lived in the area now known as Turkmenistan for thousands of years. The earliest inhabitants were probably nomads who lived by raising livestock in the desert areas and farmers who lived along rivers and oases.
Persians of the Achaemenid Empire ruled the area from about 500 to 331 B.C., when Alexander the Great gained control of much of their empire. The kingdom of Parthia controlled the region between about 250 B.C. and about A.D. 224, followed by Persians of the Sasanian dynasty. In the mid-600’s, Muslim Arabs invaded the area.
By the 900’s, some Turkic tribes had settled in the area of Turkmenistan. The term Turkmen dates from this period. These tribes ruled until the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, invaded the region in the early 1200’s. By the 1300’s, Islamic missionaries called Sufis had established Islam, the Muslim religion, in the region.
During the late 1300’s, the Mongol conqueror Timur (also called Tamerlane) made the area part of his vast empire. Between the 1400’s and 1600’s, the Safavids, a Persian dynasty, controlled the southern part of what is now Turkmenistan (see Safavid dynasty). Tribes from whom the Turkmen of today are descended began moving into the region around 1600. In the 1800’s, an alliance of Turkic tribes called the Tekke Confederation gained control of the area.
Soviet rule.
Russia began a conquest of the region in the mid-1870’s. By 1885, all Turkmen lands were under Russian control. Communist revolutionaries known as Bolsheviks gained control of Russia in 1917. In 1922, the Soviet Union was formed under Russia’s leadership. In 1924, in spite of much resistance from local tribes, Turkmenistan became a republic of the Soviet Union. The republic was called the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.
The Soviets made many changes in Turkmenistan. They built roads, schools, housing, hospitals, and communications systems. They collectivized agriculture—that is, they ended private farming and transferred control of farms and livestock to the government. The Soviets also tried to discourage religious worship and to suppress much of traditional Turkmen culture.
Independence.
The Soviet government maintained strict control of all aspects of life until the late 1980’s. In 1990, Turkmenistan declared that its laws overruled those of the Soviet central government. In October 1991, the republic declared its independence. In December, Turkmenistan joined other republics in a loose association called the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Soviet Union was formally dissolved on December 25.
In 1992, Saparmurad A. Niyazov, president of the former Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, was elected president of independent Turkmenistan. A 1994 referendum extended Niyazov’s term to 2002. In 1999, the legislature granted him the office for life. He died in December 2006. Deputy Prime Minister Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov became acting president before being elected to the position in February 2007. In 2008, Turkmenistan adopted a new Constitution that enlarged the size and importance of the country’s Parliament. Berdimuhamedov was reelected in 2012 and 2017. His son, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, was elected president in 2022.
