Turkmenistan is truly mysterious and not so well-known country of the Orient. In fact it could be compared to traditional oriental beauty, which due to some sort of prevalent habits and religious national principles does not have the right to keep her face open to all, whom she sees, and to others, who has overwhelming desire to be amazed by her unusual beauty. Her appearance is a silhouette, which appears in our eyes when we see a woman in hijab, while her inner world is hardly known to anyone. However, in case if a person has only noble and serious intentions towards her, she can uncover herself in front of him and show the whole beauty, which was heard so much and remained hidden from eyes up to a certain time. This comparison of the country with a woman is not coincidence. Exactly the same can be said about politics of Turkmenistan. Its government does not seek to make public the life inside the country, and practically quite chary of development its foreign political affairs. But despite these peculiarities, the state willingly receives tourists: there is a number of attractive European-style hotels, which receive foreign guests from different countries of the world everyday.

Today Turkmenistan is not only a country of sands of famous Karakum desert, breathtaking nature, rich vegetable and animal world, incomparable beauty of the landscape, but also a country where one of the first civilizations was founded. Numerous researches and excavations have proved that the territory of Turkmenistan was inhabited as early as 3 million year ago! During the Neolithic epoch ancient people were actively engaged in agriculture in the south and cattle-breeding and fishery in the north.

Lands of present-day Turkmenistan during history many times were part of numerous settlements and states founded in these territories, as well as served as bloody battlefields during intestine wars, conquests and defensive battles. In due time Turkmenistan was part of such great world empires as Persia and Empire of Alexander the Great, the reign of which however despite their strength and status of emperors, didn’t last for long time. They occurred not to be everlasting as everything in this life, perished and became part of unforgettable history of the world, which we revere today and worship before. And the history we have does not enable us to ashamed of it.

By the way, it is important to note that one of significant sights in Turkmenistan is its boundless sandy coast where there is no sea nearby, which possibly existed here someday. This is the Karakum desert. Scientists suppose that the Caspian Sea once was much larger than today, but with the lapse of the time some part of it dried out and the desert is located in the place filled with water long ago.

Another important sight of Turkmenistan is coast of the Caspian Sea. Here are so many ancient monuments that spontaneously thoughts on eternity of the being and mercilessness of the time come to the mind. These are remnants of ancient civilizations and cities: Merv, Talkhatan-Baba Mosque, ruins of Amul city (well known even during Parthian kingdom), underground home in Takhta-Bazaar and many others. Turkmens themselves say that their land is holy as Turkmen hearth, pure as Turkmen’s conscience and strong as his belief. And all this is Turkmenistan.

Political structure.
Republic of Turkmenistan is unitary state with presidential form of government.

State system.
Turkmenistan gained its state independence in 27 October 1991 as a result of nationwide referendum. On 12 December 1995 Resolution of the UN General Assembly on “Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan” was adopted with unanimous support of 185 nations of the world.

The Constitution adopted on 18 May 1992 is supreme law of the state: stipulated norms and regulations are in direct action. According to the Constitution, Turkmenistan is democratic, legal, secular state, which has supreme and complete authority on its territory, independently pursues its internal and foreign policy. State government is carried out in the form of presidential republic.

State in Turkmenistan is based on the principle of separation of powers: legislative, executive and judicial. Supreme official of Turkmenistan, Head of State and Executive power is the President of Turkmenistan.

President of Turkmenistan.
President heads the government of the republic - Cabinet of Ministers. He is Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan, appoints ambassadors and supreme government officials, including heads of Ministries and Agencies. With the concurrence of Mejlis (the National Parliament) the President appoints and relieves chiefs of the Supreme Court and Supreme Commercial Court and General Prosecutor. The Constitution of Turkmenistan grants to the President the right of convocation of extraordinary sessions of Mejlis, the right of mercy and amnesty. He is elected by direct secret ballot for the term of five years.

