Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistan; also known as Turkmenia) is a Turkic country in Central Asia. The name Turkmenistan is derived from Persian, meaning "land of the Turkmen". The name of its capital, Ashgabat, 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".[2] Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic. 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.
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.[3] 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 until 21 December 2006, when he died. Presidential elections were held on 11 February 2007. Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow was declared the winner with 89% of the vote. He was sworn in on 14 February 2007.
- 1 History
- 2 Politics
- 3 Human rights
- 4 Provinces and districts
- 5 Geography
- 6 Economy
- 7 Demographics
- 8 Religion
- 9 Culture
- 10 Miscellaneous topics
- 11 Further reading
- 12 References
- 13 External links
Balkan
Lebap
Mary
Turkmenistan general
www.klimanaturali.org
