Worldview

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan All data from the 2001 CIA World Factbook. Total Area: 488,100 sq km (slightly larger than California) Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulfur, salt
	In this 2001 map, Turkmenistan is in a lighter color. Click on the map for a larger version of the image.

Current environmental issues: 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; desertification

Population: 4,603,244 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 37.88%, 15-64 years: 58.09%, 65 years and over: 4.03%

Infant mortality rate: 73.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 61 years

Nationality: Noun: Turkmen(s), adjective: Turkmen

Ethnic groups: Turkmen 77%, Uzbek 9.2%, Russian 6.7%, Kazakh 2%, other 5.1% (1995)

Religions: Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

Languages: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Literacy: 98% (definition: age 15 and over can read and write)

Government type: Republic

Capital: Ashgabat

Independence: October 27, 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

Legal system: Based on civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Per capita GDP: $4,300 (2000 est.; derived from purchasing power parity calculations)

Population below poverty line: 58% (1999 est.)

Labor force, by occupation: Agriculture 44%, industry 19%, services 37% (1996)

Industries: Natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing

Agriculture products: Cotton, grain; livestock

Exports - commodities: Gas

Pipelines: Crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km

Military branches: Ministry of Defense (Army, Air and Air Defense, Navy, Border Troops, and Internal Troops), National Guard

International Disputes: Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan

Illicit drugs: Limited illicit cultivator of opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption; limited government eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia to Russia and Western Europe; also a transshipment point for acetic anhydride destined for Afghanistan