Saparmurat Niyazov was first and lifelong president of independent Turkmenistan. S.Niyazov proved to be the most outstanding and unusual president ever ruled. That is why this person deserves special attention. On 27 October 1990 S.Niyazov, being a Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communistic Party, was elected by nationwide ballots as First President of the Republic of Turkmenistan. On 22 October 1993 according to the Decision of Turkmen Parliament - Mejlis S.Niyazov officially received title “Turkmenbashi”, which means “Head of All Turkmens”. Later S.Niyazov began calling himself as “Turkmenbashi the Great”. In 1999 the decision on proclamation of S.Niyazov as lifelong president was adopted, and in 2002 he declared that 2010 would be his last year of presidency. However it turned out that fate has decreed otherwise, because on 21 December 2006 “Turkmenbashi the Great” to the regret of many Turkmens passed away from acute heart failure. Saparmurat Niyazov left truly deep footprint in the history of his country. During sixteen years in power he remained unchallenged leader and did everything to become not only governor, but to become head and practically the God of his nation. Take his book named “Rukhnama” alone, which was made Koran, and without knowledge of the content of Turkmen “Bible” it was impossible to obtain even driver’s license. And there is a great number of such examples of personality cult and individual strangeness of this glorious Turkmenbashi. Renaming the months of the year and days of the week based on his own wishes, creation of various holidays, one of which was dedicated to the renowned Rukhnama, installing a great number of monuments and busts to himself, which counted for more than 14 thousand. Particular attention among them deserves 14-metre monument in Ashkhabad, which revolves after the sun. And all these are not a complete list of innovations of S.Niyazov, with which Turkmens lived and revered more than their own lives.

However, as it was mentioned, nothing is eternal in this life and everything has its end sooner or later. Niyazov’s epoch also came to its end. In 2007 post of the President was passed to former Vice-Premier Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. At present the President of Turkmenistan makes gradual steps in demolition of personality cult of ex-president and puts all efforts in transforming Turkmenistan into relatively developed state, which could rank not the last place in the international arena.

Parliament.
Mejlis (Parliament) is permanent legislative authority in Turkmenistan, consisting of 125 members. In Mejlis members of parliament are elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Term of powers of Legislative authority is five years. Work of Mejlis is carried out in the form of sessions, organized as meetings as well as sessions of Presidium of Mejlis, committees and commissions of Mejlis. Mejlis annually gathers its regular spring and autumn sessions. Its functions consist of adoption of laws, adoption and altering the Constitution.

State symbols.
State symbols of the Republic of Turkmenistan are flag, emblem and anthem.

National Flag.
Flag of Turkmenistan was adopted on 19 February 1992. It is a rectangular green width with vertical red-claret stripe, which represents five national gyols, with white crescent and five stars. Each of these gyols is framed with carpet ornament, the outer border of which matches the borders of the stripe. At the bottom of red-claret stripe there are two olive branches crossing at the base and ascending to different sides, which symbolize status of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan. These olive branches compile single composition with carpet patterns. Each olive branch consists of ten leaves, located pairwise, except the lowest and highest one. The white-coloured crescent and five five-pointed stars are located on the larger green part in the left top angle.

Five national gyols, each of which encompassed with carpet ornament, also symbolizes welayats (regions). Symbolism of carpet gyol has deep philosophical meaning. The word “gyol” has various interpretations: generating from the word “gul” (flower) or the word “kyol” (lake). All gyols are constructed by method of golden section in proportions 21 to 34. At the bottom of the red-claret stripe with the width of one sixth part of the flag there is two crossing olive branches symbolizing the status of permanent neutrality of the nation. 19 February is Day of the National Flag of Turkmenistan.

Coat of arms.
National coat of arms of Turkmenistan was adopted on 15 August 2003 and represents green octahedron with yellow-golden border, in which inscribed two circles of blue and red colour. Circles are divided from each other with yellow-golden lines of the same width. On the green background of octahedron around red circle there are main elements of national wealth and symbols of the state:

• seven opened cotton boxes with green leaves - at the bottom;
• ear of wheat of yellow-gold colour - one in each side of the coat of arms - in the middle;
• white-coloured crescent and five five-pointed stars - at the top.

