"text":"Present-day Turkmenistan covers territory that has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. The area was ruled in antiquity by various Persian empires, and was conquered by Alexander the Great, Muslim armies, the Mongols, Turkic warriors, and eventually the Russians. In medieval times, Merv (located in present-day Mary province) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by Russia in the late 1800s, Turkmen territories later figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik resistance in Central Asia. In 1924, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic; it achieved independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President for Life Saparmyrat NYYAZOW died in December 2006, and Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a deputy chairman under NYYAZOW, emerged as the country's new president. BERDIMUHAMEDOW won Turkmenistan's first multi-candidate presidential election in February 2007, and again in 2012 and in 2017 with over 97% of the vote in both instances, in elections widely regarded as undemocratic. In February 2022, BERDIMUHAMEDOW announced that he would step down from the presidency and called for an election to replace him. His son, Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOW, won the ensuing election, held in March 2022, with 73% of the vote. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, although no longer head of state, maintains an influential political position as head of the Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) and as National Leader of the Turkmen People, a title that provides additional privileges and immunity for him and his family. Since Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW stepped down from the presidency, state-controlled media upgraded his honorific from Arkadag (protector) to Hero-Arkadag, and incorporated his son into the personality cult by referring to Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOW as Arkadagly Serder, which can be translated as \"Serder who has a protector to support him.\"<br><br>Turkmenistan has sought new export markets for its extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves, which have yet to be fully exploited. As of early 2022, Turkmenistan exported the majority of its gas to China and smaller levels of gas to Russia. Turkmenistan's reliance on gas exports has made the economy vulnerable to fluctuations in the global energy market, and economic hardships since the drop in energy prices in 2014 have led many Turkmenistanis to emigrate, mostly to Turkey. Heavy restrictions placed by the government in 2020 on entry and exit into the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a steep drop in emigration, however."
"text":"Vpadina Akchanaya (Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya, the lake has dropped as low as -110 m) -81 m"
"text":"Amu Darya (shared with Tajikistan [s], Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan [m]) - 2,620 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"the most densely populated areas are the southern, eastern, and northeastern oases; approximately 50% of the population lives in and around the capital of Ashgabat"
"text":"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"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> some sources suggest Turkmenistan's population could be as much as 1 to 2 million people lower than available estimates because of large-scale emigration during the last 10 years"
"text":"<br>Dünýä Faktlar Kitaby – esasy maglumatlaryň wajyp çeşmesidir (Turkmen)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"<p>While Turkmenistan reputedly has a population of more than 5.6 million, the figure is most likely considerably less. Getting an accurate population estimate for the country is impossible because then President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW withheld the results of the last two censuses. The 2012 census results reportedly show that nearly 2 million citizens have emigrated in the last decade, which prompted BERDIMUHAMEDOW to order another census. Results of this census, covering 2008-2018, also were not released to the public but purportedly are similar. Another census was held in December 2022.</p> <p>Authorities have reacted to the dramatic population decline by preventing Turkmen from leaving the country, including removing citizens from international flights and refusing to provide necessary documents. Turkmenistan’s rise in outmigration – mainly to Turkey, Russia, and Uzbekistan – coincided with the country’s 2013-2014 economic crisis. The outflow has been sustained by poor living standards, inflation, low income, and a lack of health care. At the same time, Ashbagat is encouraging people to have more children to make up for its shrinking population.</p>"
"text":"the most densely populated areas are the southern, eastern, and northeastern oases; approximately 50% of the population lives in and around the capital of Ashgabat"
"text":"contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; soil erosion; desertification"
"text":"Amu Darya (shared with Tajikistan [s], Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan [m]) - 2,620 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"derived from the Persian words <em>esh</em>q meaning \"love\" and <em>abad</em> meaning \"inhabited place\" or \"city,\" and so loosely translates as \"the city of love\""
"text":"5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat) and 1 independent city*: Ahal Welayaty (Anew), Ashgabat*, Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dasoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)"
"text":"proposed by the Assembly or Mejlis; passage requires two-thirds majority vote or absolute majority approval in a referendum; amended several times, last in 2023 (changed legislature from bicameral to unicameral Assembly or Mejlis; reestablished People's Council or Halk Maslahaty and named former president Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW as National Leader of the Turkmen people"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 12 March 2022 (next to be held in 2029); note - on 11 February 2022, President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW announced his intent to retire setting up the early presidential election"
"text":"<em>2022:</em> Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOW elected president; percent of vote - Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOW 73.0%, Khydyr NUNNAYEV 11.1%, Agadzhan BEKMYRADOV 7.2%, other 8.7%; note - Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOW is the son of previous president Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW<br><br><em>2017:</em> Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW reelected president in the first round; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (DPT) 97.7%, other 2.3%"
"text":"unicameral Assembly or Mejlis (125 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed to serve 5-year terms); formerly the Assembly was the lower house of the bicameral National Council or Milli Genes, which consisted of an upper house, the People's Council or Halk Maslahaty, and the Assembly or Mejlis"
"text":"percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - DPT 55, APT 11, PIE 11, independent 48 (individuals nominated by citizen groups); composition as of early as of April 2023 men 93, women 32, percent of women 25.6%"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> on 22 January 2023, a joint session of the then bicameral National Council or Milli Genes voted unanimously to abolish itself, re-establishing a unicameral legislature and a separate People's Council or Halk Maslahaty"
"text":"Supreme Court of Turkmenistan (consists of the court president and 21 associate judges and organized into civil, criminal, and military chambers)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judges appointed by the president for 5-year terms"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"High Commercial Court; appellate courts; provincial, district, and city courts; military courts"
