Turkmenistan History, Geography, Economy and Important Events

Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries; Merv is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia and was once the largest city in the world. In medieval times, Merv was one of the great cities of the Islamic world. Attached by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan emerged prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in later Central Asia. In 1925, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic became independent.

Turkmenistan's surface is very uneven. Mountains, plateaus, deserts and plains are all found here, but due to being away from the sea, the climate here has a continental influence. Animal husbandry is the main occupation here. Turkmenistan lacks natural vegetation due to lack of rainfall. The Karakum Desert is spread over 70% of Turkmenistan. Due to the abundance of desert land, dry desert shrubs are found in most parts of the place. The climate is mostly dry desert with subtropical temperature ranges and little rain. Winters are mild and dry with most of the rainfall between January and May. The region of the country with the heaviest rainfall is the Kopet Dag Range.

The country has the fourth largest reserves of natural gas and sufficient oil resources. Turkmenistan has adopted a cautious approach to economic recovery, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its economy. In 2014, the unemployment rate was estimated to be 11%. Much of Turkmenistan's oil is extracted from the Turkmenistan State Company's farms near Kottardpe, Balkanbat, and the Caspian Sea of ​​Cheleken, with an estimated reserve of 700 million tonnes. The oil extraction industry began in 1909 with the exploitation of farms in Cheleken (by Branobel) and in the 1930s in Balkanbat. Production progressed with the discovery of the Kumdag area in 1948 and the Coterdep area in 1959. A large part of the oil produced in Turkmenistan is refined in Turkmen and Sidi refineries. In addition, oil is exported via canals through the Caspian Sea to Europe.

Turkmenistan is the official language of Turkmenistan (according to the 1992 constitution), although Russian is still widely spoken in cities as "the language of inter-ethnic communication".

Afghanistan [L] , Azerbaijan [M] , Iran [LM] , Kazakhstan [LM] , Uzbekistan [L] ,
Definition of international border: L = Land Border | M = Maritime Border