In the stripe of a red circle, which is twice the diameter of blue circle there are represented clockwise five main carpet gyols: akhalteke, salyr, ersary, chovdur, yomut, that symbolize friendship and solidarity of Turkmen people. In the blue circle there is Yanardag - Akhaltekin breed of horse, which is proud of Turkmens, embodiment of classical sample of unique Akhaltekin breed.

State language.
State language of the Republic of Turkmenistan is the Turkmen language. The Article 14 of the Constitution stipulates: “State language of the Republic of Turkmenistan is the Turkmen language. All citizens of Turkmenistan are guaranteed the right to use their native language”.

The Turkmen language is close to Turkish and Azerbaijan. Besides Turkmen, living in the territory of Turkmenistan, this language is spoken by Turkmens, living in the North-Western Afghanistan and North-Eastern Iran.

Currency.
In accordance with the Law “On currency unit of Turkmenistan” national currency is manat, which equals 100 tenge. Manat as official currency has been put into circulation in Turkmenistan since November 1993. Manat is the only legal means of payment in the territory of Turkmenistan. Usage of currencies of other states in the territory of Turkmenistan is regulated by respective legislative acts of Turkmenistan and legal acts of the Central Bank of Turkmenistan.

Banks of Turkmenistan as well as other business entity in the territory of Turkmenistan are obliged to accept banknotes and coins of Turkmenistan without any restrictions. Nominal, weight, image and other features of banknotes and coins, which are means of payment in Turkmenistan, are determined by the Central Bank of Turkmenistan.

Since 1 January 2009 new banknotes of denominated sample have been put into circulation. 1 denominated manat equals 5000 manats of old sample, while 1 USD is equal to 2 manats and 85 tenge.

Since 1 January 2010 it is planned to introduce new coins with at value of 1 and 2 manats, minted by the Royal Mint of the Great Britain. On 1 November there were presented new bimetal coins consisting of allegation of several metals - brass, nickel and copper, in the Central Bank of Turkmenistan.

Administrative-territorial system.

Turkmenistan consists of five welayats (regions), each of which has its own centre: Akhal Welayat (capital - Rukhabad), Balkan Welayat (capital - Balkanabad), Dashoguz Welayat (capital - Dashoguz), Lebab Welayat (capital - Turkmenabad), Mary Welayat (capital - Mary) and city of Ashkhabad.

Capital city.
Capital city of Turkmenistan is Ashkhabad.

Geographical location.
Turkmenistan borders with Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the north and east, Afghanistan to the south. The country is washed by the Caspian Sea to the West. Major part of the country is located within the Turan lowland. The Karakum desert (which means “black sands”) occupies middle part of the republic. In the west prevail stony and detritus deserts, in the east - sand deserts. There are mountains and elevations in the south of the country. Only 3% of the territory of Turkmenistan is suitable for farming. Mountain system Kopetdag is situated in the extreme south of the country (with highest peak - Mount Rize, 2942 m). Its north-eastern extension is low mountains Small Balkhan (up to 777 m) and Great Balkhan (Arlan Mount, 1881 m). To the north of Kopetdag there is sub-mountain plain which turns into vast Caspian lowland. Small Krasnovodsk Plateau is located close to the shore of the Caspian Sea (about 308 m). Southern outskirts of Ustyurt Plateau with the height of 400-460 m lies in the north-west Turkmenistan. In the extreme south of the country there are Badhyz and Karabil elevations with maximum height of 1267 and 984 m respectively. These are Paromiz sub-mountains, which continue in the territory of Afghanistan. In the extreme south-east there are Kugitangtau mountains with highest peak in Turkmenistan - Mount Airybaba (3139 m).