"text":"Agrarian Party of Turkmenistan or APT [Basim ANNAGURBANOW]<br>Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Ata SERDAROW]<br>Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs or PIE [Saparmyrat OWGANOW]",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> all of these parties support President BERDIMUHAMEDOW; a law authorizing the registration of political parties went into effect in January 2012; unofficial, small opposition movements exist abroad"
"text":"ADB, CIS (associate member, has not ratified the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in meetings and held the chairmanship of the CIS in 2012), 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, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO"
"text":"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, five-pointed 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; the guls reflect the national identity of Turkmenistan where carpet-making has long been a part of traditional nomadic life",
"text":"upper middle-income Central Asian economy; has 10% of global natural gas reserves, exporting to Russia and China; natural resource rich; authoritarian and dominated by state-owned enterprises; major central-south Asian pipeline development"
"text":"the nation of Turkmenistan, which rivals only North Korea for its isolationism, continues to keep its telecom sector along with the broader populace under tight control; the country inched up just one point off the bottom of the world rankings for press and internet freedom in the most recent report from Reporters Without Borders; most social networks in the country are blocked, although locals do have access to the government-developed platform released in 2019; all internet users, however, need to identify themselves before logging on, and strict censorship over what can be viewed is in force; the end result is that Turkmenistan has one of the lowest penetration rates for internet access in the world (2022)"
"text":"country code - 993; linked by fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; an exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat (2018)"
"text":"broadcast media is government controlled and censored; 7 state-owned TV and 4 state-owned radio networks; satellite dishes and programming provide an alternative to the state-run media; officials sometimes limit access to satellite TV by removing satellite dishes"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"Armed Forces of Turkmenistan (aka Turkmen National Army): Land Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops, national police, Federal/State Border Guard Service (2023)"
"text":"the inventory for Turkmenistan's military is comprised largely of older Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems; in recent years however, it has attempted to diversify and purchased equipment from more than a dozen countries, with Turkey as the top supplier (2022)"
"text":"18-27 years of age for compulsory military service for men; 24-month conscript service obligation (30 months for the Navy); 20 years of age for voluntary service for men and women; men may enroll in military schools from age 15 (2023)"
"text":"the military is responsible for external defense and works closely with the Border Service on protecting the country’s borders; it is conscript-based and equipped with Soviet-era arms; while Turkmenistan has a policy of permanent and \"positive\" neutrality and has declined to participate in post-Soviet military groupings such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it has participated in multinational exercises and bilateral training with neighboring countries, including Russia and Uzbekistan; Turkmenistan joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program in 1994, but it does not offer any military forces to NATO-led operations<br><br>information on the structure of the military is limited and varied; the primary Land Force combat units are reportedly up to 4 “motorized rifle” divisions (MRD) inherited from the former Soviet Army after the USSR’s collapse in 1991; MRDs are typically comprised of one or more mechanized infantry regiments, plus a tank and an artillery regiment; there are reportedly also some separate motorized rifle (mechanized infantry), artillery, and surface-to-surface missile brigades; in recent years, Turkmenistan has made efforts to strengthen its naval capabilities on the Caspian Sea, including expanding ship building capabilities and adding larger vessels to the Navy’s inventory; in 2018, Turkmenistan opened its first naval shipyard, and in 2021 the Navy commissioned its largest warship, a corvette that was jointly constructed with Turkey, to complement a small existing force of coastal patrol craft; the Border Service also has a force of patrol boats; the Air Force has approximately 50 operational Soviet-era fighter and ground attack aircraft, as well as a few combat helicopters (2023)"
"text":"<p><em>Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan</em>: in January 2021, the two countries reached a preliminary agreement on the joint exploration of an undersea hydrocarbon field containing oil and natural gas in the Caspian Sea</p> <p><em>Turkmenistan-Iran</em>: none identified</p> <p><em>Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan</em>: Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed a treaty on the delimitation and demarcation process in 2001; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2005; Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan agreed to their border in the Caspian Sea in 2014</p> <p><em>Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan</em>: in 2017, the three countries signed an agreement of the junction of their borders</p> <p><em>Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan</em>: cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; in 2021, the two countries reached an agreement to create a joint intergovernmental commission to oversee water management</p>"
"text":"Tier 3 — Turkmenistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore, Turkmenistan remained on Tier 3; the government took some steps to address trafficking, including participating in anti-trafficking awareness campaigns; however, there was a government policy or pattern of forced labor, including mobilization of adults and children for forced labor in annual harvest, public works, and other sectors; officials denied access to independent monitors seeking to observe the cotton harvest; the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions, nor hold any officials accountable for complicity in forced labor crimes; authorities did not identify victims nor fund victim assistance programs (2022)"
"text":"human traffickers exploit domestic victims in Turkmenistan, and Turkmen men and women are exploited abroad; state policies continue to perpetuate government-compelled forced labor in the cotton sector, as well as in public works and community cleaning and beautification projects; officials reportedly force the homeless into agricultural work or domestic servitude in the homes of law enforcement families; children are reportedly forced to work in cotton and potato fields during summer educational camps; residents of rural areas are at highest risk for trafficking both in country and abroad; LGBTQI+ communities are vulnerable to police abuse, extortion, and coercion, as well as sex trafficking or forced labor; Turkmen men and women are subjected to forced labor after migrating abroad; some migrant men are forced into criminal drug trafficking, and some migrant women are exploited by sex traffickers; most Turkmen migrant victims are in Turkey, Russia, and India, as well as other countries in the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Europe (2022)"
"text":"<p>transit country for Afghan opiates to Turkish, Russian, and European markets, either directly from Afghanistan or through Iran; not a major producer or source country for illegal drugs or precursor chemicals</p> <p></p> <p></p>"
