Country	Turkmenistan
Capital	Ashgabat
Continent	Asia
Currency	Turkmen new manat(TMT)
Languages	Turkmen, Russian & Uzbek

Locaion

Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan

Geographic Co ordinates

40 00 N, 60 00 E

Land Boundries

Total:3,736 km
Border countries:Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km

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

Population

4,940,916 (July 2010 est.)
Country comparison to the world:115

Nationality

Noun:Turkmen(s)
Adjective:Turkmen

Ethnic groups

Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)

Religions

Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

Languages

Turkmen (official) 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Country Name

Conventional long form:none
Conventional short form:Turkmenistan
Local long form:none
Local short form:Turkmenistan
Former:Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

Government Type

defines itself as a secular democracy and a presidential republic; in actuality displays authoritarian presidential rule, with power concentrated within the executive branch

Capital

Name:Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
Geographic coordinates:37 57 N, 58 23 E
Time difference:UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions

5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat) and 1 independent city*: Ahal Welayaty (Anew), 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 26 September 2008

Legal system

transitioning to civil law system and influenced by Islamic law tradition; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

Chief of state:President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government:President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007)
Cabinet:Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
(For more information visit the World Leaders website)
Elections:president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 11 February 2007 (next to be held in February 2012)
Election results:Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW elected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 89.2%, Amanyaz ATAJYKOW 3.2%, other candidates 7.6%

Legislative branch

unicameral parliament known as the National Assembly (Mejlis) (125 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections:last held on 14 December 2008 (next to be held in December 2013)
Election results:100% of elected officials are members of either the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or its pseudo-civil society parent organization, the Revival Movement, and are preapproved by the president
note: in 26 September 2008, a new constitution of Turkmenistan abolished a second, 2,507-member legislative body known as the People's Council and expanded the number of deputies in the National Assembly from 65 to 125; the powers formerly held by the People's Council were divided up between the president and the National Assembly

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political Parties and Leaders

Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW]
note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist abroad; the three most prominent opposition groups-in-exile are the National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT), the Republican Party of Turkmenistan, and the Watan (Fatherland) Party; the NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 attack on President NYYAZOW's motorcade

Political pressure groups and leaders

none

International organization participation

ADB, CIS (associate); note - has not ratified the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in the meetings, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, 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

Diplomatic representation in the US

Chief of mission:Ambassador Meret Bairamovich ORAZOW
Chancery:2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Telephone:[1] (202) 588-1500
FAX:[1] (202) 588-0697

Diplomatic representation from the US

Chief of mission:Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed CURRAN
Embassy:No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000
Mailing address:7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070
Telephone:[993] (12) 35-00-45
FAX:[993] (12) 39-26-14

Flag description

green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five tribal guls (designs used in producing carpets) stacked above two crossed olive branches; five white stars and a white crescent moon appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe; the green color and crescent moon represent Islam, the five stars symbolize the regions or welayats of Turkmenistan

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Government - Government - Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry Of Education
Newspapers -  Eurasia Insight Turkmenistan NewsCentralAsia Turkmenistan News.Net
                              Radio Free Europe Turkmenistan Transitions Online: Turkmenistan
                              Turkmenistan.ru Gündogar
Tourism -         Ministry Of Tourism

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This RSS feed URL is deprecatedThis RSS feed URL is deprecated, please update. New URLs can be found in the footers at https://news.google.com/news BRIEF: China CNPC starts new gas field construction in Turkmenistan - ETEnergyworld.com ETEnergyworld.com BRIEF: China CNPC starts new gas field construction in Turkmenistan ETEnergyworld.com Chinese energy giant CNPC started to build a new gas field at its Amu River gas production project in Turkmenistan, with designed daily output at around 4 million cubic metres, the company said in a statement on Tuesday The new gas field is expected to ... Turkmenistan plans to build railway ferries - AzerNews AzerNews Turkmenistan plans to build railway ferries AzerNews By Trend. Turkmenistan plans to start building railway ferries, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Manmathan Chakaev said. Chakayev made the remarks in his report to the country's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, local TV channel "Altyn ... and more » VI summit of heads of Caspian states to be held in Turkmenistan - AzerNews AzerNews VI summit of heads of Caspian states to be held in Turkmenistan AzerNews By Trend. The next VI summit of the heads of the Caspian states will be held in Turkmenistan within the agreed time frame, the final communiqué of the fifth Caspian summit, held yesterday in Aktau reads, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan said in a ... Five States Sign Convention On Caspian Legal StatusRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty 6th Caspian Summit may take place in Turkmenistanhttp://www.inform.kz/sitemap_en.xml (press release) Russia, Iran, and three others agree Caspian status, but not bordersReuters BBC News all 607 news articles » Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan advance strategic partnership - AzerNews - AzerNews MENAFN.COM Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan advance strategic partnership - AzerNews AzerNews The exchange of ratification documents of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, signed on April 18, 2017, took place in ... Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan advance strategic partnershipMENAFN.COM all 3 news articles » Turkmenistan to host 6th Caspian summit - Trend News Agency Trend News Agency Turkmenistan to host 6th Caspian summit Trend News Agency The sixth summit of the heads of the Caspian states will be held in Turkmenistan within the agreed time frame, the final communique of the fifth Caspian summit, recently held in Kazakhstan's Aktau, reads, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan said in a ... Caspian Agreement May Trigger Cascade of Energy ProjectsTransitions Online What Does Caspian Sea's New 'Shared Usage' Convention Hold For Oil And Gas ExplorationForbes Convention on Caspian Sea to expand prospects for transit cargo traffic dev'tAzerNews OilPrice.com -Newsweek -Sputnik International all 103 news articles » Italy's Eni to buy spare parts for gas engines, compressors in Turkmenistan via tender - Trend News Agency Trend News Agency Italy's Eni to buy spare parts for gas engines, compressors in Turkmenistan via tender Trend News Agency Eni Turkmenistan Ltd., a subsidiary of Italy's Eni, has announced a tender to buy spare parts for Waukesha gas engines and gas compressors by Ariel Corporation in Turkmenistan. The tender will be closed at 17:00 (GMT +5) on Sept. 13, 2018. All ... Turkmenistan: UN Blames Government for Activist's Death - Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch Turkmenistan: UN Blames Government for Activist's Death Human Rights Watch Muradova was an activist with the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation, an independent human rights group that works on Turkmenistan from exile in Bulgaria, and a regular contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In June 2006, police in Ashgabat, ... Turkmenistan: Facts are stubborn things - EurasiaNet EurasiaNet Turkmenistan: Facts are stubborn things EurasiaNet A government get-together in Turkmenistan this week was a predictable smorgasbord of half-truths, untruths and self-reassuring fantasies. The ostensible agenda of the August 3 Cabinet meeting overseen by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was to ... Turkmenistan in process of TAPI gas pipeline construction - MENAFN.COM Pajhwok Afghan News Turkmenistan in process of TAPI gas pipeline construction MENAFN.COM The meeting reported about the measures taken to implement the initiatives to diversify routes for the export of energy carriers to world markets, in particular, the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, which ... China reportedly interested in joining TAPI gas pipeline projectTimes of Central Asia all 3 news articles » Turkmenistan producing reagents used in energy sector - Trend News Agency Trend News Agency Turkmenistan producing reagents used in energy sector Trend News Agency Turkmenistan's Ak Sili plant located in the country's Mary province specializes in production of reagents used in energy sector, oil and gas production, chemical, medical, food and other industries, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.