Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistan; also known as Turkmenia, Russian: Туркмения) is a Turkic country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the southwest, Uzbekistan to the northeast, Kazakhstan to the northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. The name Turkmenistan derives from Persian, meaning "land of the Turkmen". The name of its capital, Ashgabat, means "the City of Arsaces" in Persian. It also loosely translates as "the city of love" or "the city that love built", derived in folk etymology from the Arabic ishq for "love" with the Persian suffix abad for "inhabited" or "built".[3]
Turkmenistan's GDP growth rate of 11.5% (IMF estimate for 2007) ranks 11th in the world, but official government statistics on which this estimate is based are widely regarded as unreliable.[1] Although it is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sands) Desert. It has a single-party system, and was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov (called "Turkmenbashi", or "leader of the Turkmen") until his sudden death on 21 December 2006. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was elected the new president on 11 February 2007.

Capital(and largest city)
Ashgabat37°58′N 58°20′E / 37.967°N 58.333°E / 37.967; 58.333
Official languages
Turkmen
Language for inter-ethniccommunication
Russian
Demonym
Turkmen
Government
Presidential republic
-
President
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
Independence
from the Soviet Union
-
Declared
27 October 1991
-
Recognized
8 December 1991
Area
-
Total
488,100 km2 [1](52nd)188,456 sq mi
-
Water (%)
4.9
Population
-
December 2006 estimate
5,110,023 (112th)
-
Density
9.9/km2 (208th)25.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2008 estimate
-
Total
$30.091 billion[2]
-
Per capita
$5,710[2]
HDI (2007)
▼ 0.712 (medium) (109th)
Currency
Turkmen new manat (TMT)
Time zone
TMT (UTC+5)
-
Summer (DST)
not observed (UTC+5)
Drives on the
right
Internet TLD
.tm
Calling code
993

1 History
2 Politics
3 Human rights
4 Administrative divisions
5 Geography
6 Economy
7 Demographics
8 Language
9 Religion
10 Culture
11 See also
12 Further reading
13 References
14 External links