Climate.
Climate of Turkmenistan is continental, arid with large temperature differences, small amount of precipitations and high evaporation. Summer is usually hot and dry with average temperature 28-32° С in July. Winter is mild and with little snow, however there are light but short fall of snow, and temperature can reduce till 20°С below zero. Average January temperatures range from -5° С in the north-east to +4°С in the south. Characteristic feature of the local climate is permanently blowing winds from north, which bring cold air masses from steppe regions of Kazakhstan in winter and hot winds and air masses in summer from mountain slopes causing sandstorms and hot dry winds. The best time to visit Turkmenistan is spring (from April to June) and autumn (from September to November).

Water resources.
Almost the whole territory of Turkmenistan, except for South-Eastern and South-Western parts, does not have permanent surface flow. The largest river Amudarya, receiving glacial-snow feed in the Pamir Mountains, flows through the territory of Turkmenistan in its midstream. The Karakum Canal (now Turkmenbashi Canal) goes to the west from the river with the extent of more than 1000 km. Besides river, it is also fed with underground waters. To the south of the country there are three significant rivers - Murgab, Tejen and Atrek, which receive snow-rainy feed in the mountains of Paromiz and Kopetdag (in the territory of Afghanistan and Iran). A number of small rivers fed with spring and rains from the Kopetdag and other middle-altitude mountains. In spring water level in rivers are the highest, there are even flash floods in some years. In summer many rivers shallow and shrink. Even the Tejen and Murgab rivers dry out in their downstream. Usually rivers end with so called “irrigation fans” - small branches and artificial canals, through which water is passed to irrigation fields. Main reason of shallowness of rivers is great amount of water intake for irrigation, but significant amount of river water goes to ground waters and evaporates. Numerous oases are located along rivers and canals.

Population.
Population of Turkmenistan is estimated at 5,2 mln. people. It grows at a quite high pace. However, it is not because of migration from other countries, which is typical for European countries, but basically because of natural population increase. Since the beginning of 90s population size of Turkmenistan has increased by 500 thousand people. High paces of population growth in Turkmenistan have been observed over a long period of time, approximately by 4,2% annually. But by 2000 this indicator decreased to 1,58%. This is related to high level of migration mainly of Russian-speaking population to abroad. So, by 2000 more than 250 thousand ethnic Russians have left the territory of Turkmenistan, reducing the percentage of Russian-speaking population from 13% in 1990 to 4,4% in 2000. In 2002 the percentage of ethnic Russians was equal to 3,5%. Core nation of Turkmenistan is Turkmens, which comprise 91% of the country’s population, 3% - Uzbeks and 2% - Russians. In general, there are more than 40 ethnic groups in Turkmenistan. Literacy rate of the population is 98%. Learning in general secondary schools is carried out in the Turkmen language.

Significant number of Uzbeks live along the Amudarya river close to Turkmen-Uzbek border. Kazakhs live mainly in the north of Turkmenistan and along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Both of these nations descend from other groups of Turkic peoples and their languages greatly differ from the Turkmen language.

Religion.
Turkmens profess Sunni branch of Islam. Residence of the Head of Muslims of Turkmenistan is located in Charjou city. There several Muslim shrines in Turkmenistan, where people often go pilgrimage. Mainly these are Muslim cemeteries and mausoleums of the Middle Ages. The most revered among them are Ag-Ishan near Bakharden to the north-west of Ashkhabad, two religious buildings Babagammar (Gammarbaba) near Iolotan and Kushka, Serakhsbaba Mausoleum, built in the place of Mausoleum of Sheikh Abul-Fazl near Serakhs. However, even after proclamation of independence the government of Turkmenistan strives for control over dissemination of Islam, although officially advocates freedom of belief.

Time zone: UTC +5.

Internet domain: .tm

Telephone code: +993

© Material is belonged to «Central Asia Travel».
Copying and using all presented information and material is possible ONLY by authority of the originator.

to the top